Honoring the indigenous peoples who have stewarded this land

North America has been home to Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. At least 48 tribal nations have lived in the Denver area, including the Hinono’ei (Arapaho), Tsistsistas (Cheyenne), and Nuche (Ute) peoples, who are among the most recent traditional residents of the unceded land now called Denver, Colorado. This is a statement to honor the Indigenous peoples and Latino/Chicano/Hispanic peoples who have stewarded this land and to recognize their ongoing contributions and presence in this community.

Even though I no longer live there, I would also like to acknowledge the place where I grew up in Indiana, the ancestral lands of numerous Indigenous peoples, including the Peoria, Myaamia (Miami), Bodwéwadmi (Potawatomi), Kaskaskia, and Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo) peoples, who have stewarded that place for generations.

As a woman who now lives and works in Denver, Colorado, who also grew up and attended school in Indiana, I carry a responsibility to honor the enduring connections of Indigenous peoples to those lands and waters. I invite you to join me in reflecting on your own relationship to the land where you work and live, and its original caretakers.

In acknowledgment of these truths and as an advocate for all women to dismantle the ongoing legacies of patriarchal, racist, and colonial oppression, inequities, and practices, I especially honor the Indigenous peoples’ Elders and women, and the community they created as caretakers, artisans, and leaders.