A proclamation in observance of the Third Annual Indigenous Peoples Day in the City and County of Denver.
Thank you, Councilman Brooks. Seeing no other announcements, we are going to move on. There are no presentations this evening and there are no communications. But we do have two proclamations. Councilman Lopez. I think the first one up is yours. Would you like to read the proclamation? 1154. Yes, Mr. President. Thank you. Proclamation 1150 forces of 2018 and observance of the third annual Indigenous Peoples Day in the city and county of Denver. Whereas the Council, the city and county of Denver recognizes the indigenous people have lived and flourished on the lands known as the Americas since time immemorial, and that the Denver that Denver and the surrounding communities are built upon the ancestral homelands of numerous indigenous tribes, including the southern, the new mountain ute tribes of Colorado. And. Whereas, the tribal homelands and seasonal encampments of the Rapido and Cheyenne peoples along the banks of the Cherry Creek and South Platte River confluence gave bearing to future settlements that would become the birthplace of the Mile High City. And. Whereas, Colorado encompasses ancestral homeland of 48 tribes, and the city and county of Denver and surrounding communities are home to descendants of approximately 100 tribal nations. And. WHEREAS, on October 3rd, 2016, the Council, the city and county of Denver unanimously passed council bills 16 Dash 801 officially designated in the second Monday of each year as Indigenous Peoples Day in Denver, Colorado. And. WHEREAS, the Council of the City and County of Denver continues to recognize and value the vast contributions made to our community through indigenous peoples knowledge, science, philosophy, arts and culture. And through these contributions, the City of Denver has developed and thrived. And. Whereas, the Indigenous communities elected and appointed tribal, local officials, community leaders and educational leaders are vital components to the community awareness issue visibility, education, informed decision making, and supporting students in developing greater connections between science and indigenous communities. And. Whereas, this year, Indigenous leaders of all types from across the country will gather here in Denver beginning on October 21st for the 75th Annual National Congress of the American Indians Yearly Meeting to discuss specific issues affecting indigenous communities relevant to Denver and throughout the country, including continued advocacy for public lands as monuments, protections for the benefit of all individuals now therefore being proclaimed by the Council of the City and County of Denver, Section one. The Council, the City and County of Denver celebrates and honors the cultural and foundational contributions of indigenous people to our history. Past, present and future. And continues to promote the education of the Denver community. Of the about these historical and contemporary contributions indigenous people section to the city and county of Denver, Colorado does hereby observe October eight, 2018 as Indigenous Peoples Day. Section three at the clerk of the city and county of Denver shall a test and affixed a seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation, and that a copy be transmitted to the Denver American Indian Commission and the Colorado Commission on Indian Affairs. Thank you, Councilman Lopez. Your motion to adopt. Mr. President, I move that council proclamation 1154 series of 2018 be adopted. It has been moved and seconded comments by members of council. Councilman Lopez. Thank you, Mr. President. I you know, it's awesome to be able to read this proclamation for the third time while actually that the third time is Indigenous Peoples Day, the fourth time as recognizing the support for it. You wouldn't have known this but about. Seven or eight. I'm out 8 hours ago. Just down the street on I 25. I was in the town of Pueblo. And I was having homemade fry bread in this in this pueblo, in this ancient home. Right. And I was drinking Cafecito, and I was drinking that New Mexico coffee. And I was talking about how Colorado chilies better than New Mexican chili and Pueblo. Anyway, bourbon's. Meatier, but it's better. And. She tells me, Oh, you know, that it's Indigenous Peoples Day. I said, I didn't know that. You see, I took my daughter over the weekend to find our great grandmother's, her great grandmother's grave and little town of when I was done in New Mexico. Nobody knew or knew where I was at. We just went word of mouth and we found it. And to see my my daughter there, powerfully standing over her, her grave and given her thanks, was powerful for me. And we went to the Pueblo. We're reading. And so she says, yes, did you know that? And I said, I did know that she was. How did you know that she was? I'm from Denver. She goes, That's right. You all have Indigenous Peoples Day. She goes, Congratulations. I didn't say a word about oil. Well, we had a little something to do with it. But just to know that in an end and in a place like the Pueblo, like the Taos Pueblo, in a little home made of Adobe, of original adobe earth and hay, to know that this woman who was making fry bread that was super the. Knew about what we did in Denver and how much it meant to her. And she says, we also are asking for our state to recognize that. We recognize that, but we're asking for our state. And we heard about Denver, and we we were so happy, she said. And we got tears in her eyes and saw the know that our impact is not just in our community and our city here in the Mile High City, but far and wide. Right. And even just down this little street, none of the south. It's an inspirational and it's a it's a badge of honor and pride. So I wanted to share that with my colleagues here and with you all in the council chambers, because I felt that that was powerful. We didn't mean to stay another day. It was by accident. We ended up staying another day, but not for me did it. And so I'm glad I made it just in time. Denver traffic to be here and read this. So thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilwoman Lopez. And thank you for bringing this forward again this year. Madam Secretary, roll call. LOPEZ. Hi. Brooks. Hi. Espinosa. Hi. Flynn, I. Gilmore, i. Herndon, I. Cashman. I can. Teach. I knew. Ortega. Hi, Mr. President. Madam Secretary, please close voting and announce the results. Ten days at sea. We're waiting for Ortega. I went to push it and it disappeared from my screen. Here we go. 11 Eyes. 11 Eyes. Proclamation. 1154 has been adopted. Councilman Lopez, is there anyone you'd like to bring up to accept the proclamation? Yes, there is. But before that, I want to make sure that I acknowledge and Susan Ranta, who is in my office, is in my mind. I had in my office my brother, who worked so hard every year to make sure this happens, at least from our own, to work with our commission. So thank you, Jesus, for your work and thank you for helping coordinate and organize this so and helping write the proclamation. So I wanted to invite the following individuals Kimberly Malek, Lucille Echo Hawk, Donna Christian, Chinua Cross, who? Paterson and Christina Badkhen and Lance Soucy to the microphone. Thank you. Councilman Lopez. Thank you. City Council President Clark. We'd like to introduce ourselves where the Denver American Indian Commission. And we also have a representative from the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs today to accept the proclamation recognizing tribal leaders and the vitality and awareness that tribal leaders, community leaders, cultural leaders, educational leaders and economic leaders bring to our community, to Denver, to the front range and to the nation. And so with that, I'd like to take just a few minutes and allow my fellow commissioners to introduce themselves, as well as provide a small and a brief profile on some of our our community leaders. Before I do that, I'm again Kimberly Valle. I'm Eastern Shoshone, just like Sara or Tegan. And I'm also Oglala Sioux from South Dakota. Thank you. Okay. Hello. Me Diana Cousineau, a crochet Patterson, an adult book doe from Blackfeet Nation. I. First of all, I'd like to tell you about one of the mayors diversity and inclusion award and the member that we, the commissioners, decided to choose for this year's award winning. His name is Bill William Tarbell. He is a Cheyenne. And so, as you know, we're here on Cheyenne's land. Bill Tarbell has been doing much, many amazing things in the community with our Denver public schools, with committing community members from all different nations and tribes. And one thing in particular that you may or may not know is that he's been working with Denver Parks and Rec and with the city. The city gifted our indigenous community with a bison. And Bill was able to arrange a meeting with Denver public school students, with community members, with Parks and Rex members, and with the city to harvest that bison and to do it in a traditional way. So he was he deserved the reward this year. And thank you. We talk GAAP you Hotlanta which did not pay to use AP you much AP Donna Christian C John Gounod dinner. Thank you very much. I agree to with a heartfelt handshake. Thank you for honoring indigenous people day today. Thank you very much. I would like to acknowledge all the educators in the room, the two that are on our on our commission as well. And I would also like to do a special acknowledgment to Denver Public Schools for chartering the first school to integrate indigenous knowledge and principals this year in May. So thank you. Yeah. Got a Shaolin associate, a killer Chinese culture. But she's been teaching you just now. Let's go to China. Hey. Hey, everyone. My name's Lance Soucy. I've been on the commission now for two years. I'm a graduate from the University of Denver. I work now for an educational organization called Big City Mountaineers. And I just want to say thank you all for acknowledging Indigenous Peoples Day. Today on this beautiful fall and Denver Day. I also want to highlight one of our amazing community members. Her name is Dana Sultan. She's the executive director of the Rocky Mountain American Indian Chamber of Commerce. And she has been working diligently to support our American Indian community by raising money to support students who identify as American Indian or Native American or indigenous to basically support them with their educational endeavors. And so she works really hard to get scholarship money for our young youth to pursue their dreams in education. And I just really want to highlight this beautiful. Amazing person from our Native American community. So thank you. Hi. I'm Christine. About hand. I'm Chicago, Lakota and Cherokee. And I'm here to introduce Lucille Echo. Hank. Well, let her come and speak her words to you guys. Thank you, Christina. And it's an absolute pleasure to be here this evening. And it's been many years since I've had the pleasure of being in the council chambers with the Denver City Council. And I'm pleased to know that I still know two council members, Councilman Lopez and Ortega. So good to see you both. I'm a citizen of the Pawnee nation of Oklahoma, but I've also resided in greater Denver for more than 37 years. I'm starting to feel old. I am in my fourth term as a member, At-Large member of the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs. I served many years ago under Governor Romer's administration or one of them, and I am delighted that they asked me to come back under Governor Hickenlooper's administration to continue the work of the Colorado Commission and the new two pairs that was founded in 1976, and to support the great work of EARNEST House Junior, our executive director, who sadly just left us. But he's still going to continue in Denver with the Keystone Policy Center, but will be seeking a new executive director for the account for the commission. And we've just done so much, thanks to Ernest. And most recently, a week ago Friday at our meeting in Ignacio, hosted by this other new tribe. The commission, through its member agency, the Colorado Department of Education, presented to the two Ute tribes the first copies of a new curriculum for fourth graders about the peoples of Colorado. And we were just. And I hope it's the first piece of well-researched and documented native history that the next step would be to delve into the history of the Arapaho peoples who were here along this this front range, and other native peoples, the Cheyenne as well. There's so much that needs to be known by Colorado's young people as they grow into adulthood. I was asked to say a few words and thank you, Councilman Lopez, in reading the resolution to speak about the National Congress of American Indians that will be meeting here the week of October 21st. The organization was founded here 75 years ago at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, which, of course, no longer exists in downtown Denver. And so we in the native community here in particular are just thrilled that the organization is coming back to commemorate its 75th anniversary and to recognize its founders. And if you look on the website of the National Congress of American Indians, there is a photo of the founders, some of whom are their descendants, will be here to help commemorate this 75th anniversary. It's been a lot of work, but my pleasure to work with many others here in Greater Denver to support the National Congress, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., to put together their conference where what we call the Denver based local planning committee supporting the many tribal leaders in this region of the country who will host the the the conference. But Denver City and County's own Darius Smith is one. Of those people who stepped up. And has been very, very helpful to us and many other members of the community. What is it they say? If you want something done, ask a busy person. So we've all been very, very busy, but we're looking forward to the conference. It will be at the Hyatt Colorado Division, Colorado Convention Center. So thank you very much. We are very moved that this is the third Indigenous Peoples Day in Denver. Yesterday I was privileged to be in Boulder and be a part of their celebration and and then to read that there were at least four other cities in Colorado that celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, Aspen, Telluride, and I can't remember the other ones, but and other cities across the country are following suit as well. So we as native people are are much appreciative and applaud their efforts. So thank you very much for having me this evening. Thank you. Thank you all very much for being here. Thank you, Chuck.