Native American History & Heritage

A group of young women and a tribal leader from the Ute tribe stand in the History Colorado Center in traditional garb.

Native American History & Heritage

History Colorado documents and shares the living history of Indigenous peoples who originally inhabited this state. Through a rich collection of experiences—exhibitions and publications, lectures and lesson plans, events both online and in-person—the history and heritage of Native Americans is available for all Colorado communities. These experiences are created and curated in partnership with Tribal government, and are offered statewide and year round.

History Colorado is committed to continued work with Tribal partners to ensure that we are aligned with both the law and spirit of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Learn more by clicking here.

Land Acknowledgment

We acknowledge that the land currently known as Colorado has been the traditional homelands of Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. We are grateful to work in partnership with the 48 sovereign nations who continue to call this land home. Together, we plan exhibits; collect, preserve, and interpret artifacts; do archaeological work; tell the stories of Colorado's original peoples in our publications; and create educational programs to share the history of Colorado.

Photo of Amache Ochinee Prowers — Amache Ochinee Prowers was a mediator between Colorado territorial settlers, Mexicans, and Native Americans during the 1860s and 1870s.

History Colorado PH.PROP.5489

Three people observe a projected image of an antique photograph, depicting a seated Native American man in western dress. — Through a moving combination of historic photographs and scans of slave census records, *Unsilenced: Indigenous Enslavement in Southern Colorado* tells the often forgotten story of Native Americans held in slavery in Southern Colorado long after the practiced was made illegal.

Photo by Kim Marquez.

This Jackson photo is one of the first photographs ever shot of the cliff dwellings in the Mesa Verde region.

History Colorado 84.192.1438

An exhibit space at Ute Indian Museum. On the walls are panels featuring landscapes and labels. In the center of the space are traditional clothing in glass cases. On one wall is a television screen providing additional information about the exhibit. — Exhibits at the Ute Indian Museum detail the long and living history of the Ute tribes of Colorado through artifacts, panels, and oral histories. The exhibits were the product of years of partnership and cooperation with Ute representatives and Tribal historians.

Art by Gregg Deal — Artwork by Gregg Deal (Pyramid Lake Paiute), on view at the History Colorado Center, August 2020-July 2021, and at the Ute Indian Museum, September 2021-January 2022. Courtesy of the artist.

courtesy of the artist

120818 WOTL, Ryan Erickson, History Colorado — Members of the Ute Indian communities of Colorado and Utah celebrated the opening of the *Written on the Land: Ute Voices, Ute History* exhibit in Denver with a round dance. Exhibits at the Ute Indian Museum in Montrose and History Colorado Center in Denver were co-created through 13 face-to-face consultations with representatives of the three Ute Tribes. Hundreds of Ute people traveled from Fort Duchesne, Utah, Ignacio, Colorado, and Towaoc, Colorado, to honor and celebrate the exhibit openings.

History Colorado

group of Southern Ute men on horseback — View of Southern Ute war party on horseback. Photo by Horace S. Poley, 1899.

History Colorado. 95.200.112

For the opening of *Written on the Land*, History Colorado hosted a Tribal VIP reception for members of the three Ute Tribes.

Ute woman carrying her baby in a traditional hide cradleboard, 1895-1905.

History Colorado.

Duncan and Patterson — Dr. Patterson (left) and Clifford Duncan (right) worked together for almost a decade not only at the Shavano Valley site, but also at other sites in Colorado and Utah.

Photo by Josh McDaniel.

NAGPRA & Tribal Consultation

NAGPRA is the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, a federal law that was enacted in 1990. History Colorado operates in full compliance with this act to return sacred objects, funerary items, objects of cultural patrimony, and other cultural items to the Indigenous peoples from which they were taken, as well as to work with tribal consultants to protect indigenous sacred sites and graves.

The guiding philosophy of History Colorado's NAGPRA program is to establish a relationship of cooperation and partnership with Native American communities and lineal descendants. To learn more about NAGPRA and how History Colorado is working to meet these standards, please visit the following pages:

NAGPRA Program

History Colorado has adopted an active program of implementing the provisions of the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Our NAGPRA program philosophy is summarized in the following statement:

NAGPRA calls for the establishment of new relationships between museums and Native Americans—relationships that reflect a spirit of cooperative interaction and partnership. It is of critical importance that History Colorado staff and administrators support an approach to NAGPRA issues that reflects a commitment to sustaining such relationships. This requires open and full communications with interested Native American communities and lineal descendants regarding History Colorado collections, as well as an institutional intent to consider repatriation claims for human remains and objects that fall under the law.

Exhibitions & Initiatives

A tipi at sunset. Over the tipi fly two flags: the flag of the United States, and the white flag of peace.

The Sand Creek Massacre

The Betrayal that Changed Cheyenne and Arapaho People Forever

Written on the Land

History Colorado Center

Ute Indian Museum

Ute STEM Project

Statewide Initiative

Unsilenced: Indigenous Enslavement in Southern Colorado

Fort Garland

Gregg Deal's "Merciless Indian Savages"

Contemporary Indigenous Art Exhibition

Events

View all events →

Media

From the Colorado Magazine

“A Lasting Disgrace”

Nov 29, 2021

In 1903, The Denver Post investigative journalist Polly Pry exposed abuses at the Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School that shocked the nation. Her reporting brought to light the mistreatment of Native children that was all too common at boarding schools throughout the nation.
“Obliterate and Forget”

Oct 31, 2023

As the discovery of mass graves containing the bodies of hundreds of young children at multiple Indian boarding schools in Canada focuses a spotlight on the abuses that took place at many of these schools throughout North America, we look at the history of these institutions in the United States and their legacy in Colorado.
An Ethnobotany Garden Grows in Montrose

Apr 1, 2021

The Ute Indian Museum's Ethnobotany Garden is a haven for plants native to the Western Slope and used by Colorado's oldest residents.
Understanding Amache: The Archaeobiography of a Victorian-Era Cheyenne Woman

Mar 5, 2021

Composed around 1870, the photographic portrait of Amache Ochinee Prowers is a window into her complex world. Amache’s direct gaze at the camera exudes a confident strength. She seems at home in the Victorian studio setting, and her garb is fitting for a woman of that era, complete with heavy jewelry and a ruffled shirtwaist. Yet the careful observer might note that she lacks the foundation upon which proper women’s dress of that time was constructed: a corset. This, and her distinctly Indigenous facial features, let us know that she was no ordinary consumer of Victorian fashions. Amache was a full-blood member of the Cheyenne nation.
Women of the Borderlands

Feb 25, 2021