The session recording will be archived on the site until June 25th, 2023

This session was streamed but not recorded

Curated Track: 

Description:

Denver is a vital gathering point for Native people, the ancestral and current territory of nearly 50 tribal nations and thousands of Denver residents who are Native American or Alaska Native. This session is a conversation among Native-led organizations in the Denver and Boulder areas, highlighting their work to support the lives and resurgence of Native people in often-urbanized contexts. This is a critical area for consideration, because in the U.S., about 70% of people identifying as American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) live in cities, and 33% live in 26 major metropolitan areas (National Urban Indian Family Coalition).



Federal policies of the 20th century, especially beginning in the 1950s, continued the displacements and dispossessions of previous centuries, and accelerated Native peoples’ migration to cities through “voluntary” relocation policies—for which Denver was a major site—and through the termination of financial aid and treaty obligations, including the termination of Federal recognition for 109 tribes. The legacy of those policies continues to be felt, alongside fresh, current challenges to land rights, cultural sovereignty, and Tribal governance.



This panel engages the insight of three longtime advocates based in Denver and Boulder, working in family services, work and wealth generation, housing, and land and cultural sovereignty at the local, regional, and national levels. The panel will explore the successes and challenges in preserving and protecting Native lives and culture, followed by small group discussions engaging in the question of how geographers can better support sovereign Native rights and cultural preservation.



Introduction and Land Acknowledgment: Emily T. Yeh, professor of Geography, University of Colorado-Boulder; Immediate Past President, AAG



Moderator: Andrew Curley, Assistant Professor of Geography, University of Arizona



Panelist: Lucille Echohawk, co-founder and interim executive director, Denver Indian Family Resource Center is a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. She has worked for more than 40 years on behalf of Tribal Nations, their families and communities at the local, state, and national levels. In addition to her work with DIFRC, she was a strategic advisor for Casey Family Programs and serves on several national and local advisory committees and boards, including the National Support Committee for the Native American Rights Fund, the Board of Directors of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, and Advisory Committees to Denver and Adams Counties' ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) Courts. She earned a B.A. at Brigham Young University and a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education at Loyola University, Chicago.



Panelist: Rick Waters, co-executive director of the Denver Indian Center (DIC). A member of the Kiowa Tribe and Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, he has lived in Colorado since 1984. Prior to joining the Denver Indian Center in 2017, he has worked in Indian Country for 40+ years, including positions as the national director of Tribal relations with the University of Phoenix, senior director of corporate and foundation relations with the American Indian College Fund, assistant director of admissions at the University of Colorado-Boulder, and community liaison with the Dallas Independent School District Indian Education Program. Originally from Oklahoma, Rick is married with 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren.



Panelist: John E. Echohawk, a member of the Pawnee Nation, is a co-founder and the longtime executive director of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). He has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal and has received numerous service awards and other recognition for his leadership in the Indian law field. As the first graduate of the University of New Mexico’s special program to train Indian lawyers in 1970, he was a founding member of the American Indian Law Students Association while in law school. John has been with NARF since its inception in 1970, having served continuously as Executive Director since 1977. He serves on the Boards of the American Indian Resources Institute, the Association on American Indian Affairs, the Indigenous Language Institute, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.

Non-Presenting Participants