Overview
Title: Indigenous People in Colorado
Topic: art, military interactions, Native American cultural life, tourism, “vanishing” cultures
Theme/Focus: Different portrayals and perceptions of Native Americans over 150+ years
Location(s): Estes Park, Pueblo, Colorado, Rocky Mountains
Essential/Inquiry Question(s): How do portrayals and perceptions of Native Americans shift over time?
*Images may be downloaded and will save in the highest resolution available from History Matters.
Authors
Morgan Peters & Courtney Cohen
Historical Context/Background
Before Westward expansion by the United States, the lands that would become Colorado and Wyoming were occupied by several Native American tribes. Colorado was home to the Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Navajo tribes, who lived scattered across the Eastern plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the southern desert regions.
In the 1820s and 1830s, traders, explorers, and military expeditions began to make their way through the region, establishing trading posts and forts along areas that would later become major transportation routes like the Overland Trail.
The explosion of settlers during the 1850s, spurred by events like the Colorado Gold Rush and the development of new agricultural lands, increased pressure on Native American populations. The railroad expansion, various stagecoach lines like the Oregon and Overland Trails, and mining operations led to competition for resources which disrupted traditional Native American subsistence lifestyles. This drove Native peoples into conflict with settlers and eventually the U.S. military. One of the most infamous events of this era was the Sand Creek Massacre in November 1864, when Colorado military forces led by Colonel John Chivington attacked a peaceful camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho in southern Colorado, killing at least 150 people, mostly women and children. This massacre heightened tensions between Native groups and U.S. forces and marked a turning point in Native American resistance against U.S. expansion.
Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, Native American tribes in Colorado and Wyoming were systematically pushed onto reservations. The Cheyenne and Arapaho were confined to reservations in what is now Oklahoma, while the Ute were moved to the Southern Ute Reservation in Colorado. On the reservations, Native Americans faced poverty and disease, as well as targeted efforts to erase their culture. The U.S. government imposed assimilation policies, attempting to erase Native cultural practices through boarding schools and the prohibition of traditional religious ceremonies and languages.
In the 20th century, the impact of colonization, forced relocation, and the suppression of Native cultures continued to be felt by the tribes of Colorado and Wyoming.
In Wyoming, the Wind River Indian Reservation is home to both the Northern Arapaho and Shoshone tribes, while Colorado is home to the Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. These tribes have worked to revitalize their languages, improve cultural education, and advocate for environmental and cultural preservation throughout the second half of the 20th century and into the present day.
In the 20th century, the impact of colonization, forced relocation, and the suppression of Native cultures continued to be felt by the tribes of Colorado and Wyoming.
In Wyoming, the Wind River Indian Reservation is home to both the Northern Arapaho and Shoshone tribes, while Colorado is home to the Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. These tribes have worked to revitalize their languages, improve cultural education, and advocate for environmental and cultural preservation throughout the second half of the 20th century and into the present day.
Resources
Howling Wolf Ledger Art
Allen Memorial Art Museum: Howling Wolf
Description: These works are part of a series of over 100 pieces by the artist Howling Wolf (1849-1927), a member of the Southern Cheyenne tribe. Howling Wolf was present at the Sand Creek Massacre as a child and later grew into a warrior in the Southern Cheyenne war band known as the Bowstring Society. When Howling Wolf was held in prison in 1875 at Fort Marion in Florida, he created dozens of works of art showcasing Native life in the mid-19th century.
Possible Inquiry Questions:
- What are these pictures showing us about what Howling Wolf’s life was like?
- Why might the artist have created these works?
Significance: Howling Wolf was a member of the Southern Cheyenne tribe, which called portions of Colorado and Wyoming home. This shows the processes and interactions that took place on our state’s land to make it what it is today. Additionally, using Native American art and artists helps center Indigenous people in the telling of their own stories instead of relying on outside perspectives.
"Vanishing Types of the West," 1915
Rambles on Overland Trails (Library of Congress)
Description: This is a photograph of 8 unnamed Native Americans with the caption “The Vanishing Types of the West. Thomas O’Shaughnessy was a traveler who published his account of traveling on former trails taken by settlers including the Santa Fe Trail and the Overland Trail. He traveled by car for 9 weeks. He took several photographs of sites in New Mexico, California, Utah, and Colorado.
Possible Inquiry Questions:
- What does it mean to be “vanishing”?
- Why did the author choose to caption this image in this way?
Significance: This source highlights a popular view of Native Americans from the early 20th century- that they were on the way out and were “vanishing”. In reality, they were being forced to change by the government and its policies which made it difficult for them to survive.
Carol Highsmith Collection
Carol Highsmith, Colorado Native Americans Collection (Library of Congress)
Description: Carol McKinney Highsmith is an American photographer who documents the landscapes, architecture, and people of the United States in a decades-long project, in progress since the 1980s. Highsmith has donated her photographs to the Library of Congress since 1992, creating a collection of nearly 100,000 images.
Possible Inquiry Questions:
- What do you notice about the people in these pictures?
- How are they dressed similarly or differently to you? To each other?
Significance: This source is significant because it provides the viewer with a look at modern Native Americans and the ways in which they choose to express their culture and heritage. This source will allow students to engage with examples of Native Americans living in the 21st century, rather than past Native Americans.
Federal Boarding Schools
Description: Although based more in La Plata County, Colorado, this picture is a representation of the boarding schools that were created for Native American children. These were created all across the country. Boarding schools were used as a forceful tactic to rid Native Americans of their cultures and languages, and make them adapt to the “white way of life.” The conditions in these schools were cruel, as the students would often be punished if caught practicing or discussing their old cultures.
Significance: This photo shows the changing landscape of Colorado once the settlers arrived. The indigenous tribes had their own way of life, yet it was brutally disrupted when the settlers arrived. New agricultural practices, buildings, culture, and ways of life were imposed on the tribes, and they often did not have a choice. This is because the settlers commonly had a much stronger military force, something they often used against the Native Americans. The photo can be used to give students a visual representation of what is being discussed in class. Often, students cannot picture a solid representation of what is being described to them in class, so by providing them a picture, students will be able to get a better grasp of what they are learning about. This is not just about the schools, but the large cultural shift that took place when settlers arrived in Colorado.
Possible Inquiry Questions:
- Why is it important to look at the things tribes created, and how they compare to the things we see and have today?
Apache in Colorado
Description: This is a video featuring many members of the Apache tribe. They explain their story and the connections they have to the Colorado land. They also explained how they traveled, what the earth meant to them, and the importance of Colorado overall to their tribe. The video goes into detail on the important places to the Apache tribe in Colorado. The video also takes the displacement to the reservation, and how even though they were forcefully put onto this land, they were able to make the best of the situation and create a new home for themselves.
Significance: The Apache tribe lived in Colorado until the 1870s, when they were removed by the government and placed in a reservation in New Mexico. It is important to acknowledge the life the Apache tribe lived in Colorado, and how they were able to interact with the environment around them. Many other tribes have been forcefully removed from their land by the government. We have to acknowledge that even though we are living on this land now, it belonged to tribes, and we need to be aware of the land we are using not just in Colorado, but everywhere.
Possible Inquiry Questions:
- How did the Apache tribe connect with the Colorado land?
- Why is it important to recognize the people that lived here before us?
Pueblo in Colorado
Description: Formerly labeled Anasazi, the Ancestral Puebloan culture is the most widely known of the ancient cultures of Colorado. The people who built the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde were subsistence farmers of corn, beans, and squash. The structures of this culture date to between ca. 350 BC and AD 1300 and are found throughout southwestern Colorado and other adjacent states of the Four Corners region. The great southward migration from this region by AD 1300 marks the end of the Ancestral Puebloan occupation in southwestern Colorado. The sites and histories of this ancestral culture are still valued today in song and prayer by the Pueblo peoples now residing in New Mexico and Arizona.
Significance: Today, pottery produced items are produced in a very similar fashion in the way the Pueblonans produced pottery. We see things today such as clay pots and clay vases, both of which were inspired by the Pueblo tribes. They also created dolls to teach the youth spirituality, religion, and culture. We still see dolls in today’s society. Many other tribes have been forcefully removed from their land by the government. We have to acknowledge that even though we are living on this land now, it belonged to tribes, and we need to be aware of the land we are using not just in Colorado, but everywhere.
Possible Inquiry Questions:
- Why is it important to look at the things tribes created, and how they compare to the things we see and have today?
Arapaho in Colorado
Description: When European colonization started to occur in what is now the United States of America, the Indigenous nation Arapaho was forced to leave their land (modern day Canada and Minnesota) and moved to the Great Plans. Before it was known as Colorado, the land on which we live was referred to as the land along the Platte and Arkansas river. Moving to the Great Plains meant a drastic change in lifestyle, leaving farming behind and instead hunting for buffalo, foraging, and trading. Even though they were forced to move from their homeland, they found connections in nature around them connecting them back to their deeply religious values. They were once again uprooted from the Great Plains, and forced to move a reservation in modern day Wyoming.
Possible Inquiry Questions:
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Why is it important for us to know about the Arapaho tribe?
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Why is it important to recognize the people that lived here before us?
Significance: This allows students to recognize different tribes that were present in Colorado long before we were here. It is important for students to know the history of our state, as well as the history of the people who came here before us. Students can compare the treatment of tribes by European colonizers, as well as understand their way of life in Colorado through perspectives unheard of to them.
Ute Tribe in Colorado
Description: The Ute tribe are known as the oldest residents of Colorado, and they were known for living in harmony with their environment. They often traveled through the mountain ranges of Colorado, while coming to know the animals and plants that inhabited the land. As much as they took from mother earth, they would also give. One thing they did was create an alternative of soap, make rope, baskets, shoes, sleeping mats, and a variety of household items. In order to travel, they also made watertight containers, baskets, bows, arrows, and temporary travel homes. They also had a cold remedy for their day made through plants found in the Rocky Mountains known as Osha. The plant had antiviral and antibacterial elements used to treat colds and respiratory issues.
Possible Inquiry Questions:
- What similarities can we see in the products we use today, in comparison to the products used by the Ute tribe?
Significance: The Ute tribe would travel all across Colorado collecting plant based items that benefitted them as a sort of medicine. The specific plant, Osha, can only be found at high elevation, in places such as Colorado. We have to connect their ways of life to how we have progressed in Colorado. We can combine the many different aspects of the Indigenous tribes’ lives to see how Colorado as a whole had developed overtime, whether it was through medicine, or other tribal practices.
