Speaker 0: All right. Right on. Thank you, Councilwoman Sandoval. All right. Proceeding along. There are no presentations this evening. There are no communications. There is one proclamation being read this evening. Counsel Pro Tem Torres, will you please read Proclamation 20 1-1202.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Madam President. Proclamation number 21, dash 1202 in observance of the sixth annual Indigenous People's Day in city and County of Denver. Whereas the Council of the City and County of Denver recognizes that the indigenous peoples have lived and flourished on the lands known as the Americas since time immemorial, and that Denver and the surrounding communities are built upon the ancestral homelands of numerous indigenous tribes, including the southern Ute, Ute mountain tribes of Colorado. And. Whereas, the tribal homelands and seasonal encampments of the Arapaho and Cheyenne peoples along the banks of the Cherry Creek and South Platte River in Confluence gave bearing to future settlements that would become the birthplace of the Mile High City. And. Whereas, Colorado encompasses ancestral homelands 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 of the City and County of Denver unanimously passed Council Bill 16, Dash 801, officially designating the second Monday in October 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 best contributions made to the 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 Council of the City and County of Denver acknowledges that the health, wellness and safety of our indigenous community is of paramount importance for current and future generations to thrive and contribute to our whole community. And. Whereas, in the vein of promoting wellness, healing and Safety, it was an indigenous community members diligence persistence that exposed an active and nearly 150 year old state proclamation that threatened the health and personal safety of the Indigenous community. And. Whereas, that same Indigenous community members leadership brought formal and public rescission of that ongoing historical trauma contributor. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Council, the city and county of Denver, the that the Council of the City and County of Denver celebrates and honors its cultural and foundational contributions of indigenous people to our past, present and future, and continues to promote the education of the Denver community about these historical and contemporary contributions of indigenous people. That the city and county of Denver, Colorado does hereby observe October 11th, 2021, as Indigenous Peoples Day, and that the city and the Kirk of the city and county of Denver shall attest and affixed the seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation, and that the copy be transmitted to the American Indian Commission and the Colorado Commission on Indian Affairs.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Counselor Pro Tem Torres. Your motion to adopt.
Speaker 7: I move that proclamation 20 1-12. Oh, to be adopted.
Speaker 0: Thank you. It's been moved and seconded. Comments by members of Council Counsel Pro Tem Torres.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Madam President. It is an honor to continue to acknowledge today through proclamation. It was our District three predecessor, now Clerk Lopez, who carried this bill with the work of the American Indian Commission. So I thank them, I think his work. But overall, I really do think that community for ensuring we are reflective, we are accountable and we are transparent when it comes to acknowledging, correcting, including and prioritizing our indigenous community in Denver. So thank you to the commission. Thank you to Rick Williams and your family. And thank you to all of our organizations who carry on this work.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Council Pro-Tem Torres. Councilwoman Ortega.
Speaker 7: Sorry. I'm not sure if that's on.
Speaker 0: So I'm sure now. Okay, go ahead.
Speaker 7: Gentlemen, tourists, thank you for bringing this forward again this year. I think it's important to acknowledge the presence and contributions that our native community has contributed to the city of Denver. Our our history originated down at the Confluence Park. And speaking of Parks Councilwoman Commission, I have served on a committee that has looked at a number of our city parks and other properties that have looked at whether we should be renaming or reframing and educating our community. And there are a number of those that have been recommended to move forward to the Parks Department for some renaming. And so that is in follow up to a lot of this work that has continued since Councilman Paul Lopez brought this forward. So I just want to acknowledge that and those of you who have been part of those discussions. So thank you very much. Madam President.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Ortega. And I'll just go ahead and chime in here. I really appreciate my colleague, Council Pro Tem Torres, continuing on this tradition and sponsoring this proclamation. It's very important and it provides the correct history that we want to make sure and continue on within our communities and really appreciate all of the support and work that our partners, especially our commission and community members, continue on doing this work to make sure that we are acknowledging folks in the proper way. And so with that being said, Madam Secretary, roll call, please.
Speaker 5: Sandoval.
Speaker 7: I. Torres I.
Speaker 2: Last class if1i Herndon.
Speaker 1: I High High.
Speaker 5: Cashman.
Speaker 1: High.
Speaker 5: Kinney.
Speaker 7: I.
Speaker 5: Ortega Sawyer I Madam President.
Speaker 0: I Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.
Speaker 5: 12 Hours.
Speaker 0: 12 eyes Proclamation 20 1-1 to oh two has been adopted. Counsel Pro Tem Torres will go ahead and start the timer. But I understand we've got a few more folks this evening. And so we want to give people the respect and time to accept this proclamation. And so we'll go ahead and hand it over to you.
Speaker 7: Thank you so much. And it's my honor to welcome up Christina maldonado, Bad Hand and Danielle Walker, co-chairs of the American Indian Commission. All right. Okay.
Speaker 4: Right. Thank you. I'm Cristina maldonado, Barron and co-chair the Denver American Indian Commission. My parents have been a part of the Denver community and native community for a long time, and now me being their youngest, being here is a very meaningful thing for me. And I will let Daniel Andrews. I'm here to stay quiet, be washed and to be with you. My chappy, my papa Lakota not E-R was lata. Not a tradition going in Manhattan, Denver, Colorado, L.A.. I greet you all, my relatives. I My name is Danielle Skywalker. I am Papa Lakota from the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, or also known as the great Sue Nation of the North Dakota. And I just really want to say thank you so much for recognizing indigenous people. Recognizing that we're still here, we're still contributing in very good, positive, thriving ways in this community, and we will continue.
Speaker 7: To do so.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much. And now we'd like to introduce Rick Williams, who is an elder in our community, to come up and say some words as well. And I just want to say, as he's coming up here, that he was the one that led the charge of the 157 year old banishing that proclamation where it made it legal until August of 2021 to kill Native Americans. And he was the one that decided that that's absolutely wrong. And we can't even believe that that was part of current day history.
Speaker 1: Oh my, don't calliope, let alone better.
Speaker 8: Leila Washtenaw Indigenous Day is a very good thing.
Speaker 9: It's been a long time coming. My great, great great.
Speaker 8: Grandfather was Whitehorse. He was part of the military societies that lived here for generations and generations and generations. When I learned, I wanted to learn more about him. And when I started that investigation, I found the proclamation that was still a law that allowed citizens of Colorado to kill Indians. We got it removed was a great victory.
Speaker 1: But it's only the beginning. I challenge each and every one of you to read two books.
Speaker 8: The huge must go and chief left hand, and you will learn the real history of Colorado.
Speaker 1: You will learn that.
Speaker 8: The city of Denver.
Speaker 2: Was culpable.
Speaker 8: In the taking of Indian land in 1861.
Speaker 1: You will learn that.
Speaker 8: This land that we're living on right now. Was disputed by a federal district attorney who said this land was never ceded and nothing was ever done about it.
Speaker 1: You will learn a lot.
Speaker 8: About the history of Colorado, but I think most of all. And it's you know, it's really sad to know that because of this history, there were no reservations on the front range of Colorado nor on the Eastern Plains. And it was because of one word genocide.
Speaker 9: All of the proclamations.
Speaker 8: Led to the Sand Creek massacre, which virtually eliminated the people from the Eastern Plains and the front range. And that's the legacy we have today.
Speaker 1: I thank you again. I appreciate it. In Oklahoma, Dr. Roxie Romulo.
Speaker 4: Now. I'd also like to welcome Rafael Maldonado back and he is our artist recipient for Artist Award 2020.
Speaker 1: I am off. I am running out of bad hand. I am an indigenous American comic artist. I do have some work here that I'd like to share. Assuming I can figure it out. I've never been good at this stuff, so I apologize. Um. I created a book called Pia, and the lead character is a nine year old little girl who is surviving on her own in a post-apocalyptic world where everything is just kind of gone to the wayside. And we are now prey for every little, little and big creatures that are around. She gets separated from her dad, and she's surviving by learning the lessons that he was teaching her throughout their childhood and now trying to find him on her own. So all these little creatures kind of just represent the struggles that our children are going through currently in life. It's also a book to represent the strength that our children have and the fact that they can carry on and the surprises that they have to show us as parents and even elders. I do collaborate with local artists and artists around in the US. The first cover here was actually by my wife Cristina maldonado. That hand, the second one in the row there it was by AC Kanellis. He is a local artist native. And that third one there is by Andrew Sanchez. He's out of New Mexico. And then this fourth one over here, the little cute one was by a real close friend of ours named Bob Parks. And he's a local resident as well. So I like to kind of get out and show a little more diversity with everybody. This is currently a book that I'm going to be working on with Richard Crow Song out of Seattle. It is Billy the Boy Bomb, and it takes place in the nineties and it deals with a lot of trauma that's on the reservations, but also with a superhero stick to it as well. So it's dealing with kids that are coming to terms with what's going on in their world and one boy standing up to everything and trying to right what's wrong and standing up to injustice. But yeah, that's pretty much it. I mean. And thank you very much.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 0: Well, very good. Well, thank you all for joining us this evening. And we appreciate you sharing your stories and the work that you're continuing on and sharing the couple of books and what we can do to continue to educate ourselves about this. And so really appreciate you being here. And it's an honor to acknowledge and celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day and all the accomplishments and the history as well. Thank you. Counsel Pro Tem Torres. All right. We're going to go ahead and move on in our agenda this evening.
A proclamation in observance of the Sixth Annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the City and County of Denver.