Searching for Truth and Reconciliation, the Colorado Example

“Part of that is acknowledging the past wrong doings and acknowledging the checkered history that Colorado has with American Indians.”

Ernest Ernest House Jr., Executive Director of the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs will speak at the Boulder History Museum on November 19th, as part of their third annual Chief Niwot Forum. House Jr. says the title of the talk comes from the search for truth and reconciliation “part of that is acknowledging the past wrong doings and acknowledging the checkered history that Colorado has with American Indians.”

House House Jr. is a member of the Ute tribe from South Western Colorado “we’ve always said the Utes have been the oldest continuous residents of the state, and yet we’re 7 hours away…and so obviously a lot of folks up here don’t know about the Utes.” House Jr. says that aside from the Utes, here are 46 other historic tribes in Colorado that were forcibly removed by treaty and currently residing in other states around Colorado “This has historically been the crossroads for numerous tribes.” House Jr. says the state’s checkered history needs to transform into a strong state/tribal relationship, public apology and acknowledgement of Colorado’s true American Indian history “part of this truth and reconciliation process is acknowledging the strong American Indian history Colorado has and broadening that and advocating for folks to learn about that.”