All Land is Native Land: Indigenous Peoples Deserve Access

The strength and continuity of Indigeneity prevails to this day. Indigenous Peoples are resilient, enduring hundreds of years of attempts to eradicate their existence and culture.

In a recent blog we talked about how the Lipan Apache Texas lineal descendants are rematriating and reclaiming their heritage with the land through the restoration of buffalo to the southern great plains. Losing their homeland to forced relocations and increased conflicts, many integrated with other Apache groups, like the Mescalero Apache, and/or moved to areas like New Mexico, Oklahoma, and northern Mexico.

Descendants remain who are actively working to revitalize culture. Their story is not unlike many from Indigenous Peoples across the continent who have either moved off reservation or whose ancestors were forcibly displaced or coerced into leaving their lands.

Displacement and Relocation

Urban relocation in the 1950s and 60s was used to entice Native Peoples residing on reservations to relocate to nine designated cities in order to assimilate and eliminate cultures. While the campaign promised job opportunities and a better life, Native Peoples were often met with significant challenges like racial discrimination, unemployment, or low-paying jobs. In the end, this was part of a broader termination policy aimed to end federal recognition of Tribes.

Today, there are tens of thousands of urban Indigenous communities across Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Salt Lake City, and beyond, some of whom have been separated from their ancestral lands.

The influence of federal relocation is especially evident in states like Colorado where there are only two federally recognized Tribes—the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute—and 48 Tribal nations that are historically tied to the lands. While many relocated without the influence of the program, the imprints of those affected by urban relocation can still be seen today.

Because of this, Colorado is a historic crossroad and remains so to this day. It’s a place of gathering for Tribes from surrounding states and along the front range to convene, celebrate, and engage in their heritage with the 87 percent of other Indigenous Peoples living off reservation—a vast majority.

This influx of Native Peoples to Denver brought a rich diversity of Tribal nations into the heart of Colorado. Yet for decades, this urban Native population remained largely unrecognized in state policy and public life. Colorado’s Native history is not just a thing of the past—it’s alive, resilient, and continuing to evolve.

From the drumbeats of the Denver March Powwow to the policy changes being written into state law, there’s a renewed sense of visibility and momentum, and we see that represented with the Native-led Institutions that call the state home.

Indigenous Leadership

There are organizations, like the Denver Indian Center, that provide necessary programs, support, resources and connection to cultural heritage for the urban Native population in the Denver metro area.

Other institutions like the Native American Rights Fund, America Indian College Fund, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, First Nations Development Institute, and Native American Bank bring millions of dollars into the state’s economy while advocating for Native cultures. This lends Colorado to be an example of the diversity of Indigenous identities and encapsulates the need for all Indigenous Peoples living in Colorado to feel a sense of belonging.

The last five years have marked a hopeful turning point. State leaders have begun to actively engage with Native communities—both rural and urban. Since 2021 alone, Colorado has passed more than a dozen pieces of legislation focused on Indigenous rights and representation. These range from improving services for Ute communities, to removing harmful Native mascots from public schools, to ensuring Native students can wear traditional regalia at graduation.

Returning Land Access to Indigenous Peoples

In a recently proposed bill, Colorado would grant free access to state parks to the federally recognized Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute in an effort to re-connect Indigenous Peoples with their ancestral lands. This initial step can lead to a bigger vision in which Indigenous Peoples have access to Indigenous places, because one thing is certain: all land is Native land and Indigenous Peoples deserve access in order to rematriate with their cultures and ancestral heritage.

On a broader scale, national parks and other public lands agencies, all of which have a trust responsibility to Tribes, are taking steps to strengthen relationships with Tribal nations through formal co-management and self-governance agreements. Bears Ears National Monument is one example where the Native community has been included to co-steward the land, embodying the principles of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.

Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes also worked together to develop a series of nine new interpretive waysides on the Devils Orchard Nature Trail. The new waysides feature aspects of Indigenous history, perspective, culture, and language. Supporting Tribal subsistence access to federal lands in Alaska is another important avenue to invest in and strengthen a co-stewardship approach that can benefit both people and wildlife.

Indigenous Peoples can also access national parks without paying an entry fee for specific non-recreational activities, such as participating in traditional ceremonies that are part of their religious practices, and access to sacred sites under the Native America Religious Freedom Act.

Still, the work is far from over. Real recognition means more than symbolic gestures—it requires sustained investment, authentic partnerships, and a commitment to telling the full story of this land and her people. After generations of silence, Colorado is beginning to listen. And when we listen closely, we hear not just pain and struggle, but resurgence and beauty.