Do you know your Native American History?

From the Golden Transcript

I am an active member in the Golden Anti-racism Collective. A group of citizens who share concern about racism in Golden and fighting against it. I’m also on the city council’s Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion sub committee. In that capacity myself and Patty Evans read a statement condemning the vandalism of some public signs with racist messages in Golden (Jefferson County open space) in November of 2024. Whether it is 2024, or 1924, or 1859, Golden has had demonstrated racism. Sometimes this was directed at Blacks, but at our founding, at Native Americans. To get the true history of the Golden area and the Native Americans who were here actually takes some effort and commitment. The readily available information mostly comes from the Golden Transcript and local historians and is limited to what was published, often with an agenda. But in 2022, with a group of Native American historians, an “ethnography” study was completed of the Native American History, told from their perspective. Please take the time to read the ethnography report available from the museum for free for download.

From the report summary is this information, reiterating that this report is a starting point, and work is continuing.

SUMMARY Contemporary Indigenous communities consulted during this project conceptualize the Clear Creek Valley and associated tablelands as a place within their aboriginal homelands. While the settlement by Euro-Americans of the Clear Creek Valley created lasting and profound effects for the Indigenous people of the area, it is a secondary, and less important part of their history. More important, were the lifeways and histories that preceded Euro-American settlement for the 12,000 years prior. Ute bands, including the Moghwachi̱, Tabeguache, and Uncompahgre have called the area home since the time of their Creation, and Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes view the Front Range of Colorado as part of their traditional homelands for over three centuries.

Indigenous terms for landforms, plants, animals, trails, waterways illustrate the connections between traditional knowledge systems and oral traditions and historical events. Indigenous terms for locations overlap in five area places (Table 6.1). A review of recorded Native American archaeological sites in Golden determined that at least 59 known sites have been recorded in the area.

To date, the significance of these sites has only been evaluated from a Euro-American perspective and set of values. Participating tribes and previous ethnographic research conducted along the Front Range and in Colorado indicate that these sites have likely been undervalued, and that their significance to elicit more information and understanding of Indigenous lifeways in the area should be assumed.

In general, these sites represent a continuous Indigenous presence in the area and every effort should be made to create opportunities for Native American cultural advisors to evaluate these ancestral sites for their historic and contemporary significance.