Indigenous / Native American Resources

Indigenous / Native American [both terms used interchangeably] resources, rich with primarily Native voices, are offered here for all levels of interest – Turtle Island and Colorado tribes. Compiled by Right Relationship Boulder’s Education and the Schools Working Group

Introduction to Resources

Before going into these resources, please take time to understand selection criteria when evaluating and using Indigenous Resources.  Read “Suggested Selection Criteria for Indigenous Material”

There are 574 Federally  recognized tribes each with their own history and culture as well as state university libraries providing information on tribes in their state. There are also federally unrecognized tribes in most states. 

Among thousands of resources, we are presenting information with which we have become familiar.  We have organized it in this particular way. However, you may find information of interest to you in more than one of our chosen groupings.

We have made an effort to be selective in resources which we suggest, with emphasis on Native voices.

Indigenous Peoples offer these important contributions to us all about Life, the Earth, our future together and the stories and history that help us understand what brought us to this point in time.

How resources are organized:  (click bookmark for direct connection)

  1. For Teachers and Educators primarily, many items as well for the general public : –Indigenous Resources for Teachers 2021, –Lesson Plans      ( several sources ) , –Teacher/student offerings:
  2. Adult Learning –  Indigenous People of Turtle Island/Colorado
  3. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
  4. Books by Native authors of Turtle Island
  5. Films, Media recommended
  6. Indigenous Organizations in Colorado 
  7. Non-Native Allies with Native Peoples organizations and program
  8. Indigenous Artists, Musicians and Poets – a selection / resources
  9. Field Trips recommended 

Indigenous / Native American Resources

  1. For Teachers and Educators primarily, many items as well for the general public –  Indigenous Resources for Teachers  Our RRB Education in the Schools Group put on a program for Boulder County Colorado teachers in 2021 at the Museum of Boulder and created this recommended list of which is also of use by the general public. See further info on the Education and Schools Group 2021 program here.
  • Lesson Plans and Curriculum, which we recommend to teachers

A. Bioneers.org , an organization dedicated to informing and inspiring with a focus area called Indigeneity staffed by Native women, who have created a number of lesson plans; and podcasts in addition many talks by Indigenous people from 25 years of conferences

B. Leigh Houser/Rick Williams: – People of the Sacred Land –Elementary curriculum –Compelling Question: How did the U.S. Government and Westward Expansion change the ways in which Native People live? –People of the Sacred Land – Middle School curriculum – Compelling Question: In what ways has the U.S. Government observed (or not observed) Native Sovereignty?

C. See Colorado’s – Ute curriculum 

D. See Wyoming’s Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone 

E. See Montana’s 12 tribes including Northern Cheyenne

F. See National Museum of the American Indian  tab: Education

2. Resources for Learning about Indigenous People  is a set of extensive resources compiled in 2021 for adults who want to learn more about Indigenous issues.   They are numerous, offering 10 pages of items listed by subjects we focused on.

3. MMIW/G   Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls:   see resources on RRB website:  https://rightrelationshipboulder.org/mmiw-who-she-is/

4. Books which we recommend

A. An Indigenous Peoples History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, adapted by Debbie Reese & Jean Mendoza, reviewed, also recommended for adult reading

B. An Indigenous Peoples History of the United States the original and reviewed by the Zinn Education Project with additional lesson plans

C. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

D. Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.   Robin Wall Kimmerer, adapted by Monique Gray Smith, reinforces how ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s plants; with informative sidebars, reflection questions, and art from illustrator Nicole Neidhardt,

E. Sacred Instructions, Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit Based Change by Sherri Mitchell   and interview  What if Indigenous Wisdom Could Save the World?

F. Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future, ed. Melissa K. Nelson from  Indian Country Books Awareness of Indigenous Knowledge is reemerging at the eleventh hour to help avert global ecological and social collapse…  showing us how to live in peace–with the earth and one another. Original Instructions evokes the rich Indigenous storytelling tradition in this collection of presentations gathered from the annual Bioneers conference.

G. Think Indigenous: Native American Spirituality for a Modern World by Doug Good Feather  A guide to integrating indigenous thinking into modern life for  a more interconnected and spiritual relationship with our fellow  beings, Mother Earth, and the natural ways of the universe.  Doug Good Feather is a Lakota descendant and the founder of Spirit Horse Nation, a human rights and environmental organization. 

H. Native American titles for elementary readers

I. Ideas for Language Arts/Humanities lessons which were offered to our local school district in 2020.

Note: the Boulder Public Library has an Ethnic Diversity Source that people can use to find resources on all different ethnic groups, including Native Americans

5.  Films and Media recommended by members of our RRB organization

NOTE:  section still in process  (any basic and excellent films others want to suggest? )

  • The Doctrine of Discovery Unmasking the Domination Code  the collaborative efforts by Dakota filmmaker and Director Sheldon Wolfchild and Co-Producer Steven Newcomb (Shawnee, Lenape),  based on Newcomb’s thirty years of research, and his book Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (Fulcrum, 2008), of the first Christian people to locate lands inhabited by non-Christians (“infidels, heathens, and savages”) and claimed the right to assert a right of domination ….
  • Oyate elevates the voices of Indigenous activists, organizers, and politicians on the Standing Rock experience and the history behind it.  Illuminates the interconnectivity between the issues facing Indian Country today, and looks towards a more sovereign and sustainable future for their people.
  • End of the Line, the Women of Standing Rock  the incredible story of a small group of Indigenous women who risk their lives to stop the $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline construction that desecrated their ancient burial and prayer sites and threatens their land, water, and very existence.
  • Who She Is an engaging documentary that highlights lives of four women from Wind River in Wyoming caught in the MMIW epidemic in the U.S. 
  • Fort Chambers in Boulder CO: A call for Boulder to reckon with our history and work toward right relationship with Indigenous peoples today, a a 30-minute slide presentation  by Right Relationship Boulder’s Land Working Group about the history of Boulder’s Fort Chambers and how the site can be protected to honor the Arapaho and Cheyenne people. The Land Working Group aims to secure lands in the Boulder area where Indigenous people can reestablish a presence in their homelands. To request a slide presentation in person or online, contact paulaRpalmer@gmail.com.

Throughout our country, people are re-assessing how we memorialize our history, especially in regard to racial injustice and conflict.. Boulder City’s Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) department is considering how to protect and develop the site of Fort Chambers, one of the staging grounds for the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre where 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho people were killed. Right Relationship Boulder is advocating for Cheyenne and Arapaho people to determine how this history should be memorialized at the Fort Chambers OSMP site.

6. Indigenous / Native American Organizations and Programming in Colorado …  and some national organizations

  • KGNU.org  Indian Voices on Sundays at 3 pm 88.5 FM  for an hour, Host: Theresa Halsey Explores Native American Issues, Music and Culture.
  • First Nations Development Institute https://www.firstnations.org weekly newsletter with Native news from around Turtle Island, focused on support for projects
  • Harvest of All First Nations https://hafnco.org/  Indigenous led collaborative empowering communities through projects and education
  • The Native American Rights Fund (NARF): https://narf.org/ holds governments accountable. We fight to protect Native American rights, resources, and lifeways through litigation, legal advocacy, and legal expertise. 
  • Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies https://www.colorado.edu/cnais/ CNAIS provides Native students and faculty an intellectual and social home at CU Boulder. We promote collaborative research focusing on both local and global Indigenous knowledge and foster wide ranging NAIS projects that aim to open conversations both in Colorado and the world.
  • AIYLI American Indian Youth Leadership Institute Founder, Ime Salazar  .To unite, instill pride and to support communication between American Indian students and the community who…
  • The Denver Indian Center, Inc. grew to meet the unique needs of the urban American Indian in the Denver metro area. DICI has served thousands of members of the American Indian community by providing necessary programs, support, resources and connection to their cultural heritage. 
  • The NDN Collective – an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.
  • Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples offers in-person and online presentations of its workshop “Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change: Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples.” In this 2-hour participatory program, we experience the history of the colonization of Turtle Island, the land that is now known as the United States through the words of Indigenous leaders, European/American leaders, and Western historians. 

With experiential exercises and small group discussions, we are invited to consider how we can build relationships with Indigenous peoples based on truth, respect, justice, and our shared humanity. This workshop is appropriate for high school students and adults. A shorter interactive program for middle schools, “Re-Discovering America: Understanding Colonization” is also available.

Register/contact for next online workshop: co-director, Paula Palmer: paulaRpalmer@gmail.com

7. Non-Native Allies with Native Peoples organizations and programs

  • The Control Group  “ Breathing Healing into the Banks of Sand Creek” an immersive theater experience in CO  2024
  • Empathy Theatre Project  “”We’re Still Here: A New American Musical”  January 24- February 9, 2025: {coming again to the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder)
  • Indigenous Allies   https://www.saintambrosechurch.org/indigenousallies  We seek, through our work together, to establish right relationship with Indigenous people, to learn the truth of the past and present, to reckon with our role in the harms caused, and to stand in solidarity with our Indigenous kin as we seek an equitable future together.
  • Right Relationship Boulder  We are Indigenous and non-Native people working with individuals, local organizations and governments to support Indigenous Peoples’ connection to land, raise Indigenous voices  and practice right relationships with the Native peoples who lived in the Boulder Valley historically and those who live here today.. 
  • Rising Voices The Rising Voices Center for Indigenous and Earth Sciences   May 6-8, 2024 The workshop theme is: Co-creating Research, Policy, Practice, and Action: The Rising Voices of Indigenous Peoples and Partners in Earth Systems Science.
  • Tipi Raisers  https://www.thetipiraisers.org/  In direct partnership with our Native relatives, we engage youth and volunteers of all ages as we address conditions of poverty on Native reservations, amplify Indigenous wisdom and create unique opportunities for reconciliation.   We are a multi-cultural and intergenerational community.

8. Indigenous Artists, Musicians and Poets – a selection / resources

  • Robert Martinez, painter   Excellent video in which he talks about his painting work. 

9. Field Trips

Sand Creek at History Colorado Museum in Denver – from the perspectives of Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal representatives, drawn from oral histories that have been passed down for generations. Cheyenne and Arapaho people continue living with the unresolved trauma the massacre left behind. 

Theme: Overlay by Kaira.