And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Tallbull memorial site a haven for
Indians
http://insidedenver.com/news/0307park5.shtml
By Tina Griego
News Staff Writer
Tallbull Memorial Grounds has become many things to many
people: a unique symbol of Denver's commitment to its
American Indian residents, a refuge from the relentless creep
of urban sprawl, a place to pray, to plant, to perform.
But when Richard Tallbull picked out the park in 1975, when
he pointed his finger to the hilltop to the south, the rocky
outcropping to the west, the tree line just north, and said,
"This is what we want," he wasn't really thinking about all
that.
"You know," Tallbull said, "I just wanted someplace where
we Indians could get together and make some noise."
Most people don't know it's here, don't know it's been here
for 24 years and will be for at least 23 more years, and that
suits many of the city's American Indians just fine. Tallbull
Memorial Grounds is a special place.
In 1976, Mayor Bill McNichols signed an agreement with 17
Indian organizations to grant exclusive use of about 80 acres
in Daniels Park amid the scrub oak-covered hills of Douglas
County.
It was a gesture made in the spirit of the nation's
bicentennial,
and mayors Federico Pe�a and Wellington Webb extended
the agreement. In 1997, Webb gave the organizations use of
the land for another 25 years. It is theirs alone, set apart
from
the rest of Daniels Park by fences and a padlocked gate, and
only open to the public during powwows. Besides the Girl
Scouts, no other group has exclusive use of a portion of
Denver's mountain parks, said A.J. Tripp-Addison,
superintendent of those parks.
"Where we now live was the home of various Indian nations.
Where our homes are, our neighborhoods are, was Indian
land," said James Mejia, executive director of the city
Department of Human Rights and Community Relations.
"The least we could do is provide a sanctuary for the Indian
community."
Depending upon who's counting, the Denver area is home to
anywhere from 15,000 to 35,000 American Indians. Many
are Navajo or Lakota Sioux, but dozens of tribes are
represented, from Arapaho to Zuni Pueblo.
The park was named for Tallbull's great-grandfather, a
southern Cheyenne chief killed in the 1870 Battle of Summit
Springs, the last battle between federal troops and American
Indians in Colorado. From the grounds, the snow-capped
Rocky Mountains blaze in the afternoon sun, scrub oak
carpets the hillsides and ponderosa pine tower in the valley.
"I remember when I was living back east my mom used to
call me and tell me about this beautiful park where she went
to powwows," said Linda Willie, a member of the Mohawk
Nation. "It's kind of prophetic because I'm here now."
Willie is coordinator of the Heal Our Mother Earth Program
run by the Eagle Lodge Prevention Program, a substance
abuse prevention program that emphasizes traditional healing.
In the spring and summer, she takes American Indian children
to the grounds, where they learn to plant and gather native
plants such as sage and chokecherries.
"They are taught to gather in the traditional way, you know,
to make an offering so they are not just ripping it out,"
Willie
said. "It just gives the children an opportunity to
reconnect, an
opportunity they don't get in the city."
Every Labor Day, the White Buffalo Council hosts a
powwow -- the council built an arbor for the dancers -- and
hundreds of Indians and non-Indians attend. The Native
American Church holds its meetings on the grounds, as do
other organizations that use a sweat lodge hidden amid the
trees.
"A lot of people just come out here to get away from the
city," said Delmar Hamilton, a Kiowa who is president of the
Tallbull Memorial Council, the nonprofit board that oversees
use of the land.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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