Reconciling with the Past and Present: Efforts at Colorado Federal Indian Schools

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Collaborative and Community Archaeology" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Between 1880 and 1920, Colorado hosted nine institutions that focused on the assimilation of Native youth, including day schools, on-reservation boarding schools, and off-reservation boarding schools. One institution in particular, Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School, became a state college with the intent to serve the Native population. Today Fort Lewis College, side by side with the State of Colorado, is grappling with its deep history and its roots in the federal Indian education system. This paper will discuss the steps the state has taken to understand that history and collaborate with impacted communities to approach resolution and reconciliation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Collaborative and Community Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38082.0