“The ground on which we stand is sacred ground. It is the dust and blood of our ancestors.” -Chief Plenty Coups, Crow (1848 - 1932)
We have a new piece of artwork in our waiting room here at the Boulder Healing Hub, designed by artist Keith Braveheart for the US Department of Arts and Culture’s #HonorNativeLand project. This project encourages businesses to acknowledge and honor the Native people who once inhabited this land where we come to work today. The Boulder Healing Hub sits on land occupied by Arapaho, Ute, and Cheyenne people.
Our research for this project started with the nice folks at the new Museum of Boulder (on Broadway and Pine - check it out!) as well as this great website that shows native territories across the United States and beyond. Another local who had just taken a Native American History course at CU Boulder shared with us that native peoples didn't have land "territories" like we know them, and they moved in bands to new locations every year - so there was no one tribe in one location. In general, the Arapaho 'territory" was here in Boulder County, the Ute were more in the mountains/on the eastern slope, and the Cheyenne and Arapaho intermingled a lot, though the Cheyenne "territory" was more northeast.
According to the #HonorNativeLand project website, “Acknowledgment is a simple, powerful way of showing respect and a step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase Indigenous people’s history and culture and toward inviting and honoring the truth.” We may not be able to recover what has been lost, but we can certainly do our part to invite and honor the truth that wants to be remembered.
You can learn more about this amazing project, and how you can offer respect and inspire action, here: https://usdac.us/nativeland/
In other Healing Hub news, we’re having such an amazing time serving our public and members-only communities!
We were so thrilled to have over 100 local folks attend our recent Open House, where the public came see our new space, receive free sample healing sessions, and schmooze over delicious snacks and good company.
Coming up soon in December the Hub is hosting our Annual Holiday Party for Hub members — complete with our hilarious White Elephant gift exchange! Here are some fun pics from last year’s party. :)
We wish you all the best this holiday season and much healing -
with the land, each other, and inside our own bodies and hearts.
May it be a magical and transformative 2019!