Executive Summary and Recommendations HB 22-1327 9.1.23
Executive Summary and Recommendations HB 22-1327 9.1.23
Executive Summary and Recommendations HB 22-1327 9.1.23
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In May of 2022, Governor Jared Polis signed into law House Bill 22-1327, the Native American
Boarding School Research Program Act. In the preamble to the law, the Legislature took the
unprecedented step in recognizing the harm generations of federal schooling policy has had on
Native American individuals, families, and communities. Specifically the general assembly found
and declared that:
(a) Beginning with the federal "Indian Civilization Act" enacted in 1819, the United States
enacted laws and implemented policies establishing and supporting federal Indian
boarding schools across the nation. The purpose of federal Indian boarding schools was
to culturally assimilate Native children by forcibly relocating them from their families and
communities to distant residential facilities to suppress the children's identities,
languages, and beliefs. For over 150 years, hundreds of thousands of Native children
were taken from their communities. Over 350 federal Indian boarding schools existed in
the United States. By 1926, nearly 83 percent of all Native children of school age were in
boarding schools.1
(b) Children at these boarding schools were subjected to the loss of their cultural
identities, physical and sexual abuse, and forced labor, and suffered the effects of
1
The May 2022 Department of the Interior report on federal boarding schools identified 408 federal
boarding schools between 1819 and 1969. This number is expected to increase as research continues.
HB22-1327: The Native American Boarding School Research Program Act Executive Summary | History Colorado | September 1, 2023 1
disease due to their confinement. Many children disappeared or lost their lives at these
schools, and their bodies remain today in unmarked graves on the school grounds.
(c) The impact of the boarding schools on Native families has been immeasurable.
Families lost their traditional language, parenting skills, and the ability to pass on Native
culture and traditions.
(d) The trauma from federal Indian boarding schools crosses generational boundaries
and the boarding school policy resulted in long-standing intergenerational trauma, cycles
of violence and abuse, disappearance of Native people, premature deaths, mental
health disorders, and substance abuse in Native communities;
(e) In Colorado, there were at least four federal Indian boarding schools: The Teller
Indian School in Grand Junction, the Southern Ute Boarding School in Ignacio, a
boarding school in Towaoc operated by the federal bureau of Indian affairs, and the
original Fort Lewis Indian School in Hesperus, Colorado;
(f) The Teller Institute and Fort Lewis College are currently operated by the state of
Colorado and it is understood that Native children may have died at these schools and
were buried on the school grounds;
(g) In order to heal from the generational trauma, we must confront the past and shed
light on the hidden cruelty; and
(h) Fort Lewis College has been taking steps to recognize its place in this history and to
find opportunities to raise awareness about what actually occurred at federal Indian
boarding schools and to begin the process of healing.
(2) The general assembly therefore declares that it is in the interest of the state and its citizens
to better understand and acknowledge Colorado's history with federal Indian boarding schools
and develop a roadmap for education and healing.
In addition to the summary and recommendations required by HB 22-1327, Dr. Norton provided
the CCIA with progress reports on September 8, 2022, December 15, 2022, March 16, 2023,
and June 1, 2023, summaries of which can be found here. Tribal consultations were also held
during this brief period, as were listening sessions with Fort Lewis students and community
members, as outlined in Appendix A.
The research methodologies for identifying and investigating the schools is consistent with the
criteria established by the Department of the Interior in 2022 to identify and clarify which
institutions should be considered a federal Indian school, including:
HB22-1327: The Native American Boarding School Research Program Act Executive Summary | History Colorado | September 1, 2023 2
1) Provided on-site housing or overnight lodging; and
2) Was described in records as providing formal or vocational training and instruction; and
3) Was described in records as receiving Federal Government funds or other support; and
4) Was operational before 1969
While a large amount of documentation exists from the boarding school era, it does not always
record the information that contemporary people are seeking, nor is it intuitively organized,
resulting in needing large amounts of time to identify, collect, and analyze the appropriate
documentation. While there are occasionally copies of letters or other correspondence written
by students, the information is largely from the perspective of the federal government and those
operating the boarding schools, often obscuring the trauma caused by those schools. A team of
researchers led by History Colorado traveled to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., as
well as the local National Archives branch in Broomfield, Colorado. In addition to these
repositories, researchers accessed state and local archives that had information pertinent to the
research questions. The primary questions for this phase of the research revolved around
identifying the students who were sent to the schools in Colorado, identifying students who died
at the school, and finally ascertaining the relationship of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Ute
Mountain Ute Tribe to the federal boarding school policies during this era.
The federal Indian education policies in the United States are as old as the Republic itself. The
idea of assimilating Native people was a policy that existed alongside military programs of
conquest and genocide. There were key moments with significant changes in policy that
impacted Native peoples, including in 1879 the introduction of Henry’s Pratt philosophy of
military style, immersion boarding schools that ushered in the off-reservation system that had
such a drastic impact.
The report identifies nine institutions in Colorado that were financially supported by the federal
government, specifically the agency today known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), during
the period 1880-1920 (table 1). These schools were part of the system for varying periods of
time, from as short as three years to as long as twenty-five years. These schools included
on-reservation day schools, on-reservation boarding schools, and off-reservation boarding
schools, all of which served different roles within the federal Indian education policy, but
ultimately served the same goals of assimilation.
HB22-1327: The Native American Boarding School Research Program Act Executive Summary | History Colorado | September 1, 2023 3
Table 1. Federally Supported Schools for Native Youth in Colorado
Years in
School Operation/ Type Management
Contracted
The main focus of the report was the off-reservation boarding schools, with some additional
discussion around on-reservation and day schools. The first off-reservation boarding school that
was established in Colorado was the Teller Institute in Grand Junction, Colorado, in 1886,
established as an agricultural school. The Teller Institute was named for Colorado State Senator
Henry Moor Teller, who also served as the Secretary of the Interior 1882-1885, then returned to
the state senate in addition to having his own law firm. In all of these capacities Teller advocated
for and worked towards having boarding schools for the Ute Tribes in Colorado. The Grand
Junction Indian Boarding School struggled to maintain students throughout its existence, while
also struggling with on-site issues such as sewage problems and poor agricultural land. The
school closed in 1911.
The Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School was established in 1892 at the site of the former Fort
Lewis military post in Hesperus, Colorado, and closed in 1911, after lying empty for two years.
Just like Teller Institute, students at Fort Lewis were also subject to an agricultural labor school,
HB22-1327: The Native American Boarding School Research Program Act Executive Summary | History Colorado | September 1, 2023 4
meaning large portions of their day were related to doing labor that kept the school fed and
running, including agricultural work and “domestic chores” such as laundry.
Both schools also participated in the “outing system,” an informal program where students were
placed with families over summer vacations or for the duration of an entire school year, to work
for under-market wages as an agricultural or domestic laborer. Students were placed in
Colorado homes, farms and ranches, where they lived with white families. Many of these places
were near the schools, in Durango, Hesperus, and Grand Junction, but by 1909 there was an
emphasis on sending students to places such as Rocky Ford as industries such as sugar beets
ramped up production.
In many cases Tribal leaders and families from the Ute Tribes were able to resist compulsory
school attendance. In the early 1900s, finally meeting treaty obligations, on-reservation boarding
and day schools were established in Ignacio and Towaoc, Colorado. These schools gained
prominence throughout the early twentieth century, at the same time that there were significant
changes to BIA American Indian policy in general, and Indian education policy specifically.
In addition to the archival history, geophysical work has been undertaken to identify cemeteries
and burial sites for children who died while attending the Fort Lewis Indian School and the Teller
Institute. Geophysical investigations at the Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School cemetery were
completed in November 2022, and included ground penetrating radar (GPR); magnetometer;
high-resolution photogrammetry, and lidar. The boundaries of the cemetery at the site of the Fort
Lewis Indian Boarding school were determined.
Consistent with government-to-government relationships with Tribal nations, full results of these
investigations have been released to the Tribal nations who had students in attendance at these
schools. The full results of these investigations will be publicly released on October 3, 2023,
after the Tribal nations impacted by this history have had time to review, reflect, and process its
contents.
HB22-1327: The Native American Boarding School Research Program Act Executive Summary | History Colorado | September 1, 2023 5
historycolorado.org
As per the directive in the Native American Boarding School Research Program HB22-1327,
required that recommendations be presented to the Colorado General Assembly to address the
historical impacts of the federal education system in Colorado.
HB22-1327: The Native American Boarding School Research Program Act Executive Summary | History Colorado | September 1, 2023 6
● Full-time, term-limited Research Assistant position at History Colorado: Research
to date was performed by History Colorado staff and contractors. This position would be
a new position that allows for the continuation of the research, assists in organizing
documentation, data entry, quality control, and assisting descendants and survivors to
access information that has been collected by the state.
● Oral Histories centering survivors and Indigenous narratives: History Colorado
solicited an Indigenous centered research from Living Heritage Anthropology for
conducting trauma-informed oral histories of survivors of the federal boarding school
system. The research design proposes a five year timeline that includes informed
consent, engagement with tribal communities, travel to reservations and other locales to
collect the oral histories.
HB22-1327: The Native American Boarding School Research Program Act Executive Summary | History Colorado | September 1, 2023 7
APPENDIX A:
Consultation History and Key Moments for the
Boarding School Effort to Date
List of consultations and meetings with Tribal representatives and community members
While HB22-1327 has a narrow scope and time frame, the boarding school effort predates the
legislation. Many Tribal partners do not see an important distinction between what came before
HB22-1327, so conversations and consultations related to the Teller Institute in Grand Junction
are also included. Not listed are one-on-one communications with individual Tribal
representatives.
April 26, 2022: Consultation for the Teller Institute, led by CDHS
Representatives from five Tribal nations, CDHS, the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs
(CCIA) and History Colorado as well as subject matter experts in the archival and geophysical
investigations of the school
Key decisions and recommendations included identifying culturally sensitive methodologies for
carrying out all aspects of the research, including what best practices should be in anticipation
of additional historic boarding schools, including Fort Lewis, being investigated in Colorado.
July 1, 2022: Native American Boarding School Research Program Act, HB22-1327 goes
into Effect
August 2022: Geophysical Data was collected at the Grand Junction Regional Center
Ceremonial blessings were performed.
APPENDIX A | Consultation History and Key Moments for the Boarding School Effort to Date | September 1, 2023 8
October 1, 2022: Orange Shirt Day
History Colorado staff participated in a panel discussion on the boarding school history and
current efforts with representatives from Native American Rights Fund and the Department of
the Interior at the Denver Indian Family Resource Center
October 11, 2022: Invited Lecture, “Federal Indian Boarding Schools in Colorado”
Co-presented a talk on the history of boarding schools with Garret Briggs, Southern Ute THPO,
for lecture sponsored jointly by the Colorado Archaeological Society and Crow Canyon
Archaeological Center
October 27, 2022: Teller Institute/Grand Junction Indian Boarding School Consultation
Leadership and representatives of Tribes identified having students at GJIS as of 10/2022 were
invited, representatives from Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Tohono
O’odham attended. Next phase of geophysical investigations for the Grand Junction Regional
Center were approved.
October 27, 2022: Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School Site Visit
Included representatives from the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe,
History Colorado, Fort Lewis College, and the geophysical experts and archaeologists from
Statistical Research Inc. Specific on-the-ground conditions were discussed and investigations
approved, ceremonial blessings were performed.
November 2022- December 2022: Geophysical Data Collected at Fort Lewis Cemetery
APPENDIX A | Consultation History and Key Moments for the Boarding School Effort to Date | September 1, 2023 9
February 8, 2023: Fort Lewis College listening session History Colorado and CCIA staff
joined FLC Trustees in participation in round table discussions led by students outlining their
desires and recommendations for future reconciliation efforts related to boarding school
histories.
April 5, 2023: Invited Discussion, Public History and the Grand Junction Indian School
Staff from History Colorado and Alpine Archaeological Services discussed the role of public
historians and federal Indian education policy with class from Colorado Mesa University.
June 30, 2023: CCIA receives report of findings from History Colorado
August 16, 2023: Listening Session with leaders from AI/AN Community Organizations
Staff from History Colorado, CCIA, and Fort Lewis College presented a broad overview of the
boarding school effort to date and requested feedback for immediate next steps as well as
long-term efforts to seek resolution on the impacts of federal Indian education policy.
APPENDIX A | Consultation History and Key Moments for the Boarding School Effort to Date | September 1, 2023 10
September 1, 2023: Executive summary and recommendations delivered by History
Colorado per the terms of HB22-1327
APPENDIX A | Consultation History and Key Moments for the Boarding School Effort to Date | September 1, 2023 11
APPENDIX B:
HB22-1327 Synopsis
The Native American Boarding School Research Program, HB22-1327 directed History
Colorado to perform a number of activities in order to understand the impacts of the federal
Indian boarding schools, particularly the Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School in Hesperus,
Colorado. A summary of the work conducted to meet the directives as per the legislation is
provided below. Each section has been expanded upon in subsequent chapters or sections of
this report.
History Colorado entered into several third-party agreements in order to meet the requirements
of the legislation, including agreements with Alpine Archaeological Consultants; Statistical
Research, Inc; AECOM; Heritech Consulting Services; Living Heritage West, LLC; and Steve
Grinstead Editing and Writing Services. These subject matter experts were procured using
funding provided by the Colorado State Legislature in association with HB22-1327. In addition,
the services of the Colorado School of Mines have been procured to conduct geophysical
investigations at the Teller Institute, also known as the Grand Junction Indian Boarding School,
in Grand Junction, Colorado. The Colorado School of Mines has applied for and been awarded
State Historical Fund grants in order to complete this research.
The services of Dr. Jennie Sturm of Statistical Research, Inc. were procured to meet the
requirements of identifying and mapping graves of students who were buried at the Fort Lewis
Indian Boarding School cemetery. Dr. Sturm used a suite of geophysical survey methods
including drone-deployed LiDAR, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Red-Green-Blue
(RBG)/Near-Infrared (NIR) photography, and magnetic gradiometry. Given the tight deadlines
associated with HB22-1327, as well as rigorous State procurement processes, standard
methodologies for investigating unlocated graves were employed. These methods have been
There has been extensive research conducted between July 1, 2022, when this bill went into
effect, and today, June 30, 2023, when the final report is due. Archives at the federal, state, and
local levels have been combed for information, and the methodology of that archival research is
described in more detail in the report. In addition, the subject matter experts who have
participated in this study have spoken to tribal members, survivors, descendants, local
historians, cemetery operators, and others regarding the history of the federal Indian schools in
this state, as well as engaging with the previously published scholarly literature on the subject.
This particular directive has been more challenging to achieve than the directives listed above.
Much of the recorded history of the Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School was not recorded by the
students or their families, and instead we have had to rely primarily on government reports or
1
Canadian Archaeological Association (2021), Recommended Pathway for Locating Unmarked Graves
Around Residential Schools. Guidance Document; Hamilton (2021), Where Are the Children Buried? A
Report Prepared for the National Center of Truth and Reconciliation, University of Manitoba, Manitoba,
Canada; (2018), NCHRP 25-25, Task 98, Practical Guide for Developing Effective Scopes of Work for the
Geophysical Investigations of Cemeteries. Manuscript prepared by WSP, Inc., and New South
Associates, Inc., for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO);
Small et al. (2021), Native American and Indigenous Protocols for Surveying Indian Boarding School
Burial Sites. Unpublished Manuscript.
The inquiry related to the boarding schools in Colorado predates HB22-1327. Fort Lewis
College had acknowledged the history of the Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School and has been
working towards understanding the implications of that history and creating programs of
reconciliation for both the college and the wider Durango community. Similarly, the Colorado
Department of Human Services has been involved in a complementary, but different,
investigation of the boarding school that operated on what is today the Grand Junction Regional
Center since early 2021, although some efforts go back to 2017. We were fortunate that when
HB22-1327 passed, there had already been a multi-nation consultation specifically about the
Teller Institute in Grand Junction but that also included conversations regarding appropriate
methods of investigations, tribal ceremonies, and other matters relevant to both of the
off-reservation boarding schools in Colorado.
AI/AN Listening & Twice a year for $5,000 per session/ $30,000
Learning Sessions three years $10,000 year
Total $1,209,539