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COAIM BLOG CO AIM LATEST NEWS MEDIA
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Native Americans Native
Americans bargain with Rocky
Mountain News Staff Writer
About 25 members of the White Buffalo Council gathered at Daniels Park in
northern Douglas County to commemorate Mother's Day by praying inside a
"sweat lodge" - a makeshift tent warmed by fire-heated rocks.
It marked
the first
time in
about two years the Indians
have held any kind of activity in the park; which is owned by the city of
Denver.
The White Buffalo Council wants to use a 67-acre section of Daniels Park
known as Tallbull Memorial Grounds on a regular basis as it did in the late
1970s.
"We need to go out and do what our grandfathers handed down to
us," said Joe Locust, a
council adviser.
“We want to celebrate
Mother Earth as well as the mothers who are here with us now as well as those of
years gone by." Locust said the council and a coalition of Indian groups
are negotiating with Denver officials to allow use of the grounds for 20 years.
Tom Gleason,aide to
Mayor Federico Pena, said
permission was given for yesterday’s ceremony even without an agreement
because the city realized the significance of the ritual for local Indians.
An agreement the council struck with the administration of former Mayor
William McNichols in 1976 allowed the council to use the park free of charge for
five years for its religious ceremonies and powwows.
When the agreement expired in 1981 and the lndians approached the city
about drawing up a new pact, Locust said, city officials told them a new
agreement wouldn't be necessary.
But after Pena took office in 1983, the informal arrangement hit a snag.
Locust said.
“They told us, 'Your (agreement) is expired and you don't have any
rights down there any more,' " Locust said.
Pena administration officials told them they needed liability insurance
to continue using the park, Locust said. But the council could not afford the
annual $4,500 premium. Locust said the city refused the Indians' offer of a
waiver freeing the city from any legal claims.
After two years of on-and-off talks, the council met last week with parks
and recreation manager Ruth Rodriguez, Gleason and Rich Castro, director of the
city's commission on human rights and community relations, to try to work out
another deal. Gleason said last night he is optimistic the city and the Indians
can reach a new agreement. He said the city insists that insurance is needed,
but he added that doesn't appear to be a major stumbling block.
"We want to demonstrate that this city and administration is
sensitive to them and how important that land is to them," Gleason said.
The city would like to reach an agreement that would make the grounds accessible
“to a broad cross section of the Native American community,” he said.
Locust said the Indians would like to own the land outright to free the
city from potential liability claims. They also will explore the use of proceeds
from the annual March powwow at the Denver Coliseum to pay the insurance
premium.
Locust said city officials were considering letting the Indians use the
land under another five-year agreement.
The council and 16 other Indian groups formed a coalition this weekend to
draw up a resolution informing the city "what the Denver Indian community
would like in the way of using land for ceremonial purposes."
Locust said the resolution will be presented to officials at a 5:30 p.m.
meeting tonight at the Denver Indian Center, 4407 Morrison Road
The Indians are prepared to stage protests if they don't get what they
want, Locust said.
Locust said he believes the city allowed them to use the park for
yesterday's ceremony because the mayoral election is just over a week away and
Pena's advisers didn't want another controversy.
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