Denver Inside and Out

A Gateway Into the Mountains: Denver and the Building of a Recreational Empire

87 O N O “I Am a Denver Indian!” people in Denver. The WBC held its inaugural meeting in November 1955 at the Denver Christian Center at Twenty-ninth and Curtis Streets. Initial WBC members included Delmar Roubideau (Rosebud Sioux), Archie Wells (Cheyenne River Sioux), Ruby Decker (Caddo), and others who were primarily members of Sioux tribes. According to William Walker, whose father was one of the original WBC members, the organization was conceived by Native Americans from various tribal backgrounds who lived in the Sun Valley Housing Project at 2640 West Tenth Street.13 Starting with the goal “to help the Indians help themselves,” the organization aided newcomers who had difficulty adjusting to their new environment. Within a year, by May 1956, the WBC had incorporated as the first nonprofit Indian corporation in the city recognized by the State of Colorado.14 “Keeping alive the traditions of the various tribes through its social programs” was another objective of the WBC. The annual powwows, which started in 1964, set their primary goal as “the preservation of traditional songs, dances, arts and crafts” while providing an opportunity “to promote greater understanding between the Indian community and the non-Indian public.”15 By 1959 approximately 100 families (of a total of 1,554 Indian residents in Denver) engaged in WBC activities such as weekly dances, cultural gatherings, and welfare programs.16 Indian people in Denver tried to maintain their cultural traditions by participating in dance clubs, arts and crafts programs, and other activities offered by local Indian organizations. At the same time, they created a more generalized pan-Indian culture, and they still had to cope with life in mainstream society.17 In 1965 Richard Tallbull, a Southern Cheyenne and the president of the WBC, commented on the difficulty of preserving individual tribal traditions while maintaining unity among the diverse Indian residents in the city: Indians are, still, members of their own respective Indian tribal group. Thus any feeling of being part of one group across tribal lines is not a very old experience for us…. We are finding our way together in new surroundings, but we have built into our program a conscious effort to retain our ties with our tribal roots.18 Although the strong determination to overcome tribal differences was necessary in order to create an intertribal organization such as the WBC, members also sought to sustain the distinctive tribal cultures that relocatees brought with them and to hand down these traditions to younger generations. 88 D E N V E R I N S I D E & O U T Organizations such as the WBC have functioned as “the Indian version of the settlement houses,” where urban Indians sought ways to overcome the problems of their new world.19 In 1979 Ken Scott, the Choctaw director of the Denver Indian Center, claimed that the most important function was “to allow all of us to get together…the old and the young, the conservative and the activist, people from many different tribes.” If it had not been for the “mutual support” that Indian people in Denver developed through the local Indian organizations, Scott continued, “I myself would have been lost long ago.”20 Local Indian organizations helped Indian people cope with the difficulties of life in the city. Involvement in Indian organizations also offered a sense of belonging to isolated people who suffered from loneliness. Through contact with Native Americans from other tribes, urban Indians crossed the line of tribal difference and created a new identity as “Denver Indians.” Terry Ross (Meskwaki), who was born in a midwestern city and grew up in Denver, proudly claimed, “My home is here in Denver.” His parents always were active in the local Indian community, organizing cultural activities such as powwows and participating in political activities. While growing up, Terry made frequent visits to his parents’ tribal communities in the Midwest and Drummers at a monthly powwow organized by the White Buffalo Council. Photo by John Anderson, June 23, 1968. Courtesy Denver Public Library, Western History Collection. 89 O N O “I Am a Denver Indian!” NOTES 1 There are various terms used to identify indigenous peoples of North America, and each name has its own historical and cultural significance and connotation. I recognize the existence of debates over names, but in this paper I will use “Native Americans ” primarily and “American Indians,” “Indian people,” “native peoples,” and “Indians” interchangeably. In addition, I...