Daniel Stange de
Posted March 7, 2024
That is an adept description of who the Latinos of Denver’s west side are. Displaced from their homes and neighborhood to build a campus we call Auraria today. Their fight has endured to keep a semblance of history and the contributions of their families alive. Through Casa Maya and Chicano Studies Dept., they have a legacy of struggle and self-determination. Auraria Historical Advocacy Council was formed not very long ago to be a voice for the community. They have demanded oversight of the development and changes to the campus that is operated by Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC). Funded by the state of Colorado there is a perspective of public lands and required appropriations that is generally matched by the three colleges that occupy the location.
In 2022, the state approved a five million dollar appropriation, and spending began without much approval or review by the displaced Aurarians. As the board of AHEC and other campus directors began to develop and design increased plans for the artworks and business integration, there was a surprise to see the advocates arrive at their recent meeting on Feb 28. They should have known better than to create a plan without the input from the community’s original habitants. There have also been a few examples of their spending that is already completed. Better to ask forgiveness seems to be their approach. Perhaps entitlement makes it too challenging for them to ask permission.
AHEC is the department that manages the campus properties, building maintenance and ground keeping among other things. They have historically worked from a position of power and control over the campus grounds with little concern for what the larger community and especially the historic community feels. Their motives are efficiency and economic growth as well as campus security and student safety. They integrate the transit and University’s needs so there is little to remind them of the importance for community engagement or historical context.
This small area of the inner Denver city westside, built along the bank of the South Platte river on its east shoreline was the earliest neighborhood of working class people. Predominantly Spanish speaking, but also integrated Native families that masked their indigenous ancestry because being “Indian” could be a death sentence when this city was moving from being a small trading hub to the center of Colorado politics and wealth. In the late 1800’s, the Colorado Springs area had a great appeal for becoming the state capitol but the quick growth and close access to Golden Colorado pushed the Territorial Legislation to settle in Denver when the state became part of the union in 1876.
The Latino population or “Spanish Americans” were obviously a big labor force and early trade partners with their connections to southern San Luis Valley’s older establishments. By the early 1920’s, they had become the majority occupants of Denver’s west side. They had a bustling local market community where the confluence of the South Platte and Cherry creek meet up which made easy access to waterway transportation. The streets of Auraria must have been a joyful scene of authentic Mexican style markets and trading of native products. The Buckhorn Exchange remains today on the corner of Tenth Ave. and Osage St. as a testament of the popularity and importance of the area.
When these multiple generations of families that had been well established here were forcibly displaced by the city to build the University Campus, there was a trauma all too common and still misunderstood. To the Anglo mindset of expansion and manifest destiny there is no spiritual connection to the land. The land only has economic value and strategic placements. To the original inhabitants there is an ancient connection that stories and mythologies retain. With these competing values there is conflict that we tend to see play out over and over. We invented terms like gentrification to euphemize the destructive behavior and trauma that develops but the wounds are real, and the community has grown tired of having to bandage themselves only to have the wound ripped open before the healing even begins.
The AHEC department already has policies directing them to work with the community and specifically:
-Conduct outreach and foster collaboration with impacted community members including the Displaced Aurarian, Arapaho and Cheyenne tribal nations, and develop trust and restoration with these communities.
So, what happened recently as the AHEC board members began to proceed with art installations and design for building remodeling projects? Again, the vigilant community members had to disrupt the planning sessions that they were holding at the Tivoli center and remind them of the obligation and demand the process be postponed until they can be informed, included and given a chance to review the root issues and long term goals. How long this behavior and attitude is persisting goes beyond simple oversight. The truth is that AHEC staff and especially leadership do not believe that they need the community’s permission.
This reflects a continued disregard and belittling of the agreements that were made. Much like the federal government’s history of signing peace treaties and then violating them as soon as the ink dried. The facts that few are willing to admit, is that the land on which Auraria and All of Denver sits was never acquired in any legal or respectful manner to the original stewards of this area. Arapahoe and Cheyenne nations long used this area for meetings, ceremonies, and trading. The consistent attitude of colonizing Europeans was that the indigenous populations did not have the capacity to govern these lands and utilize the natural resources effectively. An attitude that has proved catastrophic to the balance of nature across the globe because the industrialization movement has done nothing but destroy the natural resources and contaminate the very soil of our sustenance. The soul of the people remains intact and bold enough to demand attention.
How long this behavior and attitude is persisting goes beyond simple oversight. The truth is that AHEC staff and especially leadership do not believe that they need the community’s permission.
We have consistently been forced to march or demonstrate in public to show our collective power. Even this writer’s first experience with activism was the 25th anniversary of the West high school blow outs that converged onto the Auraria campus in 1994. My first contact with the Crusade for Justice and the beginning of a lifetime pursuit of reconciliation. Reparations are due! The capacity of our current displaced Aurarian leadership team is fully capable of taking over management of the space. We should be discussing the ability to transform this campus into the first Native American focused institute of higher education in the state of Colorado!
We know that the issue of land stewardship is rooted in Native Spirituality. We know that FREE public education was essential to Ancestral México in Tenochtitlan the university UNAM sits upon the foundation of their original Calmecatl. It was built 700 years before Columbus got lost in the Caribbean seas. This nation is a young country, but the foundation of its ancestral past is barely coming to light. The inaccuracy of current academic history about the native American cultures and their perceptions of reality are heralded as New Age thinking by a great deal of Americans. The reality is far more sincere and much deeper in context. The descendants of indigenous people are extremely capable and specifically entrusted by the larger community to advocate and manage their own affairs. You can see from this
video that was filmed on Feb. 28, 2024 at the AHEC meeting when their board was taken by surprise by the community leaders that will no longer stand for being left out of these types of decisions.
Danny Stange de Acatl is a Denver Native and Cultural activist that serves his community on various levels.
