00:00.00 heritagevoices Okay, so we're back and now we're We're really ready to dive into this. So I guess let's let's start with the fun one. What was all of Y'all's favorite part of this project. 00:16.76 Joseph Gazing Wolf Yeah I think I think for me the the really the thing that really stood out is you know when when we grow up those of us who grow up on the reservation or even for folks that grow up in urban environments. You know we don't we don't have a lot of access to. Our own elders and so because they get 10000 asks every week and so you know they're often involved in tribal council affairs politics. You know, education etc. And so so. Um, with a lot of good work being done in in terms of the revitalization of our cultures. Our our elders are really being pulled every which way and so um I mean I remember I remember my own the the only fight I ever got into with my grandfather. Only argument I ever had with him was where I told him like hey man I'm hardly seeing you anymore like we were very close and yet you're hardly in my life anymore because you're on tribal council. You're you know, working on Buffalo Restoration you're doing all this wonderful work. But you know don't forget. That I'm here and I need you right? And and so um, it's it's really, um, it's really a wonderful privilege to be able to get to spend time with tribal elders. Um. 01:44.32 Joseph Gazing Wolf From from any context in any community. It's It's a real privilege and so I want to acknowledge that. 01:50.20 heritagevoices Yeah, absolutely. 01:50.48 Erica And yet definitely I would like echo that same thing and saying it. It feels like such an enormous privilege to be present on these visits or returns rather of people to a place. They've been removed from and then. The fact that we not only get to be there and be with these elders but that we also get to do ethnography in those moments is incredible and the tribal representatives share so much and they're so generous with their knowledge in a setting where they have every right to be. Almost bitter right? like a couple hundred years ago. Boulder was trying to eliminate indigenous people and now boulder's going back to these same communities and asking them for help and it seems like that could be a potentially unpleasant situation. But it's not and that's because of the tribal representatives. Are working on this project. They're so gracious. They're so committed to educating people. They're willing to do all of this work and it's not easy. But I'm so endlessly impressed and so grateful for all of the tribal representatives and elders involved. 03:04.96 Reshawn Edison I share the same exact feeling as my colleagues right here. Oh my gosh just working with elders that come from tribal nations from far near the boulder. Denver area has been such a privilege to work with. Especially growing up on the reservation right? when I had my grandparents and their cousins and I had a lot of grandmas right? and I had a lot of grandpas growing up and now it seems like as I enter this field of anthropology and ethnography a lot of these stories that we hear and that we. Ah, recording and we're helping keep that narrative alive that these tribal representatives want is such a privilege for me because a lot of times now within the current age. A lot of our elders are leaving really early. And being indigenous leaders within the community. We need their voices more than ever and so to be able to work which alongside tribal representatives and the city of Boulder has been an amazing blessing and a privilege and just because um, well. Also because I'm a resident of Colorado now and I've lived in Denver for about 5 years and so understanding the history between settler colonialism and indigenous peoples is um, one something that. 04:28.27 Reshawn Edison Native people have to face on a daily basis if they live in urban environments especially within Colorado area or wherever we go right? because wherever we are we are on stolen land just to echo what my colleagues have said and to know those histories and to grapple with it. In an institutional setting right on the county level on the city level is that much more rewarding for me. 04:55.31 heritagevoices Yeah, and just to give a little bit of a little bit more context to some of what they're talking about and I think 1 thing that Erica maybe was specifically referring to is um that the there were. There was a shoot I'm not wording this well um, but basically that a group of soldiers. Um from boulder they trained in boulder and then they went and participated in the Sand Creek massacre ah, down in in southwest Colorado against cheyen and arapaho people. Um, you know, ah children all the way through elders um men and women and so obviously that would be be something that would be really easy to be um, but to be very bitter and and really. Um, hold against the city. Um, and I will say that the the city is doing quite a bit of work. Um, specifically on that topic. There's ah, a property called the 4 chambers poor farm property that um, they're working with the tribes. Ah, specifically the cheyen and arapaho who are the the Sand Creek descendant tribes. Um on what to do with that property where the soldiers did train before going down to to Sand Creek um and so yeah, with that in mind like all of you said, um, not even just coming and and being generous but. 06:20.54 heritagevoices My god the laughter I love it. Um, it's just it's always such a fun. Um, good time in addition to the um you know the the privilege and the the responsibility that weighs heavy to on um, getting all of this this right. Um, but I'd say my favorite part. Um, and this is is one that I I've heard my colleague our colleague at the the city give us an example of of his most meaningful moment as well where we were talking with one of the the tribal representatives. Um, who brought their family with them on this visit and um, you know them saying that when when you all first reached out in 182. We didn't know you we didn't know what you wanted. We were ah very. Unsure but you know now now your family um and that was that was just you know you can't um cancer pass a moment like that. So that was that was mine I think. 07:31.91 Erica Um. 07:34.20 Joseph Gazing Wolf Who. 07:36.19 heritagevoices All right? What about Um, and and all of you have worked on other ethnographic projects too. So if you want to bring in something you've seen Justin Boulder across um, different projects. Um, but what it would have been some some learning moments. In doing this kind of work for all of you. 08:01.55 Erica I think across across all of the projects that we do including the bolder ethnographic education work is again. It's just so incredible and inspiring to see just the herculean amount of work. That these tribal elders do for these for their people and and for agencies and and and cities like so the city of Boulder a lot of our representatives are elders and they're engaging in projects like this they're traveling while they're also running entire offices. Juggling the responsibilities that would typically handled be handled by like 3 or more people and it's really their commitment to their people and improving like the cultural and spiritual and mental and physical. Well-being. Of their communities because this type of work can lead to really tangible outcomes in those areas. So just the work ethic alone of the tribal representatives is inspiring and motivates me to do more. 09:03.95 Joseph Gazing Wolf Yeah, and and the fact that they're doing it at that age right? I mean I'm I'm a fairly young man generally speaking and and I get tired and yet they're you know they're often driving far distances and and and still in such good spirit and. 09:05.14 heritagevoices You know. 09:24.62 Joseph Gazing Wolf And humor and yeah, like you like you mentioned Jessica that's like um, one of my favorite things is the fact that you know anytime I'm we're around elders and and especially for if any aunties are there. We know we know there's going to be some. 09:41.30 heritagevoices Um. 09:41.10 Erica Are. 09:41.65 Joseph Gazing Wolf Really funny jokes that are going to be drawn. Um, so so yeah, and and Erika's point that you know that their work ethic is just on on on on comparable. So it really like I enjoy being there. My favorite part is just being with them because I get to absorb so much of their spirit of honest work. Honest humanity really is what it comes down to right? they wear their hearts on their sleeves. They're honest with their words which is not something. I'm sad sad to say sorry to say it's not something that's part of settler colonial culture in general and so it's such a refreshing thing to be in an environment where humans are acting like humans. Um and and and that may that's very uncomfortable for us isn't it because. Ah, you know it doesn't matter that I'm native. It doesn't they don't you know a lot of these elders are not my elders and and they don't know me from Adam. So so when they show up I have to earn their respect and trust like everybody else right? So so it puts me in an uncomfortable position just as much as anybody else because. Again, there's a genuine human interaction taking place where they don't know me they don't know what our organization is or what we've done in many in many regards except for those who have worked with us for for a long period of time and so. 11:06.10 Joseph Gazing Wolf You know we we have to earn their trust and we have to respect their boundaries and and and make sure that we're following. You know, very very proper protocols when we're approaching them and and doing this work and so yeah, there's ah, there's plenty of times where I trip over my own feet and you know. If you're working with a specific elder or a specific tribe. They might have different protocols than the one that you were just with the you know few days ago and so so you're you're going to make mistakes. Um and and it's important to recognize those mistakes to say hey like to teach me how to do this properly right? um. I Care about you I want you to be here I Want to keep doing this work teach me how to how to respect you the proper way within your context and so ah, you know it's it's it's for all of like your. For me, my experience has been like learning to be human again right? It's learning my own humanity my own limitations and recognizing that those limitations when when the opportunity presents itself. 12:02.29 Erica Um. 12:18.53 Reshawn Edison The conversations like these remind me of um, like subtle things or not subtle things like things that were very much a part of my everyday life growing up with my grandparents that like trickle into the work that we're doing now. Ah, for example, it would be like I always have this mentality wherever I go because of the teachings of my grandpa he always used to tell me wherever native people are you're gonna have family and wherever native people are you're gonna make community right? And so I find this like. Very much a part of my life wherever I go in any social gathering whether that ceremony pow wows um council meetings right? Wherever there's native people. There's gonna be that kinship in that community factor and because I grew up. Within the teachings of my grandparents and I like was raised by my grandparents um meeting these tribal elders that do this incredible work within their communities and they are willing to travel out far to distances to give a little bit of their perspective. Their knowledge. It reminds me of these leaders that I grew up within. My communities right? These are the leaders within other tribal communities that I just came all together and won and so in that in that viewpoint I'm very much privileged right? because I can see um my elders literally come to the forefront in the work that we're doing and that we have done with the city of boulder. 13:50.92 Reshawn Edison And I've heard it from multiple ah staff from the city of Boulder saying that this is an experience that they never have witnessed and people who come from the reservation or like travel backgrounds that's very much a part of their lives. A lot of the times and that's very much had been my case. Um, within this work but that community that kinship that extends beyond blood and because like these worldviews that all these indigenous people are coming together. They're very much similar but at the same time they have their very own unique niche in the way they view and see and ah. Experience the world right? and we just give a glimpse of it like just a very small glimpse within the work that we do here and the fact that so a lot of the tribal representatives that I have worked with in the past and continue to work on within the work that we do within Boulder. Um I've actually been called nephew right? a couple times and i've. Um I can actually say I have aunties and I have uncles that I've met through this work where within tribal preserv preservation offices and their typicalpo officers and the community members that they have brought to the table that we've worked with um, it's just been super amazing. 15:08.90 heritagevoices So so to um, add to what some of you guys are all saying I've said this before on the podcast I'll say it a million times. But um, if anyone wants to support the efforts of the the tippos and these elders. Um, that are just way overstretched. Um, please contact your congresspeople and let them know that you think that the historic preservation fund needs additional funding for tribal historic preservation offices. Um, that would be huge because they are way. Um. Underfunded especially compared to the state historic preservation offices. Um, a lot of the tribes have connections to much larger um breaches of land than um, the states do and there's vastly more tribes than states and um, they receive. Much less funding than the states do um so ah, if you want to to really make a difference. Um, you know for ah heritage preservation for um, cultural preservation for these elders specifically but also for um, you know these projects. 16:05.48 Joseph Gazing Wolf Gonna. 16:22.75 heritagevoices Um, where people are looking for input from tribes and there's um, the the tippo offices are just too overstaffed. Um in order to give that that feedback that would be really helpful for the agencies and would help move projects through faster and things like that. Um. Again, reach out to your congresspeople and let them know that you'd like the tribal historic preservation officer portion of the historic preservation fund increased all right off my soapbus yes, write those letters. Um. 16:47.59 Joseph Gazing Wolf Yes, yeah. 16:52.70 Erica Um, yeah, write letters. 16:52.18 Reshawn Edison Um, like those letters. 16:58.47 heritagevoices All right? Um, yeah, any any last thoughts before we go on break anything that anybody like heard somebody else saying and they're like oh I'm dying to add something. 16:59.99 Erica Here is. 17:14.99 heritagevoices Okay, all right? Well on that case, we are going to go into our second break. Um, and then we will come back and finish talking about this this project and what we've all learned all right. Thanks.