His Cheyenne ancestors were pushed out of Colorado in the 1800s. Now he’s among the leaders of Colorado’s Indigenous land back movement

Colorado's Indigenous Land Back Movement

Hundreds of years after most of Colorado's Indigenous tribes were forcibly removed from the state, a movement emerges to bring them home.

Rick Williams, an Oglala Lakota citizen with Cheyenne ancestry, is among the leaders of this movement. His Cheyenne ancestors were pushed out of Colorado in the 1800s.

Tell me what you're going to do about it. It's stolen.

Williams often performs land acknowledgements, but he wants more than just words. He asks audiences, "There's a lot of injustice that went on. What are you going to do about it?"

Now, he has a proposition for the whole state and its 6 million residents.

Author's summary: Colorado's Indigenous land back movement gains momentum.

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Colorado Public Radio Colorado Public Radio — 2025-10-13

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