Associated Tribal Nations of Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site

Tribal Trust Responsibilities

To honor our legal trust responsibilities with tribal nations, Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site consults with and co-stewards the site with 14 federally recognized tribal partners. These tribes have longstanding cultural, historical, religious, and spiritual connections to these parklands prior to establishment of Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site. Each sovereign nation has their own unique culture and language.

Tribal Partners of Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site:

• Apache Tribe of Oklahoma

• Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma

• Comanche Nation, Oklahoma

• Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana (Gros Ventre/Assiniboine)

• Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico

• Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma

• Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming

• Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana

• Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico

• Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico

• Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado

• Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico

• Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Colorado

• Wichita and Affiliated Tribes: Wichita, Keechi, Waco and Tawakonie (Anadarko, Oklahoma)

Commitment to Respecting Tribal Sovereignty and Meaningful Consultation

We respect Tribal sovereignty and are committed to meaningful consultations seeking common agreement, appropriate treatment, and respect for Tribal interests in all undertakings that may affect traditional, cultural, and spiritual resources of park-associated Tribes.

Access and Traditional Use of Ancestral Lands

We are committed to supporting access to cultural sites, ethnographic resources, and traditionally harvested resources for traditional and religious purposes by park-associated Tribes and Tribal members. We are committed to creating formal agreements, partnerships, and programming with mutual benefit to Tribes and the public that foster education, ethnographic study, and Traditional Use of Ancestral Lands by park-associated Tribes and Tribal members.

Cultural Activities in the Park

As a unit of the national park system, all are welcome to enjoy and recreate respectfully within Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site. We are committed, through tribal trust responsibilities with park-associated Tribes, that tribal members and communities are provided an opportunity to participate in organized group events involving resources of significance in Ancestral Lands. Depending on the nature of the activity and location, expressed support from a park-associated Tribal Nation may be required.We are committed to ensuring Tribal Nations are provided an opportunity to have an active role in ownership and distribution of cultural knowledge to the public at large. Tribal sacred ceremonies and gatherings involving religious, private, or family knowledge, or activities protected under the American Indian Religious Freedom Act or other federal Indian laws shall be respected.

Government-to-Government Tribal Consultation

Our Park Tribal Liaison Program supports Government-to-Government consultation with tribal partners of Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site. As a federal agency trustee under the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service adheres to United States Treaty obligations with federally recognized tribes whose ancestral usual and accustomed territories fall within present-day park lands. Our program engages Tribal partners in regulatory compliance with the federal laws, federal Indian laws, and other United States federal statutes, Executive Orders, and policies related to historic properties of religious and cultural significance, and practices to Native American tribes:

• Archeological Resources Protection Act

• American Indian Religious Freedom Act National Historic Preservation Act

• Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, Public Law 93-638

• National Environmental Policy Act

• Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

• Executive Order 13175 on the Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments

• Executive Order 13007, on Indian Sacred Sites

• Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Interagency Coordination and Collaboration for the Protection of Tribal Treaty Rights and Reserved Rights

• Best Practices for Identifying and Protecting Tribal Treaty Rights, Reserved Rights, and other Similar Rights in Federal Regulatory Actions and Federal Decision-Making

• Gathering of Certain Plants or Plant Parts by Federally Recognized Indian Tribes for Traditional Purposes

• Director's Order #71C: Consultation with Indian and Alaska Native Tribes

• Office of Native American Affairs (US National Park Service)

For questions about our Tribal consultation program, please contact us.

How to contact us:

Tribal Liaison Program
High Plains Group of Parks
Amache National Historic Site | Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site | Capulin Volcano National Monument | Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
35110 State Highway 194
La Junta, CO 81050
Phone: 719 383-5025
E-mail: hpg_tribal_consultations@nps.gov