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

A cultural demonstrator from Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico holds a traditional flute and discusses its significance and the spiritualism of its designs.

NPS Photo

The National Park Service consults with park-associated Tribes and groups in activities that may impact Tribes having longstanding cultural, historical, religious, or spiritual connections to parklands. Park-associated Tribes and groups maintain deep connections, family, and historical ties to what are now parklands and these connections existed prior to establishment of Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site.

The park currently consults with Tribally designated representatives from:

• Apache Tribe of Oklahoma

• Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma

• Comanche Nation, Oklahoma

• Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana

• 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

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

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 in the national park system, all are welcome to enjoy and recreate respectfully within Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site. We are committed, through consultation with representatives of park-associated Tribes, that Indigenous 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 laws shall be respected.

Government-to-Government Tribal Consultation

Our Park Tribal Liaison Program supports Government-to-Government consultation with Tribes and Indigenous groups traditionally associated with 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 National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and other United States federal statutes, Executive Orders, and policies related to historic properties of religious and cultural significance.

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: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]