A bus carries the untold story of Colorado's Native peoples; "We're still here"

As Colorado marks 150 years of statehood, a one-of-a-kind traveling exhibit is hitting the road, and it's carrying a history many Coloradans have never heard.

The "Breathing, Healing Bus" will wind through communities across the state. It's part rolling classroom, part memorial and part celebration. Inside, the true story of Indigenous people in Colorado is told in vivid detail -- from massacre to resilience, from erasure to a powerful declaration: "We are still here."

Terri Bissonette, lead facilitator for Wakaska Yuza Native Youth Leaders, says that message is long overdue.

"We knew it would be really important for folks to learn the true history of what happened to tribal nations as Colorado was becoming a state," she says. "Native history is Colorado history. And it's important for all Coloradans to know and understand -- not only what occurred in the 1800s -- but the ongoing battles and struggles and challenges that we have."

The history on board is sobering. The early leaders of the state, Bissonette says, had an intentional goal: to make Colorado Native American-free. They came close. And for generations, that story was buried, she says.

The Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples are still carrying the weight of that era. The massacre of their ancestors, Bissonette says, is a wound that has never fully healed.

"When trauma is not resolved, it just perpetuates, and it manifests itself in different ways. And that's really what we see," said Bissonette.

But the bus isn't only about pain. A section on board is dedicated to healing, meditative breathing, reflection, and hope. Bissonette is clear about what she wants visitors to walk away feeling.

"We don't want anybody going through the exhibit triggered or re-traumatized. We want folks to feel inspired. Truth and healing can exist in the same space," she said.

The voices telling that story belong, in part, to Native youth.

Brielle Patillo, a student from the Northern Arapaho Nation, joined the project with a purpose.

"What inspired me to do this is to just be able to speak up for the people that can't speak up," said Patillo. "How we're getting murdered, and nobody notices it, nobody recognizes it."

She's talking about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women -- a crisis her community lives with every day. Cases dropped. Families waiting. Women are forgotten.

But Brielle carries pride alongside that pain. She recently learned that her great-grandmother wrote the dictionary for the Arapaho language.

"I think we should keep on teaching young people about our languages and just keep our traditions. I don't want my culture to just be forgotten," said Patillo.

Her fellow student December White Plume points to the images on the bus -- the buffalo, the memorials, the red handprints representing missing women.

White Plume said, "They tried to kill us off, but we're still here. They tried to kill all of our buffalo, but our buffalo are still here."

Elizabeth Tafoya, who is Jicarilla Apache and Laguna Pueblo, sees the bus as living proof of something powerful.

"We aren't a dying people," Tayoya said. "We are still keeping on our legacy. And we can see this through a lot of our youth today."

That's ultimately what Terri Bissonette hopes every Coloradan takes with them when they step off the bus. Not guilt, not grief, but understanding. And maybe a little surprise.

"I can't tell you how many people I've run across in the state of Colorado who say, 'There are Native people here?'" Bissonette said.

There are. They always have been.

And now, on a bus rolling across the state their ancestors called home long before it had a name, they are making sure you know it.

The Wakaska Yuza Native Youth Leaders project received a grant for the traveling exhibit from the America 250-Colorado 150 Commission. Learn more at controlgroupproductions.org/truth-250-150 and at nativeyouthleaders.org.