In late August, unsheltered Native Americans staying at Four Winds American Indian Council had their tents and other belongings swept. The following is Denver VOICE Contributor Paula Bard’s photo essay documenting this sweep.

Principle #1 of the Federal Trust Responsibility:
Respect Tribal Sovereignty and self-determination, which includes the right of Indian Tribes to make important decisions about their own best interests.

The chain-link fences were thrown up around Four Winds Native American Council at 4:30 am in late August. So began one of Denver's notorious sweeps, dismantling the encampment of unsheltered Native Americans on the corner of Bannock and 5th, which hugged the perimeter of their red-brick church.

According to Sky Roosevelt-Morris, council member of Four Winds American Indian Council, "This is a sanctuary space. Spiritual spaces have always been considered sanctuary.”

Four Winds declares itself a liberated zone. The building and land were given back to the Native community after the 150th anniversary of the Sand Creek Massacre by the Lutheran Church. Sand Creek is widely known as one of the worst atrocities perpetrated by the State of Colorado against the Native people. For those at Four Winds, there is an intimate connection between Sand Creek and the sweeping of the Native encampment at their doorstep.

A liberated zone means Native people have the right to be at Four Winds, "unapologetically," says Roosevelt-Morris, "and our relatives, our unsheltered relatives have sought refuge here because of the onslaught of colonialism, the onslaught of forcible removal and they have nowhere else to go.”

The camp is run by three elder native women, Sharon, Tomasa, and Lorna. "Those are the matrilineal women that run this camp and it's a native majority camp which has never been heard of here,” explains Roosevelt-Morris. “Everybody does their part because we all come from the same worldview. We come from a worldview of mutual respect. We come from a worldview of reciprocity. We come from a worldview, where there's enough for everybody. But not [room for] everybody's greed."

"It's different here, we check in with one another, we have almost daily meetings here. We feed each other, we support each other. This is about community. We just need to put ourselves together, and carry each other when it gets too difficult." Roosevelt-Morris says.

”And so, that's the spirit that lives here,” Roosevelt-Morris explains. “That's the spirit that Four Winds has held since 1989. And that's the spirit of the American Indian movement that has also lived here at Four Winds since 1989. And so, there's a movement happening here, I've never seen it before in my life. I've never seen Native unsheltered relatives organize themselves the way that I watch these guys organize themselves, and support each other, support me, support our community,"

Roosevelt-Morris is concerned about the more encompassing and historical issue, "We have 371 treaties here. And how many of those treaties did Native people break? Not one. The United States Government broke every one of those 371 treaties; they're breaking it now, as they're breaking the '68 Fort Laramie treaty. We have Oglala Lakota people in this camp. This is their homeland. We have Diné people here, Colorado is their homeland. And so, for people to just assume, especially these homeowners around here, that they have a right to tell native people to get off the land, the hell with that."

At Four Winds, they attribute the sweep to neighborhood complaints. "The mayor's office is getting phone calls every day. Over 700 calls. They call the Mayor and they call the cops, every single day. Oh my god. Yeah, that's why the city came out here," says Roosevelt-Morris.

This was the City of Denver's 79th sweep of unhoused encampments. More have occurred since late August. Denver cites its camping ban and public right-of-way ordinances when clearing out encampments.

Sharon Barth, a member of the encampment, says that the towering fences going up at
4:30 a.m. are, "so disrespectful. We're not animals. We're not prisoners of war."

"Those fences are still up, I haven't seen that before. They're supposed to have to take them down within 72 hours. It's long exceeded 72 hours. And also, they have a cop posted at these fences 24/7. And why is it there? Because people, people are uncomfortable. The neighbors feel unsafe because they think that unsheltered people; it's going to spread,” says Roosevelt-Morris.

“I could see that the Mayor was not taking anything seriously.” - Sharon Barth

Before the sweep, south of downtown Denver, Mayor Michael Hancock met virtually with the Four Winds Council and the Native Americans in the unsheltered encampment outside of the building. They had three demands for him. They wanted him to stop the sweep, which he refused. They wanted Native preference housing. Their third request was a Native preference SOS (Safe Outdoor Space camping site). This third request is currently under negotiation. These requests are essential because, according to Roosevelt-Morrison, "We make up one of the largest percentages per capita of unsheltered people, not just in the city of Denver, but in Turtle Island generally. And I would argue that pretty much wherever colonialism exists, it'll be the majority Native people being unsheltered, native people being displaced."

For Four Winds, this is far from over. "These are our community members," says Roosevelt-Morrison, "and I'm not going to stand by passively, and watch violence be brought on to my relatives, and not take a stand and not fight for them. We're gonna see this through. And you know they think that they won on Tuesday, they think that they did something. Our people are still here."

Editor’s Note: Our October issue of the Denver VOICE features a longer article about the sweep on Four Winds.

Sweep of 4 Winds Native Indian Council: A Photo Essay

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