Geography Colloquium: Grounded Relations & Repair

Please join us for a Geography Colloquium featuring the grand opening of the Grounded Relations & Repair Art Exhibit At CU-Boulder!

This exhibit is curated by Kristina Bad Hand, Sid Whiting Jr, and Isaac Rivera

Native Intellectual guidance by Rick Williams, Shannon Francis, and Viki Eagle

Grounded Relations & Repair is a doorway for accountable relations with Native nations. With the advent of the 150-year anniversary of the University of Colorado Boulder and the state of Colorado, this exhibit foregrounds the cartographic history of the lands in which CU-Boulder resides. In collaboration with the Maps Library at University of Colorado Boulder, this project presents a cartographic exhibit featuring the maps and stories of respected Native artists and intellectuals including Rick Williams, George Levi, Sid Whiting Jr, Kristina Bad Hand, and other Native intellectuals who wish to use this time of reflection on the history of CU-Boulder, to recognize the longer history of these lands and future—a past, present, and future where Native presence is ongoing alongside the University community. In so doing, this exhibit intends to animate historical consciousness surrounding Native nationhood across Colorado and to create the conditions for repairing relations with Native nations and the state of Colorado. Climate breakdown is an expression of ongoing settler colonialism, demanding the repair and healing of Native homelands and cultural relations. Using a combination of classical cartography and artistic works, the public facing exhibit of maps will demonstrate the ongoing ways in which Native peoples wish to see their stories and worlds acknowledged, as to foreground accountable relations that create the conditions for the repair of the Earth. Where not everything can be repaired, the exhibit continues a centuries long testament of Native resilience that maps Indigenous life, governance, and thrivance back into place.

The opening night will begin and close with music from these lands. We will hear the Chief White Antelope’s Song and Victory Song, reminding us that there was and will always be life here. Song Back! Land Back! We are honored with the presence of Creg Lee Hart and Amick Birdshead, who will perform these important songs on the story of their homelands.

Only The Earth Lasts Forever

This exhibit will be launched on October 30, 2026, in the Earth Sciences Building at CU-Boulder.

Please Join us in Room 180 on the first floor for an opening song, a discussion on the significance of Native art, and how Geographers can begin the work of repair and elevate Native political orders.

We invite all viewers of the exhibit to read and reflect upon the Trec Reports provided and developed by Rick Williams (President, People of the Sacred Land).

This exhibit is funded by the Research & Innovation Grant Program for the Humanities At CU-Boulder, The Department of Geography, The Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies, University Libraries, The Latin American and Latinx Studies Center, The Applied History Initiative, and Bruce Manchon