A WIN FOR
Mount Bluesky
After a long journey, DSST Byers officially has become DSST: Cedar! We are overjoyed with this change as our communities have been working tirelessly towards this goal!
Digital maps now acknowledge the proper name of the mountain as Mount Blue Sky. This change will hopefully evoke a change in public perceptions that surround this important relative.
“This change showed that our resilience is still present, and I am happy that our Cheyenne and Arapaho relatives have the recognition. This is a path forward for others, showing that we have a chance to create change in our communities. Mount Blue Sky is now a place I can go with my family.” - Nyomi Archuleta
“It was significant to my family in how recreation in the outdoors is still inaccessible for us. If we want to experience the Rocky Mountains, we have to go to what’s closest: Mount Blue Sky. We took my grandfather up there and saw the name Sq*** Pass. You see a beautiful mountain, and then see those names and realize colonization has touched that great spirit. Mount Blue sky was being desecrated in that way. We felt like crying. What’s the real name of this mountain? My grandfather sent me the article of the name change, and we felt happiness and relief. Yet this is still a baby step forward.” - Adalie Rivas, Gusgatanćaj (Nahua)
“Our names hold so much power, the day they are given to us. There is history behind each name, and it follows when we ask, ‘Why that name?’ The representation of the name Mount Blue Sky is important for the people who are native to this land. History is forever, but names start conversation, and I think that’s important.” - Amari Archambault
“Wopila!!!! Changing the name to Mount Blue Sky honors the original stewards of this land - the Cheyenne and Arapahoe. It is one more significant step toward telling the true history of Colorado and across all of Turtle Island. This is only the beginning. For far too long, Indigenous people and our history have been misperceived or not mentioned at all. This effort to make us invisible is intentional. Most Coloradans believe the names of our mountains, streams and other landmarks came from the settlers, as though they discovered this land. That is simply not true. These significant landmarks have been named by the 48 tribal nations that historically call Colorado home long before settler colonialism. If we can begin to honor our Indigenous people, we can begin to heal the atrocities and harms that have continued to happen to the original people of this land.” - Donna Chrisjohn