Historic Loss Assessment Report quantifies $1.17 trillion in land theft from Colorado’s Native Nations

GreenMoney Talks – In this exclusive interview with Richard B. Williams, scholar, Oglala Lakota elder and chair of the Truth, Restoration and Education Commission (TREC), guest host Kate Finn, executive director of the Tallgrass Institute, discusses key findings from TREC’s Historic Loss Assessment Report. The report quantifies Colorado’s $1.17 trillion land theft against the devastating economic and ecological losses experienced by Native Nations displaced by U.S. expansionism. Williams shares insights into addressing these injustices and the path forward for reconciliation, equity and restoring Indigenous self-determination. 

Click to read or download the report

CREDITS:

Interview produced by Kate Finn and the Tallgrass Institute team. Episode featured guest: Richard B. Williams, Chair of the Truth, Restoration and Education Commission

Post-production by BrandNature design & media lab

Richard B. Williams (Oglala Lakota/Northern Cheyenne) is a passionate and committed  advocate and fierce champion of Native education in the United States. From 1997 until 2012, he served as president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund (AICF), a national non-profit scholarship fundraising organization for American Indian students attending tribal colleges and universities that provide culturally based education. At the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), Williams worked on landmark cases concerning the civil rights of American Indians in prison. With the assistance of Wallace Black Elk, a Lakota medicine man, he helped build the first sweat lodge at a correctional institution. He also developed a plan to build a 50-bed minimum-security prison on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota, where he served as the first warden. It was during this time that Rick learned and studied the political and social processes that influence the effectiveness of tribal governing entities. At the AICF, Williams raised more than $200 million in scholarship support for Native students and support for the Tribal Colleges and Universities since 1997, including helping 17 faculty members complete their doctorates. In 2007, Williams received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island for his work in Native education.

Kate R. Finn is Founder and Executive Director of Tallgrass Institute, a Center for Indigenous Economic Stewardship. She leads the organization to build and implement strategies that forward Indigenous Peoples’ priorities at the intersection of business, law, and finance. Ms. Finn’s areas of focus and research expertise include Indigenous Peoples law and policy, preventing violence against women, sustainable finance and business, and human rights. Ms. Finn holds a J.D. and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Colorado, and a B.A. from Princeton University. Ms. Finn is Chair of the Executive Committee of the Securing Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in the Green Economy (SIRGE) Coalition, and she serves on the boards of Cedar Growth, Cultural Survival, and on the Stewardship Circle of Adasina Social Capital. Ms. Finn is an enrolled citizen of the Osage Nation.