The co-chairs of Denver’s American Indian Commission no longer want the city to organize an Indigenous Peoples Day event this month, citing an ongoing feud among the panel’s members and with a City Council member.
The two commission leaders wrote about the dispute in a letter sent to Mayor Mike Johnston last week, ahead of the city’s first observance of that day as a paid city holiday. Trennie Burch and Deserea Richards called out Councilwoman Stacie Gilmore by name, alleging that she had directly interfered with their work.
“(Her) actions have undermined the independence and integrity of the commission,” they wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Denver Post. “Rather than supporting our work, her involvement … has deepened division, created confusion and eroded our ability to function as an advisory body.”
Burch and Richards also wrote that they had been “forced to navigate ongoing harm” from two other commissioners: Teddy McCullough and Brendan Morrison. They asked the mayor to terminate both of them and to suspend all of the board’s activities for one month.
“What we are experiencing is not simple conflict — it is manipulation, defiance and harmful behavior that has created an unsafe and unsustainable environment for commissioners and for the Native community we represent,” the letter says.
The letter doesn’t describe any specific instances of wrongdoing.
In an interview with The Post, Gilmore said she hoped the community would come together on the holiday, which this year falls on Oct. 13, to celebrate Indigenous people. She did not comment directly on the allegations.
The commission is an advisory board under the city’s Office of Human Rights and Community Partnerships, and its members are appointed by the mayor and approved by the council, with up to 21 allowed, according to its bylaws. The commission has had turmoil among its members for years, McCullough said.
“The allegations made against me are not accurate and, in reality, reflect retaliation for the pushback myself, other commissioners, and community members have made against the co-chairs for their demeaning and discriminatory behavior,” McCullough wrote in an emailed statement.
The commission is set to meet at 5 p.m. Thursday to consider expelling Morrison and McCullough, according to emails obtained by The Post. McCullough and Morrison won’t be able to attend the meeting because of earlier commitments, McCullough said.
Burch and Richards didn’t respond to requests for comment this week.
The council voted to make Indigenous Peoples Day a city holiday, with paid time off for city employees, for the first time in March after years of advocacy by the commission. It previously was a commemorative holiday.
In the letter, the co-chairs wrote that the commission had canceled the Indigenous Peoples Day event. But Gilmore, McCullough and other advocates say there will still be an event, just without Burch and Richards.
Gilmore said the commissioners took no valid vote to disassociate the commission from the event.
“I appreciate the work of the community on a volunteer basis, to come together and plan a celebration that honors our elders and the entire community,” she said.
Gilmore posted on Facebook that the Oct. 13 event will be from noon to 6 p.m. in the east meadow of City Park. It will feature an honor guard, community speakers, traditional dances, performances and other activities, along with food trucks.
Asked about the letter, Jon Ewing, a spokesman for the mayor’s office, wrote in an email: “Mayor Johnston supports the ability of independent commissions to operate with autonomy — and expects those commissions to be civil and held in a respectful manner.”
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