Four Winds American Indian Council
About Four Winds American Indian Council
Four Winds American Indian Council represents a historic model of Indigenous community self-determination in Denver, Colorado. Founded in the 1980s as a response to assimilation pressures facing Native youth and urban Indigenous communities, Four Winds has evolved into a vital gathering place where Native people reclaim their cultural identity, speak their languages, practice their ceremonies, and organize collectively for liberation and empowerment. The organization's very existence in Denver reflects a commitment to serving the nearly 70% of Native people displaced from their traditional territories who now live in urban settings.
What distinguishes Four Winds is both its mission and its remarkable land history. In 2015, the Rocky Mountain Lutheran Church Synod Council made the historic decision to return the land to Four Winds American Indian Council—a rare return of Native lands not only in Denver and Colorado, but across all of North America. This transformation of a former church facility from a site of conversion and assimilation into a space of Indigenous liberation symbolizes the organization's core values. Four Winds operates as an "liberated zone" where Indigenous peoples are free to pursue Native empowerment without apology, creating a sanctuary for cultural preservation and community healing.
The organization's family-centered approach extends to offering free memorial, funeral, and wake services—the only such space in Denver available to Indigenous community members at no cost. Guided by the Seventh Generation Principle, Four Winds makes decisions with consideration for impacts seven generations into the future. Through community partnerships, the Indigenous Permaculture Garden Project, and the Homeless Survival Program, Four Winds continues its decades-long work advancing the physical, spiritual, political, community, economic, and social liberation of all Indigenous Peoples and lands.