HB 22-1327: Federal Indian Boarding School Research Program

• Establishes a Federal Indian Boarding School Research Program in the State Historical Society to research and document the physical and emotional abuse and deaths at federal Indian boarding schools in Colorado, particularly Fort Lewis Indian School.

• Directs the State Historical Society to conduct research identifying and mapping graves of Native American students, estimate the number of deaths, review historical records and oral histories, and interview those with knowledge of experiences and trauma at the schools by June 30, 2023.

• Requires the State Historical Society to consult with the Southern Ute Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs to develop recommendations by September 1, 2023, which may include repatriation processes, healing support services, education programs, burial site transfers to tribal ownership, and tribal blessing sites.

• Requires the Department of Human Services to vacate and sell or transfer the former Teller Institute property (a former boarding school now operating as a regional center) to a state institution, local government, state agency, or federally recognized tribe after identifying graves and developing an acknowledgment plan.

• Appropriates $618,611 to the Department of Higher Education for History Colorado to implement the research program, with the statute repealing December 31, 2023.