Indigenous roots are in the spotlight at Colorado’s Winter Park with a multifaceted art program.
Long before skiers and snowboarders began flocking to Winter Park Resort in Colorado’s Fraser Valley, the land was inhabited by the Ute, Arapaho, and Cheyenne people. A new public art installation acknowledges these original land stewards and helps paint a more complete picture of the area’s history.
The multifaceted artwork is called There Is Snow on the Ground, the English translation of the Arapaho word heniiniini’ (pronounced hee nee nee neh). It’s made up of several components, including a large-format piece, a snow stake, on-mountain trail signs in both English and Arapaho, and historical plaques with Native and Indigenous perspectives.
Winter Park Resort is translating trail signs into Arapaho.
Winter Park created There Is Snow on the Ground in partnership with NativesOutdoors, a Native-owned creative and athletic collective. The organizers hope it will spark meaningful conversations about water, recreation, land and Native and Indigenous heritage.
The large-format piece, which is installed in front of the Sunspot Mountaintop Lodge, features the outlines of four mountains: Longs Peak, Mount Blue Sky, Byers Peak, and Parry Peak. It also incorporates the outline of a winding river, as well as the word heniiniini’ and a pattern created by Native artists.
The large-format piece in front of the Sunspot Mountaintop Lodge features the outlines of four mountains.
“Native nations and people have deep roots when it comes to connecting with the land and water and all the natural resources they provide,” says Connor Ryan, a Lakota skier and filmmaker who worked on the project. “It’s been embedded in our culture for centuries and continues to this day. For Native people, skiing can be a space for that connection and to experience the joy with these elements that have always been a part of our cultures.”
Read about the Indigenous artists wrapping gondolas in Coast Salish designs.
From our January 2025 issue.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy of Winter Park Resort
