Colorado as a Fantasy Map

The state of Colorado reimagined as a fantasy map. This map is part of the Integral States Project, an art series that encourages reflection about the actual, pre-colonial history of these landscapes as well as the indigenous peoples who called them home. Proceeds benefit native charities. 

Project website: https://integralstatesproject.com/

Over thousands of years, the peoples who lived in what is now Colorado adapted to changes in climate and the ebb and flow of megafuana. They used ground stone tools to process grains, introduced corn, and changed their movement patterns in response to seasonable changes. More recently, the Apache, a group of culturally related tribes, lived throughout the American southwest. The term refers to six major Apache-speaking groups: Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Plains Apache, and Western Apache. The Arapaho and Cheyenne, both Algonquian speaking peoples, moved west to the region that now encompasses Colorado. The tribes banded together as allies and some members of the tribes are now one people in Oklahoma after being robbed of their land.