November recognizes Native American heritage

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)-- November is National Native American Heritage month, and a recent mural in Colorado Springs aims to show a modern representation of Indigenous people.

The "Take Back the Power" mural was done by Colorado Springs Indigenous artist and activist Gregg Deal.

"The message behind this mural is two things- it's to raise awareness on missing indigenous women and girls and two spirit, which is sort of a special way to say LGBTQ+ community," said Deal.

His second message focuses on modern representation.

"Additionally in the portrait, I used my daughter, somebody that I call the most important Indigenous woman in my life, and so there’s something kind of special about having an image of her in a place where we live and sort of falling in line with that representation," said Deal.

Native American Heritage month has been celebrated for 31 years. Deal says it's a time to remember who came before you. He also says it is still taking hard work for other people to recognize his culture.

"I think people are starting to just now figure out that it’s happening, but I also think we’re seeing things open up as we consider other people from other communities, from marginalized communities that are being recognized in spaces that they’re not traditionally recognized in," said Deal.

A lot of the recognition started from social media and the Black Lives Matter movement.

"Last year really pushed the envelope for considering other spaces and other people, and so I think we’re seeing a lot of amplification of it this last year and the hope is you keep that momentum going," said Deal.