People of the Sacred Land is a 100% American Indian-led 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Directors are members of the Colorado American Indian Community working to support Indigenous Peoples’ rights in communities across the state. Our Directors are dedicated to working towards PSL’s mission to create equity for American Indians in Colorado and the tribes whose lands were stolen from them.
Director | Northern Arapaho
W. Patrick Goggles, an enrolled member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe of Wyoming, resides in the rural community of Mill Creek, On the Wind River Indian Reservation, Wyoming. Patrick has been married to Charolette R. Goggles for 47 years and together raised three children and have 10 grandchildren and two Great Grandsons.
Patrick is the Executive Director of Northern Arapaho Tribal Housing, since July 2003. Patrick also serves as the Region 5 Director to the National American Indian Housing Council since 2018.
Patrick is a Central Wyoming College and University of Wyoming graduate. Patrick is also a 2003 Leadership Wyoming graduate and an honorary Graduate of the Wind River Tribal College.
Patrick was elected to the 58th Wyoming Legislature in November of 2004 as Representative for House District 33. Patrick served as the Minority Floor Leader, Minority Whip and Ranking Democrat on the Management Council for the Wyoming Legislature until 2014. Patrick is a five-term legislator and was the lone Native American elected to the Wyoming Legislature.
Patrick also was elected to the Northern Arapaho Business Council in 1978 and served two terms. Patrick has also been elected to the Fremont County School District 14 Board of Trustees / Wyoming Indian Schools for twenty-two years.
Kiowa and Cherokee
For over 40 years, Rick has been actively involved in advocating on behalf of the American Indian community through both his professional and personal life. From supporting higher education opportunities for Native students at the University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Phoenix, and the American Indian College Fund, to helping serve the Native community in the Denver Front Range area through his work at the Denver Indian Center, Rick has dedicated his life to Indian Country. In promoting self-determination and self-reliance, Rick points to the importance of the family and the roles each member is responsible for while taking into account traditional Native American beliefs and values. Originally from Oklahoma, Rick is currently the Executive Director of the Denver Indian Center, Inc,. and has lived in Colorado since 1984. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Rick is married with 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren.
Raelene Whiteshield (Tsa-geah-hodle-mah) is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and also half Kiowa. She carries over 21 years of experience in the finance industry with many of those years working in commercial and corporate lending. Raelene currently works in nonprofit working with Indigenous communities in the US and Canada.
Raelene was raised in a suburb of Denver, Colorado where she still resides with her children and caregiver to her grandmother. Raelene is an avid seamstress, Indigenous designer, artist, jingle dress dancer, mother, and the largest fan to her children. Raelene currently is a Native American Advisory Council member at the Golden History Museum, an Advisory Community Member at the Denver Art Museum 100 years of Native American Art exhibition, titled: “Sustained!”. She is also a co-curator at the Golden History Museum for the exhibition “We Are Still Here: The Endurance of Native Jewels”, and she had seamstress artwork on display at the Golden History Museum and Gregory Allicar Museum of Art. She also sits on the advisory council for the City of Broomfield/Friends of Broomfield for the Sister City program with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. Raelene also is a co-writer for Patagonia Denver, Board Literature that is displayed at the Patagonia Denver store location. She has also assisted many local committees and community projects throughout the years.
(Ponca/Ojibwe/Santee), Owner and Founder of Project Mosaic LLC, has worked with dozens of nonprofit organizations to define their needs and next steps. She is a Commissioner for the Denver Public Library, on the Racial Equity Board for the City and County of Denver, and the Denver Foundation’s Advisory Committee for Community Impact. Her clients include First Nations Development Institute, Johns Hopkins University Center for Indigenous Health. Native Movement, Cochiti de Pueblo, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Buffalo Nations Grasslands Alliance, World Wildlife Fund, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center, Northwest Native American Center of Excellence, Dream of Wild Health, North Dakota Native Vote, California Native Vote, Johnson Scholarship Foundation, Denver Indian Health and Family Services, Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs, National Native American Boarding School
Healing Coalition, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, IllumiNatives, and other tribal and educational entities. She has also served as the Director of
Partnership and Business Development for Joining Vision and Action. Jennifer is working on her Ph.D. in Indigenous Health at the University of North Dakota.
Not Pictured:
Christine Baker Sage, Southern Ute, Director
People of the Sacred Land is a Colorado-based nonprofit working to uncover the truth about American Indian history in the state. The purpose of the People of Sacred Land is to support American Indian people who are citizens of the State of Colorado to preserve their culture, language, and ways of life that were intimately tied to the land.
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