Denver is close to reaching an agreement that would reopen the historic Pahaska Tepee on Lookout Mountain, with a renewed focus on Indigenous history and culture.
Since the end of 2024, Pahaska Tepee — which has typically been known as a sort of companion gift shop and cafe next to the Buffalo Bill Museum — has sat empty. Denver Mountain Parks officials said the building needs an expensive renovation and wanted to give it new life as a center for Indigenous culture and food.
Under a contract that’s being considered by Denver City Council, national concessions contractor ExploreUS would open a restaurant and retail shop centering Indigenous history and culture at Pahaska.
Local favorite Tocabe could have a presence at Pahaska.
Shannon Dennison, the director of Denver Mountain Parks, said that ExploreUS is currently in talks with Berkeley eatery Tocabe, which serves up Native American-inspired foods, like its signature “Indian taco,” stuffed fry bread, bison ribs and more. The restaurant submitted a letter of support for the ExploreUS proposal.
What Tocabe’s presence on Lookout Mountain will look like is still up in the air.
“That may include things like ingredient sourcing, menu integrations, broader collaboration, and having a really strong Tocabe presence at Lookout Mountain Park, which I'm very excited about,” Dennison said at Tuesday’s Parks, Arts and Culture council committee meeting.
ExploreUS will also operate a retail shop, which will include merchandise like Indigenous art and jewelry; books and publications about the history of the area; and park-related souvenirs.
Denver Mountain Parks expects that Pahaska will reopen for business in the early summer, following two months of minor construction. Before that happens, city council must approve the contract.
ExploreUS would invest hundreds of thousands of dollars toward building renovations. In return, Denver Mountain Parks has offered the company a 10-year lease.
ExploreUS operates at several national and regional parks across the country. In a presentation to council, Dennison highlighted its retail and dining options at places like White Sands National Park and Petrified Forest National Park, both of which sell locally made Indigenous jewelry or Native-inspired dishes.
What is Denver’s Buffalo Bill Museum?
The neighboring Buffalo Bill Museum is named after the famed Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows, which toured North America and Europe in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They made celebrities out of performers and real-life historical figures, like sharpshooter Annie Oakley and Lakota leader Sitting Bull, but also spread stereotypes of Indigenous people that persist to this day.
“Buffalo Bill's Wild West has a strong connection to the American West and was closely connected to Native performers and there has not been strong Native representation at the park and in the story and the goal here is to bring more contemporary Native voices,” Dennison said.
