Commissioner Interview: Keith Colston
Maryland Two Fifty sat down with Commissioner Keith Colston of the Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives, Director of Ethnic Commissions, and Administrative Director for the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs, to discuss his distinguished career, American Indian Heritage Month, and his hopes for America’s 250th.
November is American Indian Heritage Month, which was established in 2014 when Governor Martin O’Malley signed House Bill 40, which requires the Governor to annually proclaim November as American Indian Heritage Month in Maryland.
Keith Colston of the Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives serves as Director of Ethnic Commissions and Administrative Director of the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs. In July 2023, he was named by Executive Order of Governor Wes Moore as a Maryland Two Fifty Commissioner.
A priority of Governor Moore’s Executive Order that created the Maryland Two Fifty Commission is “acknowledging that the confiscation of Indigenous land and displacement of Indigenous people is central to the United States’ origin story and recognizing the persistence and contributions of these communities today”.
Commissioner Colston says that American Indian Heritage Month is an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of Native Americans in Maryland. He also hopes that we will look back on the history of American Indian Heritage Month and reflect on our past. Commissioner Colston added that we must not only look at tribal people in past tense, yet as the people “we” are today.
In 1995, Commissioner Colston was working at the Baltimore American Indian Center, when he was appointed as the youngest Commissioner ever to serve on the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs. As a commissioner, he believed his influence would be greater as Commission Director, and when this position became available in 2007, he applied. Throughout his 17 years in this role, Commissioner Colston has made a distinct impact in the State of Maryland, via tribal consultation with tribal communities.
Commissioner Colston hopes that the 250th will create opportunities for meaningful collaboration with tribal communities. He hopes to start the conversation with tribal leadership and then work with individuals, artists, and teachers, making the 250th an opportunity to be a voice for tribal leaders and communities.