Sand Creek Update
November 2004

The Northern Cheyenne Sand Creek Descendants from the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana announce the 6^th Annual Sand Creek Spiritual Healing Run -- November 25 - 27, 2004, to commemorate and memorialize the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre 140^th Anniversary. “ The Liberation of our Elders ”

The ‘Healing Run’ is also to call attention to the recent liberation and repatriation of the human remains of the Sand Creek victims.

On November 29, 1864, along the Big Sandy Creek in southeastern Colorado near the present-day town of Eads, federal troops commanded by Colonel John M. Chivington attacked a peaceful encampment under the leadership of Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle.

For protection of his people and as duly authorized and directed by the United States government, Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle raised the U.S. Flag and a white flag of truce.

Despite these flags, Chivington’s men slaughtered approximately 150 Indians, Cheyenne and Arapaho, most of whom were women, children, or the elderly.

The Colorado troops then desecrated the dead and plundered the camp. Later, they were greeted as heroes by cheering throngs in the city of Denver as they paraded the body parts of the women, children, and elders. 

It remains one of the darkest episodes in American and Cheyenne history.

Over a century since the tragic event, the Cheyenne have finally begun to realize some sense of healing by honoring the memory of the Sand Creek Massacre victims through the on-going following efforts:

• The repatriation of human remains and artifacts held in museums taken during and after the massacre;

• Researching, gathering and archiving Cheyenne oral history of the Sand Creek massacre;

• Protecting and preserving the village site of the Sand Creek massacre through federal legislation the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Act of November 7^th 2000;

• Assisting the State of Colorado in reinterpreting the Civil War monument at the State Capitol to affirm that what occurred at Sand Creek on Nov. 29, 1864 was a massacre of innocent men women and children a not a “Battle”;  

• Originating the First Annual Sand Creek Spiritual Healing Run of 1999 from the Sand Creek Massacre Site in Kiowa County to the steps of the state capitol in Denver.

For the last five years Cheyenne people have been returning to their ancestral homelands for healing. In a gesture of cross-cultural good will, the Northern Cheyenne cordially invites the public to support and attend the ceremonies and events surrounding the healing run and to share this opportunity of spiritual healing during the Thanksgiving holiday.

For more information or an opportunity to help contact:
Otto Braided Hair, Director, Northern Cheyenne Sand Creek Office
W.P.: 406.477.8026 Message Phone: 406.749.4325 email: info@sandcreek.org
For the schedule visit: www.ncheyenne.net click on Notices
 

By Craig Moore, Park Ranger

The National Park Service (Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site) and the Kiowa County Economic Development Foundation hosted a three day fire management planning meeting in Eads from September 21-23, 2004.  The meeting was important for initiating fire prevention efforts and suppression activities for the Sand Creek Massacre Site. The meeting was attending by about forty people, representing the Kiowa County Sheriff’s Office, the Eads, Towner, and Kiowa County Fire Departments, the Board of County Commissioners, National Park Service Fire Management Officers and Fire Education specialists, the Colorado State Forest Service, the CSU Extension Office, and neighboring landowners. Tribal partners attending represented the Northern Arapaho, Northern Cheyenne, and Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. Members of the Southern Cheyenne Black Kettle Fire Suppression Team and the Natural Resources Management staff at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site were also in attendance.

A visit to the Sand Creek Massacre site provided participants an opportunity to see many of the fire management challenges faced on NPS and tribal lands. Superintendent Alexa Roberts gave an overview of current fire suppressions agreements between NPS and Kiowa County and tribal representatives discussed cultural issues and other traditional considerations for future fire management activities.

Much discussion focused on initial response in the event a fire occurs at Sand Creek, including such issues as response time, fire fighting methods, water availability, equipment, and costs. Fire prevention strategies were also debated. One of the prevention issues discussed at length was fuel load reduction, including mowing or grazing to reduce tall grasses and the removal of downed and dead cottonwood limbs along the creek bed. The meeting concluded with a facilitated fire mitigation assessment and further discussion about the site’s riparian and range management issues.

Funding for the meeting was obtained via a Community Assistance Grant through the National Fire Plan. Bringing such a diverse group of fire management and other partners together promotes a much greater understanding of the site’s fire management issues and helped lay the groundwork for future management plans.

Once again the community provided a warm welcome for the more than 60 Northern Arapaho Tribal members who came for the 2004 Spiritual Healing Run from the Sand Creek Massacre Site to a location near Bennett, Colorado.

On Thursday evening, about 50 community members contributed an array of delectable dishes to the potluck supper at the Community Building. More than enough barbeque beef and buns were almost entirely donated by Safeway and deliciously prepared by Betty Cahill and her family. Assistance with the set up and clean up was ably provided by National Park Service staff and volunteers Jeff Campbell, Craig Moore, Theresa Horak, and Melissa Bechhoefer, and Farm Service Agency staff Rod Johnson and Walt Immer.

After supper Commissioner Rod Brown welcomed the crowed and thanked the Fair Board for the air conditioning that made the Community Building a cool, comfortable place to gather. Then the audience was treated to an evening of spectacular dances, singing and drumming performed by talented young Arapaho dancers and a drum group from the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming. A particular treat was the interpretation of each dance and the dance regalia provided by the organizer of the run, Sandra Iron Cloud. Several of the young dancers spoke to the audience about the significance of participating in the dancing and singing as a way to keep the Arapaho youth focused on Arapaho traditions and cultural values and away from drugs and alcohol. They also explained that the Spiritual Healing Run from the Sand Creek Massacre Site was an important part of the same effort. Finally, to conclude the evening’s festivities, the dancers held a Friendship Dance and invited all the members of the audience to join in.

The next morning, the dancers arrived at the High School Multi-Purpose room for a hearty and healthful breakfast prepared by Betty Cahill and family and then caravanned to the Sand Creek Massacre Site to begin the run. The run was initiated with prayers and blessing of the dancers, and reminders from the spiritual leaders that the purpose of the run is not to race, but to pray and reflect. Then in the crisp air of an unusually cool August morning, the runners took off down the road for the first ten mile stretch of the relay run, escorted by Deputy Sheriff Danny Christie and Kiowa County Fire Department members Bill Yohey and CJ Filbeck.

The organizers of the group thanked the local community for their warm welcome for a second year, for the delicious food that sustained the runners and for the effort at the local level that went into hosting the group again this year. To their thanks, the National Park Service would also like to especially thank all the people mentioned above, as well as Jack Howard with the Kiowa County Road and Bridge shop who mowed parking areas at the Sand Creek site, Bent’s Old Fort Natural Resources Manager Karl Zimmermann and his crew and Ashley Brown who helped with serving breakfast and clean up at the high school and at the Sand Creek site on Friday morning.

We look forward to welcoming the Cheyenne runners this November and the Arapaho runners again next year!

More Park News

Made possible by the Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit at the University of Montana, Dr. Mark Feige and Ms. Julia Langfield, Colorado State University, are researching the environmental history of the Sand Creek Massacre Site area, focusing on what the site might have looked like in 1864 and how it has changed since then.  The research will help the National Park service to fulfill one of the requirements of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site authorizing legislation, which states that NPS shall manage the site "...in a manner that preserves, as closely as practicable, the cultural landscape of the site as it appeared at the time of the Sand Creek Massacre" (P.L. 106 - 465 Section 5 (b) (I) (C).  To add to this knowledge, additional NPS funds have been awarded to Bent's Old Fort and Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Sites to begin researching tribal uses of Southern Plains prairie plants.  Focusing on the Cheyenne and Arapaho knowledge of the Sand Creek Massacre Site area environment and ecology, this project combined with the environmental history project, will begin to provide irreplaceable baseline knowledge for the appropriate long-term stewardship of the site's natural resources. Along with efforts to properly manage the site's natural environment, the National Park Service is working closely with Kiowa County, the Colorado State Forest Service, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, and private landowners to develop Fire Management  Plans.  The main goal is to prevent fire from occurring within the National Historic Site boundaries, but if it does, to have a plan in place for an effective response.  NPS has obtained three additional grants for Kiowa County totaling $28,000.00.  Two of these grants were for the purchase of personal protective equipment and portable water tanks for the volunteer fire department.  The third grant is for a workshop to be held mid-September among the NPS, Kiowa County, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, local landowners, and the State of Colorado to develop a Fire Prevention and Response Plan for the Sand Creek Massacre National historic Site.  The development of this plan will be a significant accomplishment and will make all the interested parties feel more secure and prepared, especially following the recent rains which have caused tremendous growth in grasses and other plants that will soon dry out and become highly flammable.

Things are continuing to move forward with the establishment of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. On the legislative front, a bill recently introduced into Congress by Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell will place the land privately owned by the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (the former Dawson ranch) into Tribal Trust status. This means that the property will be owned by the United States for the benefit of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma (i.e., as part of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma reservation). In this case, the land is to be used specifically for the purposes outlined in the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2000.

On May 20, Sand Creek Massacre NHS Superintendent Alexa Roberts will attend a hearing on the bill before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Following hearings and action by the House of Representatives, the bill is expected to be signed into law by the end of this Congressional session. After that, the NPS and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes will work out an agreement for how NPS is to manage the property as part of the National Historic Site, and NPS will recommend to the Secretary of Interior that the site be officially established. Then a great deal of planning needs to takes place so we can prepare the site for public visitation. Step by step, the establishment of the National Historic Site is moving forward in a very positive way.

In the meantime, land management preparations continue to develop in partnership among the National Park Service, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, and Kiowa County. Of most immediate concern is developing fire prevention and response plans for the Sand Creek Site. For the second year in a row, NPS was successful in obtaining a Rural Fire Assistance Grant ($11,000) that will allow the Kiowa County Fire Department to purchase portable water tanks and personal protective equipment for firefighters. In addition, NPS obtained a $5000 grant for development of a Mutual Aid Agreement between the NPS and the County. The grant will help reimburse the County for assistance it provides to NPS and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes related to needs at the Sand Creek Massacre site.

While land management activities are ongoing, so are public outreach and public educational programs being conducted by Sand Creek Massacre NHS Ranger Craig Moore. Craig has recently prepared the first public information newsletter which he is in the process of mailing to more than 200 members of the interested public who have requested them. In addition to the newsletter, updated site information bulletins are also being prepared and will be available shortly to place in local businesses and office. Craig has also given nine public presentations around the state so far this year, and is available for presentations to schools, civic groups, or organizations upon request. For more information on newsletter, brochures, public programs or educational opportunities, please call Craig at 71-383-5010 x20, or Alexa Roberts at 438-5916. We love to hear from you!
 

Sand Creek was in the press a lot during the Christmas/New Year holiday! The deed to the former Dawson property was formally transferred from Southwest Entertainment Inc. to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma in a ceremony in Concho, Oklahoma on December 19. The ceremony was well attended by Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal members, representatives of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the Northern Arapaho Tribe, and the Colorado Historical Society, as well as the National Park Service. It was particularly nice to hear various representatives acknowledge the people of Kiowa County during their presentations.

Now that the Tribes own the property, Senator Campbell’s office is working on legislation to place the property into tribal trust status so that it can be managed as part of the larger Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. Once the trust status is in place, the NPS together with the Tribes can move forward with the process of having the National Historic Site formally established. The transfer of the deed to the Tribes was not only a very significant historical event for the Cheyenne and Arapaho people, but a major step forward in the effort to establish the National Historic Site.

A second item appearing in newspapers around the country at the same time as the news about the deed transfer was the efforts of a private corporation to develop a casino complex near Denver. According to news reports, the plan capitalized on Sand Creek issues, including the reparations owed to Sand Creek Massacre descendents under the 1865 Treaty of Little Arkansas following the massacre. While the near simultaneous appearance of these two stories in the news suggested that the proposed development of the casino operation near Denver and the establishment of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site are in some way related, there is no connection. The establishment of the National Historic Site is proceeding as anticipated and is getting closer to becoming a reality.

For more information on the Sand Creek Massacre Site, please contact Alexa Roberts, Project Manager, at 438-5916.
 

August 20, 2003

2003 Northern Arapho Spiritual Healing Run a Success.
By Alexa Roberts

Last week’s welcoming for the Northern Arapaho Tribe’s and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma’s 2003 Sand Creek Spiritual Healing Run was a great success. The Tribes extend their sincere thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and hospitality as well as the wonderful pot-luck supper provided by the whole community.. The National Park Service shares the Tribes’ thanks and appreciation to everyone who participated. Special thanks also go to the Kiowa County Sheriff’s Office, Kiowa County Road and Bridge shop, Kiowa County Commissioners, Kiowa County Extension Office, Kiowa County Economic Development Foundation, the Town of Eads, the 4-H Council, the USDA Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service, William and Tootie Dawson, Milton Watts, Our Place Restaurant, Crow’s Stop N Shop, Bob Howerton, staff members from Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, the Country Manor Motel, and Ari Kelman with the University of Denver. Everyone’s contributions and assistance made the event a success.

Close to 300 people, including about 85 Northern Arapaho runners and “support staff,” attended the pot luck supper on Thursday evening. Also present were the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes’ representatives to the Sand Creek Massacre Site and one of the spiritual leaders of the Northern Arapaho Tribe. The main part of the Northern Arapaho delegation was still in route from Wyoming when most of the local residents arrived at 6:30, so various introductions and talks about the meaning of the Spiritual Healing Run were given until the Arapaho delegation arrived and supper was served about 7:15. As everyone finished up their delicious supper, a group drummed for the family of Robbie and Andra Valdez, from Ethete Wyoming, who provided a brief demonstration of a variety of pow-wow dance styles. The drum group was led by Clark Trumbull Sr., Eagle Drum Keeper for the Northern Arapaho Tribe, Clark Trumbull Jr., Robert Goggles, and Alonzo Sankey. Mrs. Valdez explained the meaning of some of the dances, such as the grass dance, in which the grass dancers symbolically lay a foundation of grass for the dancers to follow. The planned dancers from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma were unable to get to town in time to participate in the dance performances, so the Northern Arapaho dancers provided the evening’s dances in the community building rather than moving everyone out to the arena as anticipated. Everyone appreciated the Valdez family’s educational performance, especially considering that they had been on the road from Wyoming all day and barely even had time to eat supper and catch their breath!

On Friday morning the 4-H got to the community center almost in the middle of the night to prepare a wonderful, filling breakfast for the runners before everyone headed out to the Sand Creek Massacre site about mid-morning. Gathering on the hill at the location of the monument, a Northern Arapaho elder told a story of a vision she received about Sand Creek while in the hospital. The Color Guard displayed the colors and the drum group provided an honor song for veterans as well as servicemen and women on active duty. In addition to the Colors, the veterans also displayed a white flag, symbolizing the flag of truce that was held by Chief Black Kettle on the day of the Massacre, honoring the Massacre victims. The runners were given a talk about the meaning of the run, reminding them that they are carrying prayers and honoring their ancestors who died at Sand Creek and other war veterans as well as those currently serving their country. Then with a great rush and the pounding of running shoes on the dirt road the runners were off, on their way to Denver. Reports as of Monday morning were that all runners made it to Denver on Saturday, happy and healthy.

The Northern Arapaho 2003 Spiritual Healing Run will undoubtedly be one of many such events to come. Having the Arapaho and Cheyenne runners and their families here for the evening reflects the historical associations between the Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribes and Kiowa County, and the ties among the tribe’s communities and Kiowa County’s communities that will continue to grow as the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site is developed.

For more information on the Sand Creek Massacre Site, please contact Alexa Roberts, Project Manager, at 438-5916.
 

August 5, 2003

SAND CREEK MASSACRE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE UPDATE
By Alexa Roberts

On August 8, the Northern Arapaho Tribe will be holding its 2003 Sand Creek Spiritual Healing Run in honor of Native American Troops serving in the Gulf War and Iraq. On August 7, the evening before the run, the community is invited to a pot luck dinner to welcome the runners, and in turn will be treated to an evening of dances and drumming performed by Arapaho dancers and drum groups. The National Park Service will provide smoked brisket, so please bring a salad, side dish or dessert. There are about 100 runners/volunteers expected. The dinner will be at 6:30 pm at the community center, followed by dances at the rodeo arena. We look forward to seeing you there!

The National Park Service and Kiowa County entered into an agreement to provide mutual assistance in wildland and structural fire suppression through the sharing of resources. Through the efforts of Ms. Fran Pannebaker, Natural Resources Manager at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, the NPS was able to secure a $6000 Rural Fire Assistance Grant for the Kiowa County Fire Department. The grant will allow Kiowa County to purchase some much needed protective clothing. In turn, the county will be able to assist NPS in the event of fire on lands within the boundaries of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. The NPS looks forward to development of many more cooperative assistance agreements with Kiowa County.

Mr. Karl Zimmerman, staff member of Bent’s Old Fort, also provided invaluable assistance by arranging clean-up activities on the Sand Creek site with the Colorado Department of Corrections. A community work crew from Fort Lyon Correctional Facility, with assistance from Bent’s Old Fort staff members, Mr. Bill Dawson, and Kiowa County performed many days of service cleaning up old fencing material and debris from the Sand Creek site, helping retain its 1864 appearance. These efforts have gone a long way to preserve the reverent nature of the site to Cheyenne and Arapaho descendents as well as future visitors when the site can eventually be opened to the public.

To help plan for management of the National Historic Site once it is formally established, the NPS hosted a large meeting last April to discuss natural resources conditions on the site, what the natural resource conditions might have been in 1864 at the time of the massacre, and how the site should best be managed once it is established. In attendance were resource specialists from the NPS, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Farm Service Agency, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Office, Kiowa County officials, representatives of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, private environmental consultants, and landowners. The meeting was well attended and resulted in some preliminary recommendations for resources management within the National Historic Site boundaries. A summary of the meeting is currently being prepared and will be available to review at the NPS office in the USDA building.

As reported in the July 25 issue of the Kiowa County Press, The Conservation Fund recently purchased 40 acres of land belonging to Mrs. Rose Anne Cass. The Conservation Fund’s donation of the property to the National Park Service brings the NPS’s total holdings within the site boundaries to 920 acres. The Bureau of Land Management has completed a boundary survey and placed monuments at the corners of all NPS lands. In addition, signs have been posted along NPS property boundaries stating that the area is currently closed to the public and that hunting is not allowed. The conveyance of the former Dawson property from the new owner, Southwest Entertainment, Inc. to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma is still in process. Updates will be provided as new information becomes available. In the meantime, NPS is working with Kiowa County to update the Kiowa County website with current information about Sand Creek and to link with the NPS website. In addition, updated site brochures will be available shortly and will be distributed to any businesses or offices that would like to have some.

For more information on the Sand Creek Massacre Site, please contact Alexa Roberts, Project Manager, at 438-5916.