Descendants of Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians killed by Colorado militiamen at Sand Creek in 1864 will return some of their ancestors’ remains to the site, which will become a memorial under terms of a bill signed by President Bush last week.
They know of the remains of seven people killed there and already have taken possession of three, said Steve Brady, a co-chairman of the Sand Creek Massacre Committee of the Northern Cheyenne tribe in Lame Deer, Mont.
The remaining four sets of remains are yet to be collected. The remains first will be stored at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site outside La Junta, Brady said. In time, they will be returned to the spot in Kiowa County where more than 150 unsuspecting Cheyenne and Arapaho men, women and children were attacked and killed on the morning of Nov. 29, 1864.
They had set up camp there at the direction of a U.S. general. They flew an American flag and also a white flag signaling nonaggression.
“We’re dealing with the very people that were slaughtered there,” Brady said. “Their body parts were taken.”
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Republican from Fort Morgan, said she was glad to see her bill authorizing the National Park Service to take possession of the land – her first to become law – prevail.
“It’s very meaningful to me … to commemorate this site,” Musgrave said. “Maybe, in a way, it brings closure to a very tragic episode in our history. I think it’s incumbent upon all of us to really acknowledge what happened historically, and not to try to gloss over those things. ”
At the University of Nebraska, museum officials say they are prepared to turn over a skull fragment that was collected from the massacre site near Eads and eventually donated to the university.
“At the time of their choosing, (Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes) will send their officials to Lincoln for the ceremonial repatriation,” said Priscilla Grew, director of the University of Nebraska State Museum.
“Obviously, this is a very historically important site,” Grew said.
The Park Service has yet to receive the land, which was bought by the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma from an area rancher and is slated to be held in trust by the federal government.
It is still unknown what will be built at the site, but the exact location of the massacre will not be developed – it is to be preserved for ceremonial uses of the tribes, according to the law.
After a survey of the boundaries, Interior Secretary Gale Norton is expected to create the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, perhaps by January, Park Service spokeswoman Susan Garland said.
Beyond serving an important historical role, the site also will provide an economic boost for Eads and the area, Musgrave said. The site is in her district.
She said she plans to introduce a bill providing federal funds for a visitor center and interpretive programs.
The law gives the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes influence over how the site is developed.
“We want to maintain the integrity of the village site, the massacre site, to try to keep it as natural as possible,” Brady said.
Musgrave, tribal leaders and Park Service officials are scheduled to visit the area this week.
Staff writer Jim Hughes can be reached at 303-820-1244 or jhughes@denverpost.com.
