Chief Black Kettle,
I want you to give all these chiefs of the soldiers here to understand that we are for peace, and that we have made peace, that we may not be mistaken by them for enemies.
A Cheyenne cemetery is in the same direction as where my mother told me she watched gypsies camp through her west window as a girl, about ½ mile from her house. I have reverently walked though that Cheyenne cemetery as early as ten, looking at the headstones and wondering who they were and where they came from. I did not know then, that in that cemetery were descendants from the Sand Creek Massacre.
The Approaching Genocide Towards Sand Creek
Simultaneously, Roman Nose led the Dog Soldiers in battle, while Black Kettle strove for peace. Why did Roman Nose and the Hotamitanio (Dog Soldier Society) need to defend their sovereignty and way of life? The answers to that one question rest in: the Great Horse Creek Treaty (1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie), volunteer soldiers, John Chivington, white encroachment with the Pike's Peak gold rush of 1858, the "renegotiation" of the "Great Horse Creek Treaty" at Fort Wise, the Civil War soldiers who encroached on promised land, and the murder of Lean Bear. The first core point is that hunting rights and land claims were not surrendered in the Great Horse Creek Treaty (1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie). www.firstpeople.us/...
The territory of the Cheyennes and Arrapahoes, commencing at the Red Butte, or the place where the road leaves the north fork of the source; thence along the main range of the Rocky Mountains to the head-waters of the Arkansas River; thence down the Arkansas River to the crossing of the Santa Fe road, thence in a northwesterly direction to the forks of the Platte River, and thence up the Platte River to the place of beginning.
Second of all, the Pike's Peak gold rush of 1858 brought white encroachment by ways of pony express riders, telegraph wires, stagecoaches, and more and more military forts whose soldiers (at least in the Sand Creek Massacre) included volunteer soldiers under the command of Col. John Chivington (1). To illustrate, here is a poster from 1864 that portrays the recruitment of volunteer soldiers.
Clearly, Roman Nose had sufficient reason to defend his people. Matters became worse for the Cheyenne and Arapaho as the white encroachment increased dramatically with the Pike's Peak gold rush of 1858, despite the land being promised them in the Great Horse Creek Treaty (1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie). The Territory of Colorado was then "declared" a decade after that treaty, and politicians wanted to "renegotiate" the Great Horse Creek Treaty at Fort Wise. It was far from a compromise, it was theft.
books.google.com/... ARTICLE 1.
"The said chiefs and delegates
of said Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes of Indians do hereby cede and relinquish to the United States all lands now owned, possessed, or claimed by them, wherever situated, except a tract to be reserved for the use of said tribes located within the following described boundaries, to wit:..."
Some "negotiation," 38 of the 44 Cheyenne chiefs did not sign it.
Dee Brown. "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee." p. 69:
"...When the Cheyennes pointed out that only six of their forty-four chiefs were present, the United States officials replied that the others could sign it later..."(1)
Adding still more misery, were facts that hunting was scarce on this land tract, nor was it suited to farming. Also, white encroachment from the Pike's Peak gold rush escalated, while Civil War soldiers roamed onto their grounds. Then, Chivington, the butcher of Sand Creek, began his campaign of extermination and genocide.
Source In the spring of 1864, while the Civil War raged in the east, Chivington launched a campaign of violence against the Cheyenne and their allies, his troops attacking any and all Indians and razing their villages. The Cheyennes, joined by neighboring Arapahos, Sioux, Comanches, and Kiowas in both Colorado and Kansas, went on the defensive warpath.
Chief Black Kettle was promised complete safety by Colonel Greenwood as long as he rose the U.S flag above him (1). Black Kettle persisted in his calls for peace in spite of continuing exterminations and the shooting of Lean Bear.
(All bold mine)
Source
Lean Bear, a leading peacemaker who had previously met with President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., was shot from his horse without warning by U.S. troops during a Kansas buffalo hunt.
The troops were acting under orders from Colonel John M. Chivington who commanded the military district of Colorado: "Find Indians wherever you can and kill them" (The War of the Rebellion, 1880-1881, pp. 403-404).
Perplexed by the continuing genocide, Black Kettle sent for Little White Man, known as William Bent. Almost prophetic, both agreed a war was about to be born if nothing changed. Black Kettle's peaceful attempts tragically failed, even though he took his people to Sand Creek, fully expecting peace. His last effort for peace was raising the U.S. flag just prior to the massacre.
Source "...Though no treaties were signed, the Indians believed that by reporting and camping near army posts, they would be declaring peace and accepting sanctuary. However, on the day of the "peace talks" Chivington received a telegram from General Samuel Curtis (his superior officer) informing him that "I want no peace till the Indians suffer more...No peace must be made without my directions."
Chivington, butcher of the Sand Creek Massacre
Chivington said,"Nits make lice," referring to Cheyenne children in a dehumanizing manner.
”Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown. p. 92. Chivington and his soldiers destroyed the lives or the power of every Cheyenne and Arapaho chief who had held out for peace with the white men.
Source "the Cheyennes will have to be roundly whipped -- or completely wiped out -- before they will be quiet. I say that if any of them are caught in your vicinity, the only thing to do is kill them." A month later, while addressing a gathering of church deacons, he dismissed the possibility of making a treaty with the Cheyenne: "It simply is not possible for Indians to obey or even understand any treaty. I am fully satisfied, gentlemen, that to kill them is the only way we will ever have peace and quiet in Colorado."
(It is worth noting also that the Fuhrer from time to time expressed admiration for the "efficiency" of the American genocide campaign against the Indians, viewing it as a forerunner for his own plans and programs.)
Unaware of Curtis's telegram, Black Kettle and some 550 Cheyennes and Arapahos, having made their peace, traveled south to set up camp on Sand Creek under the promised protection of Fort Lyon. Those who remained opposed to the agreement headed North to join the Sioux.
The Sand Creek Massacre of November 29, 1864
"Nothing lives long," he sang, "only the earth and the mountains."
Black Kettle and his people had every reason to expect complete safety from their bloodshed after agreements for peace were made and Dog Soldiers left to join the Sioux. Nonetheless, Chivington's troops advanced on the Cheyenne and Arapaho near dawn on that day. The sound of those approaching hooves must have sounded ominous, as U.S. soldiers inevitably chased the defenseless Cheyenne and Arapaho by horse and foot with knives and guns. Their victims had to be positioned before ripping off scalps, cutting off ears, smashing out brains, butchering children, tearing breastfeeding infants away from their mother's breasts, and then murdering those infants. The "Bloody Third" soldiers necessarily had to kill the infants before cutting out their mother's genitals. The one question I never read asked in the congressional hearings was, "Didn't you disgraceful soldiers realize they were family?"
Kurt Kaltreider, PH.D. "American Indian Prophecies." pp. 58-59:
-The report of witnesses at Sand Creek: "I saw some Indians that had been scalped, and the ears cut off the body of White Antelope," said Captain L. Wilson of the first Colorado Cavalry. "One Indian who had been scalped had also his skull smashed in, and I heard that the privates of White Antelope had been cut off to make a tobacco bag of. I heard some of the men say that the privates of one of the squaws had been cut out and put on a stick..." John S. Smith... All manner of depredations were inflicted on their persons; they were scalped, their brains knocked out; the men used their knives, ripped open women, clubbed little children, knocked them in the heads with their guns, beat their brains out, mutilated their bodies in every sense of the word...worse mutilation that I ever saw before, the women all cut to pieces...children two or three months old; all ages lying there.
(Bold mine)
American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World By David E. Stannard (Pgs. 132-133)
The massacre was on. Chivington ordered that cannons be fired into the panicked groups of Indians first; then the troops charged on horseback and on foot. There was nowhere for the native people to hide. The few Cheyenne and Arapaho men in camp tried to fight back, and Robert Bent says they "all fought well," but by his own count they were outnumbered twenty to one and had virtually no weapons at their disposal. Some women ran to the riverbank and clawed at the dirt and sand, frantically and hopelessly digging holes in which to conceal themselves or their children. From this point on it is best simply to let the soldiers and other witnesses tell what they did and what they saw, beginning with the testimony of Robert Bent:
127 After the firing the warriors put the squaws and children together, and surrounded them to protect them. I saw five squaws under a bank for shelter. When the troops came up to them they ran out and showed their persons, to let the soldiers know they were squaws and begged for mercy, but the soldiers shot them all. . . . There were some thirty or forty squaws collected in a hole for protection; they sent out a little girl about six years old with a white flag on a stick; she had not proceeded but a few steps when she was shot and killed. All the squaws in that hole were afterwards killed, and four or five bucks outside. The squaws offered no resistance. Everyone I saw dead was scalped. I saw one squaw cut open with an unborn child, as I thought, lying by her side. Captain Soule afterwards told me that such was the fact. . . . I saw quite a number of infants in arms killed with their mothers. I went over the ground soon after the battle [reported Asbury Bird, a soldier with Company D of the First Colorado Cavalry]. I should judge there were between 400 and 500 Indians killed .... Nearly all, men, women, and children were scalped. I saw one woman whose privates had been mutilated. The bodies were horribly cut up [testified Lucien Palmer, a Sergeant with the First Cavalry's Company C] skulls broken in a good many; I judge they were broken in after they were killed, as they were shot besides. I do not think I saw any but what was scalped; saw fingers cut off [to get the rings off them], saw several bodies with privates cut off, women as well as men. Next morning after the battle [said Corporal Amos C. Miksch, also of Company C], I saw a little boy covered up among the Indians in a trench, still alive. I saw a major in the 3rd regiment take out his pistol and blow off the top of his head. I saw some men unjointing fingers to get rings off, and cutting off ears to get silver ornaments. I saw a party with the same major take up bodies that had been buried in the night to scalp them and take off ornaments. I saw a squaw with her head smashed in before she was killed. Next morning, after they were dead and stiff, these men pulled out the bodies of the squaws and pulled them open in an indecent manner. I heard men say they had cut out the privates, but did not see it myself.I saw some Indians that had been scalped, and the ears were cut off of the body of White Antelope [said Captain L. Wilson of the First Colorado Cavalry]. One Indian who had been scalped had also his skull all smashed in, and I heard that the privates of White Antelope had been cut off to make a tobacco bag out of. I heard some of the men say that the privates of one of the squaws had been cut out and put on a stick. The dead bodies of women and children were afterwards mutilated in the most horrible manner [testified David Louderback, a First Cavalry Private]. I saw only eight. I could not stand it; they were cut up too much . . . they were scalped and cut up in an awful manner .... White Antelope's nose, ears, and privates were cut off. All manner of depredations were inflicted on their persons [said John S. Smith,an interpreter], they were scalped, their brains knocked out; the men used their knives, ripped open women, clubbed little children, knocked them in the head with their guns, beat their brains out, mutilated their bodies in every sense of the word . . . worse mutilated than any I ever saw before, the women all cut to pieces .... [C]hildren two or three months old; allages lying there, from sucking infants up to warriors. In going over the battle-ground the next day I did not see a body of man, woman, or child but was scalped, and in many instances their bodies were mutilated in the most horrible manner-men, women, and children's privates cut out, &c. [reported First Lieutenant James D. Cannon of the New Mexico Volunteers]. I heard one man say that he had cut out a woman's private parts and had them for exhibition on a stick; I heard another man say that they had cut the fingers off an Indian to get the rings on the hand. . . . I also heard of numerous instances in which men had cut out the private parts of females and stretched them over the saddle-bows, and wore them over their hats while riding in the ranks. . . . I heard one man say that he had cut a squaw's heart out, and he had it stuck up on a stick.
Once the carnage was over, and the silence of death had descended on the killing-field, Colonel Chivington sent messages to the press that he and his men had just successfully concluded "one of the most bloody Indian battles ever fought" in which "one of the most powerful villages in the Cheyenne nation" was destroyed. There was exultation in the land. "Cheyenne scalps are getting as thick here now as toads in Egypt," joked the Rocky Mountain News. "Everybody has got one and is anxious to get another to send east." 12
Sand Creek being a deliberate massacre is not contested, especially since the "Bloody Third" set the village in flames.
The Cheyenne Stan Hoig
By 3:00 P.M. the shooting had ceased, and the troops began looting the village. Some of the one-hundred-day volunteers took scalps. John Simpson Smith escaped harm, but his half Indian son Jack was captured and murdered; his corpse was harnessed to a horse and dragged around the campsite. Black Kettle and his wife managed to escape. The bodies on the battlefield included those of One Eye and Arapaho chief Left Hand. In his report, Chivington claimed that four hundred to five hundred Indians had been killed, compared with a loss to his own forces of nine killed and thirty-eight wounded. He tried to glorify the Sand Creek Massacre by referring to it not as a slaughter but as “one of the most bloody Indian battles ever fought on these plains.”
Then, they took all the evidence back to Washington and hid it.
Source Before departing, the command, now the "Bloody Third", ransacked and burned the village.
The surviving Indians, some 300 people, fled north towards other Cheyenne camps.
Medicine Calf Beckwourth sought Black Kettle to ask him if peace was yet possible, but Black Kettle had moved out to be with relatives. Leg-in-the-Water replaced Black Kettle as the primary chief; so, Beckwourth asked Leg-in-the-Water if there could still be peace. Principle chief Leg-in-the-Water responded with these powerful words.
Dee Brown. "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee." p. 94:
"The white man has taken our country, killed all of our children. Now no peace. We want to go meet our families in the spirit land. We loved the whites until we found out they lied to us, and robbed us of what we had. We have raised the battle ax until death." (1)
Sand Creek memorial run ignites emotions; Cheyenne/Arapaho runners confront city of Denver
Chivington later took to the Denver stage, where he charmed audiences with his stories of the massacre and displayed 100 Indian scalps, including the pubic hair of women.
The Massacre at Sand Creek
pgs. 147-156
The Wolves Of Heaven
Northern Cheyenne Reservation, Montana
Morning, August 17, 1911
https://books.google.com/books?id=y8WmlZ8_wLAC&pg=PA147&lpg=PA147&dq=The+Massacre+at+Sand+Creek++The+Wolves+Of+Heaven+Northern+Cheyenne+Reservation,+Montana+Morning,+August+17,+1911&source=bl&ots=b9jeDnTRZA&sig=DcpfOMIWKg0Kmo48g6ck6E7kHFU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjF78GdsuzYAhVHQ6wKHZr7D-8Q6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Massacre%20at%20Sand%20Creek%20%20The%20Wolves%20Of%20Heaven%20Northern%20Cheyenne%20Reservation%2C%20Montana%20Morning%2C%20August%2017%2C%201911&f=false
To want to forget something is to think of it. Proverb
Troubled sleep. She thought that she’d be free of it, but no.
To begin with, little dancing dreams. So small
You can hear them in the cooking pot. Can see their dust rising out of a bowl of a pipe.
Too small for comfort.
Making her remember. The bundle. Down in its deep earth home.
She can feel. They laid it there, but it’s not at rest.
There’s a distant thrumming, somewhere. Echo of an iron horse, chuffing its cinders at the stars?
The noise comes louder in her ears. And voices, reaching across the air from somewhere.
Somewhere, but not so far away. Praising and lamenting, on and on.
Prayers as free as the breath that says them.
They’re singing, in a camp at the bend of a creek at the edge of timber.
A camp that will stay forever, staked to the earth by memory.
It’s the camp at Sandy Creek.
Why, why are they singing? What is there to sing about?
Once they were called the people. Tsistsistas.
Now they’re out of the heat and cold forever.
Darkness. Is she awake? Asleep?
She can her Black Kettle’s words. They’re clear and bright as pebbles in a stream bed in the moonlight:
The white men make two wars. One to kill us. And one to make sure no one will remember.
It’s the war against memory that can never be redeemed.
White men, at Sandy Creek. They couldn’t even say their anger. None of them spoke our language, none of us spoke theirs.
What happened couldn’t be spoken.
If there’s no saying, there can be no vision, no way of knowing, no where to follow.
A world without saying can never have a story.
No beginning, no generation coming. Just killing off the living, killing off the dying. Killing to kill, without even the heat of wanting to.
Cold, cold is the war that kills off memory.
It keeps the ones who come from finding the words, the first words, to start our story. Starting the story begins today! Tsistsistas! Remember, and resist!
Ekomina knows that she’s been dreaming. When she wakes up, she’ll go on with her Story, the Story of the world, the world she’s in and the world that’s yet to come! She gives back her dream, and opens to her waking.
Author is a member of the Metis Nation of the United States
