Commemoration of the Massacre at Sand Creek

Sand Creek Commemoration

On Nov. 29, 2020, in commemoration of the massacre at Sand Creek in 1864, we came together to remember the loss of lives of innocent Cheyenne and Arapaho people. 

It is January 2021, and I write and post this the day after my birthday. My birthday is a day where I think back on the ancestral background I inherited and that which I hope I can honor. All the mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers, and many generations of brave women and men before this time and I hope this offering of music and poetry will bring tribute to all of them. This generational connection that I try to understand every year makes me humbled that so many have given their lives to protect their communities and their people and their way of life. They were faced with white supremacy and white nationalism and white privilege as their lands were taken over and so many of their people were killed.

I invite you to take an hour to watch this video. Think in terms of our present time of crisis in this country. We are still challenged with threats of white supremacy and consider the parallels of the Cheyenne and Arapaho people in Colorado at the time of the Sand Creek Massacre in Eastern Colorado 1864. History can be our teacher, wherever we come from, and our ancestors can be our guiding lights to find our way forward. We are all challenged to try to understand where we are today as we remember Sand Creek. 

Jennifer Foerster, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, a poet and a writer, along with Eric Elison, a singer songwriter, offered music and poetry in honor of the lives lost and communities ravaged. Here is an excerpt from Jennifer Foerster's opening remarks:

"While the Sand Creek Massacre took place more than 150 years ago, we are still a country that largely fails to recognize the human rights and lives of Native people and Native Nations, and that continues to deny the violence and racism at its source. This does not have to continue to be our narrative. And in this spirit, I am grateful to be here today to help us all on this path towards healing. 

I am not Cheyenne or Arapaho, I am a Muscogee Creek Citizen, so I speak with great respect and humility on this, and in complete respect and honor for all of the descendants of those who were massacred at Sand Creek and the relatives of those who survived, and for all Cheyenne and Arapaho people...

This is a very brief account of a horrific event in our nation's history, and today we are commemorating this event, in the hopes that we can learn together to be better people together. We cannot move forward without remembering all aspects of our past." 

~ Jennifer Foerster