The National Park Service’s website describes what took place at Sand Creek on Nov. 29, 1864, as eight hours:
“…that changed the Great Plains forever…The Sand Creek Massacre: profound, symbolic, spiritual, controversial, a site unlike any other in America. As 675 cavalrymen came around a prairie bend, the camps of Chiefs Black Kettle, White Antelope, and Left Hand lay in the valley before them…”
Join me on my annual pilgrimage to the site of that terrible and formative event in the history of the Tsitsistas (Cheyenne nation), Hinono’eiteen (the Arapaho nation), the State of Colorado, and the American West. Through embodied experience, historical reflection, group discussion and a liturgy of lament, we will wrestle with both our collective past and our present and future expressions of identity, faith, justice, and, especially, memory.
Here’s what several former Sand Creek pilgrims have said about their experience…
Participants must arrange their own transportation to and from Sand Creek, which is near Eads, Colo., bring their own food, water and other supplies, and plan appropriately for unpredictable weather. Admission to the National Historic Site is free.
All pre-pilgrimage preparation materials, the guided “pilgrimage experience” and post-pilgrimage resources for further exploration and reflection are all free of charge. However, donations for the upkeep of the NPS site are encouraged, as are contributions to advocacy and awareness efforts led by Sand Creek survivor-descendants.
“A Pilgrimage to Sand Creek”
Memorial Day Weekend
Saturday, May 25, 2024
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
RSVP via email
