A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of joining 40 or so other participants on a “pilgrimage” to Camp Amache in Southeastern Colorado. I’m so glad I went and am grateful for the friends I made during our experience.
This weekend, I’m leading a small group of folks on another “pilgrimage” to Sand Creek, which ironically is not far from Camp Amache. The tragic events that occurred at both locations are a not often highlighted as part of the American story, but they are no less important than the more triumphant events we like to remember, especially during times like Memorial Day weekend.
Consider the following titles if you’d like to learn more about Camp Amache or Sand Creek:
- Amache: The Story of Japanese Internment in Colorado During World War II by Robert Harvey & Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II by Richard Reeves — I grew up in Colorado, but didn’t learn in school about the interment of people of Japanese descent in my home state.
- Finding Sand Creek: History, Archaeology, and the 1864 Massacre Site by Jerome A. Greene & Douglas D. Scott, Mochi’s War: The Tragedy of Sand Creek by Chris Enss & Howard Kazanjian, and Month of the Freezing Moon: The Sand Creek Massacre, November 1864 by Duane Schultz — Sand Creek is another episode of Colorado and American history that I never learned about in school. I’ve been glad to hear recently that that is beginning to change today in Colorado public schools.
Below are some titles that speak to some of the larger issues that contribute to how we view ourselves as Americans and as humans in general.
- Something in the Soil: Legacies and Reckonings in the New West by Patricia Nelson Limerick, Yearning For the Land: A Search for Homeland in Scotland and America by John Warfield Simpson, Prayer to the Great Mystery: The Uncollected Writings and Photography of Edward S. Curtis, text edited by Gerald Hausman, photography edited by Bob Kapoun —
- Eternal Echoes: Exploring Our Yearning to Belong by John O’Donohue, The Cry for Myth by Rollo May
And finally, I found the following title at my favorite local used bookstore:
- Julian of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love, translation by Barry Windeatt — I’ve run across references to this classic of spiritual literature for many years, and finally decided to read it for myself.
