COLORADO HISTORICAL SOCIETY / ROBERT LINDNEAUX
A New Archaeological Tradition
Both archaeological evidence and oral tradition were used to locate the site of the Sand Creek Massacre, which is depicted in this painting.
NATIVE AMERICAN ORAL TRADITION IS PLAYING A ROLE IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS. BY LEORA BROYDO VESTEL
O
n November 29, 1864, American troops raided a Native American village on the banks of Colorado’s Sand Creek. Approximately 200 Cheyenne and Arapaho, two-thirds of whom were women and children, were killed and mutilated. The attack took them by surprise—they had been offered amnesty, and both white and American flags flew above the encampment. That the Sand Creek Massacre occurred is undisputed historical fact. But the precise location of the village remains the subject of debate. In 1998, Congress passed legislation mandating the National Park Service (NPS), in american archaeology
consultation with tribes, identify the location and extent of the massacre area, and also propose ways to turn it into a national monument. The investigation that followed was multidisciplinary and involved experts in archaeology, history, and ethnography. In addition to an extensive archaeological study, oral histories were collected from 35 Cheyenne and Arapaho descendants. Investigators agreed these “oral histories represent a direct link to the events of November 29, 1864.” And so Sand Creek, symbolic of the hatred between Europeans and Native Americans, came to represent a new cooperation between the groups. Descendents overcame 39
