Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes commemorate the Sand Creek Massacre

 

On Sunday Nov. 29 in a remembrance ceremony at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes announced an official petition to rename Colorado’s Mt. Evans. The petition has been filed with the U.S. Board of Geographic Names.

“One hundred and fifty-six years ago, Territorial Governor Evans devised the strategy for the massacre at Sand Creek for political gain and now the victims, the Cheyenne and Arapaho People, will continue to be known in Colorado through the renaming of that mountain as Mt. Blue Sky,” said Fred Mosqueda, Arapaho Coordinator of the Culture Program of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.

The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, along with The Wilderness Society, are proposing the official renaming of Mt. Evans as Mt. Blue Sky as it signifies the Arapaho who were known as the Blue Sky People and the Cheyenne who have an annual ceremony of renewal of life called Blue Sky.

Governor Evans created the conditions that led to the Sand Creek Massacre and tried to cover up his involvement in the attack. In 1865, Governor Evans was forced to resign in disgrace. In 1993, Congress designated the Mt. Evans Wilderness. A number of conservation organizations and others urged Congress to adopt that legislation without the recognition of the hurt the name would continue to cause tribal members.

“It is time to rename Mt. Evans and remove the stain of this name from our public lands,” said Paul Spitler, director of wilderness policy at The Wilderness Society. “No name can undo the pain and suffering caused by the Sand Creek Massacre, but removing the name of the man most responsible for the massacre honors the very tribes that Evans sought to destroy. There is no place to honor perpetrators of atrocities on America’s public lands.”