Native American massacre site in Colorado to expand by nearly 3,500 acres
WCPO 9 CincinnatiOct 06, 2022
In a ceremony on Wednesday, US Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland announced that the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site would acquire roughly 3.5K acres of additional land in southeastern Colorado.
The ceremony occurred at the historic site alongside members of Colorado's congressional delegation and Native tribal leaders. Patrick Spottedwolf, chief of the Southern Arapaho tribe, stated, "this is great. A step forward."
This land expansion by Haaland, the first Native American to serve as Secretary of the Interior, is a move that should be praised for not only providing more opportunities for Americans to learn about this massacre but for strengthening the nation's education about the tragic history of indigenous peoples.
Improving our understanding of historical events is always a good thing. Still, those who use a binary brush to paint the Natives as defenseless, peaceful tribes and the American settlers as blood-thirsty predators are doing a disservice. Nothing justifies or excuses the Sand Creek Massacre, but it is worth remembering that some of the most violent eras for Native tribes came long before Europeans arrived. History deserves nuance, not political correctness.