Funny thing about crimes committed by the American government.....While being acknowledged, albeit years and years later, and with more qualifications than actual statements of regret, they are rarely enshrined in the permanent national memory, left instead to small bands of the dedicated to carry the torch for historical truth. And to bring such memories under the NPS umbrella? I'd say "it takes an act of Congress" as a way to mock official indifference and feet-dragging, but yeah, it actually takes an act of Congress, and few want to dredge up the horrific, the sad, and the murderous. Unless
we - as in the mass of Americana not distinguished by specificity - are victimized, then it's a long, impossible path indeed.
Take the National Memorials at Oklahoma City and Shanksville, PA by way of comparison. Acts of murder by easily identifiable assassins - terrorists, to be exact - these sites are national shrines, and utterly without controversy regarding the need to preserve their hallowed ground in the federal system. Their adoption was swift, universally approved, and yes, well-funded. These are spots where our ideals, security, and sense of decency were mercilessly attacked, and no ambiguities exist to challenge. And then there is the Sand Creek Massacre in eastern Colorado. Though having occurred in November of 1864, it took well over a century to establish (finally receiving authorization in November of 2000). Few, it seems, want to devote tax dollars to commemorating the murder of Native Americans by members of the United States military. But here it stands, at long last. A victory for the perseverant.
Sand Creek's existence as an NPS site has many fathers, but one in particular bears mentioning - former Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. With Public Law 105-243, an official study began to study the area, determine the exact spot of the massacre, and preserve the land in the best possible manner, up to and including property acquisition. It was a long and difficult process (convincing stubborn farmers to sell land, even with historic value, is just about impossible), but tenacity won out in the end, and there's now an official sign to prove it, when before the marker below was all to distinguish the site from the surrounding plains.
Being so new (it opened to the public on June 1, 2007), the site is still a work in progress, and the visitor center, such as it is, remains stuffed into an overwhelmed trailer. It will do for now - there's a stamp at least - but in the years ahead, they need to provide a film, better pamphlets and educational materials, and yes, many more interpretive markers and tour guides. It all takes time, and one can only hope the dollars flow. For now, there is a 4/5 mile walking trail among wind-swept grassland, with enough eerie sounds to have one convinced snakes are following one's every move. It's an easy stroll, but as we went in August, the heat was generally oppressive. Take water, or be like us and take nothing, ensuring you'll crab and bitch like your grandparents.
As for the heartwarming tale of the site itself, well, it involves the usual slaughter of innocents, American style. Under the command of Col. John Chivington, 600 troops from the "Bloodless Third" Regiment joined an additional battalion at nearby Fort Lyon, finally reaching Sand Creek on the evening of November 28, 1864. At dawn the next day, according to the site's literature:
"...the troops got their first sight of the camps of Black Kettle, White Antelope, Left Hand, and other leaders. Within moments, a barrage of arms fire and howitzer bombardment was leveled against the Cheyenne and Arapaho. The tribes used driftwood and underbrush as defense while others crawled into pits dug along the banks of the Sand Creek."
Within several hours, at least 160 Cheyenne and Arapaho lay dead, the majority, we are grimly reminded, women and children. To add to the horror, many were mutilated. The attack was controversial, even it its day, and it spurred the usual investigations, hearings, and, on the part of the Indian tribes, brutal retaliation. The die was cast, and in more ways than one, it was the beginning of the end for the Native peoples. The process of attack, revenge, counter-attack, and further revenge would continue until every last tribesman was either killed, or forced to inhabit a bleak reservation. It was the century's Indian policy laid bare, and the push West demanded it.
NPS sites like Sand Creek, while depressing beyond belief ("Come! Bring the whole family to the spot where babies were thrown into feed boxes to die and genitalia removed and displayed like trophies!"), are the neccesary complement to natural beauty and national celebration because, well, it's all part of the same story. We're who we are for the usual reasons - some good, some bad, many troubling to remember - but kudos to everyone involved who recognized that the national fabric, as tightly as it may bind, is often stained with blood.
FINAL RATING
5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment