"It's too late," said the governor of Colorado, overturning the Native American assassination order of 1864.
Colorado's governor lifted a 157-year-old proclamation on Tuesday calling on residents of the state to kill Native Americans and steal their property.
Suppression of the proclamation, according to the governor. Jared Polis aims to "destroy this terrible symbol of hate and deliver the message of who we are Colorado and what we value."
Upon signing, Polis said: "We cannot rewrite the past, but we can honor the memory of those who have died by honoring their sacrifices and promising to accomplish more."
According to a copy of the Edict of Polis, the second governor of the Colorado Territory, John Evans, made one of two proclamations in 1864. The first decree, issued in June 1864, ordered Native Americans to "assemble in certain places. camps ”, and second, an order issued two months later ordered residents of Colorado to“ kill and exterminate ... hostile Indians ”and encouraged them to“ capture ”any property of these people.
The Sand Creek Massacre, one of Colorado's darkest, most complex, and often overlooked historical incidents, was the result of Evans' Second Command.
More than 200 Arapaho and Cheyenne were killed in a brutal attack in November 1864, mostly women, children and the elderly. Evans was forced to step down in 1865, ending his three-year tenure because he "never took responsibility for his behavior" which contributed to the massacre.
The massacre, according to Rick Williams, a Lakota and Cheyenne descendant who studies Native American history, culminated in the failure of the Fort Wise Treaty of 1861, when U.S. government officials met with leaders Cheyenne and Arapahoe to create a reserve along the Arkansas River. in eastern Colorado. According to Williams, only ten people signed the pact.
"The next two years were terrible for the Indians as they refused to sign the treaty and were eager to kill as many as possible," Williams added. "When that failed, (Evans) gave the order to declare war."
According to Ari Kelman, professor of history at the University of California at Davis and author of The Inappropriate Massacre: The Struggle to Remember Sand Creek, the long-term impact of the massacre on Native Americans has been "devastating."
“Years of conflict followed, displacing or killing thousands and shattering hopes for peace,” Kelman told USA TODAY.
Three federal investigations into the Sand Creek massacre came to the same conclusion: the murders were unfounded. Evans' statement, Polis said, was unconstitutional and illegal.
“At the time, it also directly contradicted the Constitution of Colorado, the Constitution of the United States and the Colorado Criminal Codes,” Polis added.
Polis also set up an advisory board to review the renaming of Mount Evans, the highest peak in the Rockies before. The Colorado Indian Commission is debating "more culturally acceptable names," according to Alston the Turtle, counselor for the Utah Mountain Ut tribe.
Ut-Mountain Tribe member Ernest House Jr. commented, “I think sometimes the general public sees the American Indians as an endangered race, an endangered people. “And I think that (reconciliation) starts with things like that. It gives us a sense of importance and meaning in our lives. "
In the aftermath of George Floyd's assassination at the hands of the police, the race for reconciliation and racial recognition intensified in the United States, including initiatives to demolish Confederate monuments and sculptures dedicated to merchants of 'slaves, settlers, conquerors and others. Native American mascots are banned in some places, including Colorado. Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has issued a formal apology to the descendants of the Sand Creek Massacre victims on the 150th anniversary of the 2014 tragedy, by order of Polis.
“Governor.” Polis' executive action is fair and important, but it is too late to deliver meaningful justice to the victims of Sand Creek and other Indigenous peoples who suffered during the era when the United States was aggressively pushing for the west, "Kelman said. ... ...
Neoxeth Greymorning, professor of Native American studies at the University of Montana, believes that only time will tell if Polis's directive will have a lasting impact, although he has doubts. True community relief will require bridging the differences between Native Americans and other communities, Graymorning said.
Greymorning remarked, "This document (has been) signed, and it will do people good, and that's where it ends." "Very little will be done to enter and rebuild communities, for, after all, the goal is America's melting pot: you shouldn't be any different from this ideal American."
Polis participated in the event alongside representatives from many Indian tribes, including southern Utah, Utah Mountain, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. Some members of the tribe wore traditional clothing. “Recognize indigenous knowledge, peoples and lands” and “Decolonize to survive” were among the signs held by many people.
Upon signing, Reggae Wassan, governor of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, said: “When Governor Evans made this statement, he said that you can hunt indigenous people the same way you hunt buffalo, the antelope, elk and deer. “It was open house season,” says the narrator. And we respect what Governor Polis said.
“He wants to try to correct the mistake. And that's why we're here today, and that's why we look forward to this: we want to see all of these mistakes that were made many years ago corrected. "
Suppression of the proclamation, according to the governor. Jared Polis aims to "destroy this terrible symbol of hate and deliver the message of who we are Colorado and what we value."
Upon signing, Polis said: "We cannot rewrite the past, but we can honor the memory of those who have died by honoring their sacrifices and promising to accomplish more."
According to a copy of the Edict of Polis, the second governor of the Colorado Territory, John Evans, made one of two proclamations in 1864. The first decree, issued in June 1864, ordered Native Americans to "assemble in certain places. camps ”, and second, an order issued two months later ordered residents of Colorado to“ kill and exterminate ... hostile Indians ”and encouraged them to“ capture ”any property of these people.
The Sand Creek Massacre, one of Colorado's darkest, most complex, and often overlooked historical incidents, was the result of Evans' Second Command.
More than 200 Arapaho and Cheyenne were killed in a brutal attack in November 1864, mostly women, children and the elderly. Evans was forced to step down in 1865, ending his three-year tenure because he "never took responsibility for his behavior" which contributed to the massacre.
The massacre, according to Rick Williams, a Lakota and Cheyenne descendant who studies Native American history, culminated in the failure of the Fort Wise Treaty of 1861, when U.S. government officials met with leaders Cheyenne and Arapahoe to create a reserve along the Arkansas River. in eastern Colorado. According to Williams, only ten people signed the pact.
"The next two years were terrible for the Indians as they refused to sign the treaty and were eager to kill as many as possible," Williams added. "When that failed, (Evans) gave the order to declare war."
According to Ari Kelman, professor of history at the University of California at Davis and author of The Inappropriate Massacre: The Struggle to Remember Sand Creek, the long-term impact of the massacre on Native Americans has been "devastating."
“Years of conflict followed, displacing or killing thousands and shattering hopes for peace,” Kelman told USA TODAY.
Three federal investigations into the Sand Creek massacre came to the same conclusion: the murders were unfounded. Evans' statement, Polis said, was unconstitutional and illegal.
“At the time, it also directly contradicted the Constitution of Colorado, the Constitution of the United States and the Colorado Criminal Codes,” Polis added.
Polis also set up an advisory board to review the renaming of Mount Evans, the highest peak in the Rockies before. The Colorado Indian Commission is debating "more culturally acceptable names," according to Alston the Turtle, counselor for the Utah Mountain Ut tribe.
Ut-Mountain Tribe member Ernest House Jr. commented, “I think sometimes the general public sees the American Indians as an endangered race, an endangered people. “And I think that (reconciliation) starts with things like that. It gives us a sense of importance and meaning in our lives. "
In the aftermath of George Floyd's assassination at the hands of the police, the race for reconciliation and racial recognition intensified in the United States, including initiatives to demolish Confederate monuments and sculptures dedicated to merchants of 'slaves, settlers, conquerors and others. Native American mascots are banned in some places, including Colorado. Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has issued a formal apology to the descendants of the Sand Creek Massacre victims on the 150th anniversary of the 2014 tragedy, by order of Polis.
“Governor.” Polis' executive action is fair and important, but it is too late to deliver meaningful justice to the victims of Sand Creek and other Indigenous peoples who suffered during the era when the United States was aggressively pushing for the west, "Kelman said. ... ...
Neoxeth Greymorning, professor of Native American studies at the University of Montana, believes that only time will tell if Polis's directive will have a lasting impact, although he has doubts. True community relief will require bridging the differences between Native Americans and other communities, Graymorning said.
Greymorning remarked, "This document (has been) signed, and it will do people good, and that's where it ends." "Very little will be done to enter and rebuild communities, for, after all, the goal is America's melting pot: you shouldn't be any different from this ideal American."
Polis participated in the event alongside representatives from many Indian tribes, including southern Utah, Utah Mountain, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. Some members of the tribe wore traditional clothing. “Recognize indigenous knowledge, peoples and lands” and “Decolonize to survive” were among the signs held by many people.
Upon signing, Reggae Wassan, governor of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, said: “When Governor Evans made this statement, he said that you can hunt indigenous people the same way you hunt buffalo, the antelope, elk and deer. “It was open house season,” says the narrator. And we respect what Governor Polis said.
“He wants to try to correct the mistake. And that's why we're here today, and that's why we look forward to this: we want to see all of these mistakes that were made many years ago corrected. "
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