Andrea Joy Campbell: “Tuesday, October 6, 1998, will always hold a spot dear to my heart. I hope that today will also be dear to the hearts of…”

“Tuesday, October 6, 1998, will always hold a spot dear to my heart. I hope that today will also be dear to the hearts of the Cheyenne and Arapaho people, dear to Coloradans, and dear to Americans everywhere. Today, S. 1695, the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Study Act of 1998, a bill I was proud to introduce, was signed into law at a special White House ceremony. Under this new law, our nation takes a major step toward honoring the memory of the many innocent Cheyenne and Arapahoe people massacred there by instructing the National Park Service to locate the site of the Sand Creek Massacre once and for all. Somewhere along the banks of Sand Creek in Southeastern Colorado is a killing field where many innocent Cheyenne and Arapaho, many of my ancestors, fell on the cold morning of November 29, 1864. On that day, in the month known by the Cheyenne and Arapaho people as the Month of the Freezing Moon, this ground was sanctified when the blood of hundreds of innocent Cheyenne and Arapaho women, children and elderly noncombatants was needlessly and brutally spilt. Once this sacred ground is located, I hope it will be acquired and preserved with honor and dignity and in a way that takes into account the concerns of the Cheyenne and Arapaho decedents of those who died there. This ground should also be open to all people as a reminder of the national tragedy that occurred at Sand Creek.”