What happened at the Sand Creek Massacre?

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Plains style — Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains Dancers at the Totah Festival Powwow performing the Northern Tradition dance, a dance inspired by Plains traditions, on September 1, 2007, in Farmington, New Mexico.

The Sand Creek Massacre was a brutal and unjust surprise attack on a peaceful camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho people on November 29, 1864, in the Colorado Territory.1

Acting under the instructions of territorial officials to report to a fort for safety, the Indigenous group—led by chiefs such as Black Kettle—had established a camp at Sand Creek under a white flag of truce, signaling their peaceful intentions. Despite this, a force of approximately 675 U.S. volunteers commanded by Col. John M. Chivington launched an unprovoked assault.1

The massacre resulted in the deaths of more than 230 Native Americans, including approximately 150 women, children, and elderly individuals. While Chivington initially attempted to frame the event as a military victory, he was later rightfully discredited for perpetrating a massacre. This atrocity was a primary catalyst for the subsequent Arapaho-Cheyenne war and significantly escalated the Plains Wars that followed. The site is now preserved as a national historic site to honor the victims.1