Do you know why the Sand Creek Massacre was recognized as such and not just another “battle” in the “Indian Wars” when they really were genocidal campaigns?

It is thanks to Captain Silas Soule who refused to participate in the massacre of peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples on November 29, 1864, and spoke up in the face of these bloodthirsty and dehumanizing acts against our people that he witnessed.

Here is a brief excerpt of how he described it in a letter he penned within 2 weeks: “The massacre lasted six or eight hours,… it was hard to see little children on their knees have their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized … Some tried to escape on the Prairie, but most of them were run down by horsemen. They were all scalped,… and all horribly mutilated. One woman was cut open and a child taken out of her, and scalped. White Antelope, War Bonnet and a number of others had ears and privates cut off.”

Soule was one of the first to testify during the Army’s investigation in January 1865 against John Chivington, the Methodist Pastor, who led the mob of Colorado volunteers. Within less than 80 days of his testimony, Silas Soule was shot and killed; paying the ultimate price, rather than remaining silent in the face of genocide.

I traveled from the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana — which we secured by congressional act following other incidents of genocide — to Denver — also our homeland — to honor him. A plaque was placed at the site of Silas’ murder -- 15th and Arapahoe in downtown -- over 150 years later to recognize Soule’s bravery.

Forcing us onto small Indian Reservations often in different states, was one of the steps in the dispossession of our vast homelands, at least parts of which were promised to us in treaties.

In many ways tje reservatopms mark the dispossession, oppression and dependency deliberately created and recognized as indicators of colonialism by the United Nations. Created to restrain our people, they still today represent institutionalism and the statistics speak to the dysfunctional environment deliberately created.

As a traditional Cheyenne Chief, I do not have to be welcomed to Denver and our homelands, I am home. So I also came home, to honor the line of Cheyenne Peace Chiefs I stand in, including my ancestor White Antelope who had been given a peace medal by President Abraham Lincoln and met Chivington only to later be mutilated and massacred. It is clear who the peace-loving kind people were and who was part of the bloodthirsty mob hungry for our land. It is the story of how our peoples, entire tribes were driven from what was to become the state of Colorado by genocide.

As Colorado stands to mark its 150th anniversary in the summer of 2026 there can be no more denying the Genocide Against Native Americans in these very lands; rather we have to use this moment to acknowledge, and teach about incidents of genocide right here.

We can no longer sweep acts of genocide against Native Americans under the legislative rug. There can be no more side-lining or delay tactics as the only right choice is to acknowledge these acts of genocide and their intergenerational effects, so they can be countered; rather than having them form the silent foundation of celebrations of an anniversary built on genocide.

The simple truth and key to properly recognizing this sits before the Colorado legislature right now: Senate Bill 123 on Genocide against Native Americans, recognizes this most heinous crime perpetrated against our peoples. It is a simple amendment to the Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Public Schools Bill passed in 2020 that failed to include any reference to Native Americans, thereby failing to teach all students in Colorado about genocide in these very lands.

As the Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples we have long waited for this recognition and we know that the Ute peoples in Colorado were also subject to acts of genocide.

I want to commend Sen. Julie Gonzales who committed to making this right, by introducing this simple amendment. She reminds me of Silas Soule who brought out the truth in the face of opposition.

Already legislation has been passed by the Colorado legislature on Native American Boarding schools to recognize these devastating effects and urge teaching about them. Senate Bill 123 is mutually supportive of this education initiative

I am not aware of any substantive argument that can be brought against such a simple amendment that recognizes Genocide against Native Americans. Rather any opposition stands to continue denialism of genocide against Native Americans.

The choice before us is like the choice Silas Soule had to make — remain silent and contribute to the denial of genocide against Native Americans or stand up for the truth!

More than a century and a half later we should all stand together.

Northern Cheyenne traditional Chief Phillip Whiteman Jr., Heoveve’keso (Yellowbird), has developed his own teaching model based on ancestral wisdom and his life experience to counter the intergenerational effects of genocide with indigenous teachings. More information can be found at: phillipwhitemanjr.org