The Center for Sand Creek Massacre Studies
The Center for Sand Creek Massacre Studies is a National Park Service-run research facility for scholars, students, educators, descendants, and the general public. A place to learn, a lesson for survival.
As a comprehensive repository of archives, primary source material, historical documentation and literature about the Sand Creek Massacre, visitors to the Center for Sand Creek Massacre Studies are able to study the complex causes and consequences of the Massacre and the context in which it took place. Through deeper study, parallels with other human rights abuses around the world and over time are revealed and considered. Fuller understanding of the Sand Creek Massacre and its relevance to today’s world may prevent similar atrocities from occurring in the future.
At the Center, descendants will be able to:
Research their genealogical connections to those who were present at Sand Creek
Record their family history
Contribute to the historical record
A Lesson for Survival
“Sand Creek is still a lesson for survival today. Kids today think that they are invincible until they read about things like this and realize it could happen again. If culture is lost today, it’s the same as being wiped out in a massacre.”
- Eugene Ridgely, Sr., Northern Arapaho
“You can sense the wounds that still ache in connection with Sand Creek. It’s an all too vivid reminder of what happens in America when we don’t treat people like people. That the spilling of innocent blood, spilling of innocent blood here is a gross sin that pollutes the land.”
