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Thursday, December 4, 2014

150 Years Later

Today, as runners complete the 16th annual, 180-mile Sand Creek Spiritual Healing run, marking the 150th anniversary and commemoration of the Sand Creek Massacre, I offer something that has been too long in coming.
On behalf of the state of Colorado, I want to apologize.
To the runners, to the Tribal Leaders and to all of the Indigenous people and the proud and painful legacy you represent…
On behalf of the good, peaceful and loving people in Colorado, I am sorry for the atrocity that our government and its agents visutteited upon your ancestors. I want to assure you that we will not run from this history, and that we will always work for peace and healing.
Yesterday Colorado State Governor John Hickenlooper finally after 150 years  uttered an apology to our Native American brothers and sisters over Sand Creek atrocity. It took a long time coming but here it is and it was clearly sincere. If more of our elected officials would do the same including the Federal Government perhaps we could for once put these times behind us, recognize history for what it is not what some want to portray it as being and move ahead as the brothers we are and not the oppressors we have been. 
Until we honestly acknowledge mistakes in the past and move to correct them like Gov. Hickenlooper has done in this case we are going to be living with lies and open wounds of the past. 

2 comments:

Sakoieta said...

Apologies are always good. But in our culture we seldom pay attention to words that are spoken in situations like this. We usually reserve our attentions for when we see changed attitudes and changed responses to our people.

Bruce said...

Words without appropriate action are hollow. Sometimes words with action are cruel and unjust. Example like the NDAA Nat'l Defense Authorization Act that just gave 2,400 acres of Tonto Nat'l Forest to an Australian Mining Company because it is laden with copper.
This is Apache land that is sacred to the San Carlos Apache Tribe and now it will be heavily mined and ripped apart.

At least Hickenlooper took a step to apologize and we will just have to wait to see if any action follows that support his gesture.

Government gives and Government takes away..