Lesson 6: Historical Memory

This lesson will guide students through the creation of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site and the difficulties of historical memory regarding the massacre. Established in 2007, the Sand Creek site involved a detailed and contentious process of locating the site of the massacre. Students will suggest how they would locate the massacre site, and what they would include in the National Historic Site. As a class, students will discuss the importance of National Historic Sites and other ways of remembering the past and will consider questions about who gets to create our stories and how we create them. Ever since the attack, there has been a battle over the memory of Sand Creek, starting with Chivington's letter about the "battle". Remembering Sand Creek is a process, one that continues to this day. In this lesson, students will learn about different ways of remembering, commemorating and memorializing the Sand Creek Massacre, and discuss why they matter. At the end, they will create a small exhibit or piece of ledger art for a museum display or other way of remembering the Sand Creek Massacre. The exhibit activity is included as a part of day 2; however, if your students are really engaged with this project and want to make it into a bigger project, this can be another day and you should allow them to spend some time researching online for some additional information on Sand Creek.