Sand Creek Massacre Lesson 6

Sand Creek Massacre Lesson 6

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.

Ben Binversie

2 Days

Students will understand that the memory of Sand Creek has been contested ground ever since Chivington led the massacre, and this process of historical memory continues to this day. The way we choose to remember (or forget) important events is important, not only for the sake of the people it affected, but for learning about the event. Students will engage with the process of the Sand Creek Massacre National Monument, its creation and its conflict, different ways of remembering the Sand Creek Massacre, and create a piece of art or other item for a public history exhibit about the Sand Creek Massacre.

Lesson 6 Presentation

Sand Creek Unit
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.
Essential Questions:
What shapes public memory of historical events?
What influences the process of historical memory?
How do historians decide on the correct interpretation of historical events?

Desired Results
Understandings Students Will Know/Will be Able To:
• The memory of Sand Creek has been contested ground ever since Chivington led the massacre, and this process of historical memory continues to this day
• The way we choose to remember (or forget) important events is important, not only for the sake of the people it affected, but for learning about the event
• The process of the Sand Creek Massacre National Monument, its creation and its conflict
• Different ways of remembering the Sand Creek Massacre
• Create a piece of art or other item for a public history exhibit about the Sand Creek Massacre


Assessment Evidence
• Students will create an item or piece of ledger art for an exhibit or memorial to the Sand Creek Massacre and write a description for the item or exhibit conveying the important understandings from this unit.

Key Terms
• Ledger Art
• Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
• Public History
• Historical Memory
Lesson Materials:
Powerpoint presentation
Colored pencils and colored paper for ledger art
Sources for drawing on for ledger art: Treaty, Chivington Letter, Map

Lesson Activities:
Introduction Day 1 (~5-7 minutes)
• How should we remember the Sand Creek Massacre? (see PPT Slide 2)
o Have students write a response to one of the questions and discuss in small groups briefly before eliciting responses for the class to discuss
Body Activity Day 1 (~40 minutes)
• Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
o PPT Slides 3-5
o Guide the students through the history and process of creating the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
 Suggestions for Slide 4/ evidence used to locate the massacre site
• Maps
• Government documents and testimony from witnesses
• Bullet shells
• Other military equipment
• Geological evidence
• Aerial photographs of the site
o As you explain the process of creating the National Historic Site and finding the location of the massacre, encourage students to think about:
 Whether the National Park System is the right group to handle the job of commemorating the massacre?
 The politics of remembering Sand Creek
• The Sand Creek Massacre represents an ugly chapter of American history and does not reflect well on those who perpetrated it. Some people objected to memorializing Sand Creek because they wanted to forget about its evil. Ask students what they think about forgetting about Sand Creek and the effects that could have.
Wrap-Up/Conclusion Day 1 (~5 minutes)
• Sand Creek Spiritual Healing Run (PPT Slide 6)
o Describe the Healing Run and ask students what they think about this way of remembering the event.
o Ask students about other ways they might commemorate the event if they were a Cheyenne or Arapaho or the Colorado government
o Describe some other ways of commemorating the event (PPT Slide 7)
Introduction Day 2 (~5-7 minutes)
• Why should we remember Sand Creek? (Slide 8)
Body Activity Day 2 (~40 minutes)
• Remembering Sand Creek: Make your own exhibit/ ledger art to remember Sand Creek
o This item will be displayed publicly (if you so choose to put them up as a class exhibit around the classroom or in the hallways)
o Option 1: Examples of ledger art as a suggestion (a few are included in Slide 9): https://sites.google.com/a/bvsd.org/sarah-s-site/projects/project-1-sand-creek
 Basically, use sources from this unit (either John Chivington’s letters or one of the treaties- Fort Laramie, Fort Wise, or Little Arkansas), to create a piece of art that reflects something important students have learned through this unit on the Sand Creek Massacre
o Option 2: Create a museum exhibit and one item
 What will be included? What types of sources? Other things to consider?
Wrap-Up/Conclusion Day 2 (~5 minutes)
• Have students walk around the classroom to look at each other’s exhibits/artwork

Lesson Sources:
Whitacre, Christine. "The Search for the Site of the Sand Creek Massacre." Prologue, Summer 2001. Accessed May 8, 2017. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2001/summer/sand-creek-massacre-1.html.
Brooks, Sarah. "Project #1: Sand Creek - Sarah's Site." Horizons K-8: 7/8 Team. Accessed May 08, 2017. https://sites.google.com/a/bvsd.org/sarah-s-site/projects/project-1-sand-creek.
Calhoun, Lindsay Regan. Public memory of the Sand Creek massacre. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2012.
Kelman, Ari. A misplaced massacre: struggling over the memory of Sand Creek. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015.
"The Sand Creek Spiritual Healing Run: A new Arapaho tradition." The Arapaho Project. Accessed May 08, 2017. http://www.colorado.edu/csilw/sandcreekrun.htm.

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