Sand Creek Massacre Panel Discussion

Update: 11/03/11:
Event videos now available on YouTube

I invite you to watch the entire event:  Sand Creek Massacre Panel Discussion on YouTube

Update: 4/20/11:
Panel discussion spurred conversation and insights

I will be posting photos and a recap of the event.

In the meantime, I recommend this excellent article by Carol Berry of the Indian Country Today Media Network, which recaps the event:
Sand Creek Massacre article.

You are cordially invited to attend
Lessons Learned at Bloody Sand Creek: A panel discussion on the events at Sand Creek in 1864 and the impact on Colorado & the West today

On Sunday April 17, 2011 from 2:00 to 4:30 pm, the Denver Public Library will host Lessons Learned at Bloody Sand Creek: A panel discussion on the events at Sand Creek in 1864 and the impact on Colorado and the West today, an educational event sponsored by Craig Bergsgaard Studios of Windsor, Colorado.

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A new look at history

In November, 1864, a bloody battle occurred between the United States military and the Cheyenne and Arapaho people encamped along the banks of the Sand Creek River. That people died and that lives were changed is never contested.

But short of these facts, many Coloradans still are at odds over these events that occurred 146 years ago. Was it, as often portrayed, a massacre? Was it a military operation? Was it simply a misunderstanding that escalated into tragedy?

Colorado artist Craig Bergsgaard believes that now is the time to take a new approach to discussing the events that transpired. And asks this important question? What did we, as citizens of the West, learn from this tragic event?

This panel discussion will present different viewpoints of Sand Creek in order for Coloradans to gain perspective on how this chapter history shaped the formation of Colorado and the West and the impact these events continue to have today.

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Event Details

Date and time:
Sunday, April 17, 2011; 2:00 to 4:30pm

Location:
Central Library, B2 Conference Center, 10 West Fourteenth Avenue Parkway Denver, CO 80204

Discussion format:

• 2:00 – 2:15
  Greeting, opening remarks, and gift presentation of Craig Bergsgaard’s sculpture, Memorare, Sand Creek 1864, to the Denver Public Library
• 2:15 – 2:45
  Slideshow discussing historical events featuring vintage images from the Denver Public Library Western History and Genealogy photograph archive
• 2:45 – 3:00
  Break
• 3:00 – 4:15
  Moderated panel discussion
• 4:15 – 4:45
  Audience question and answer period with panelists
• 4:45
  Closing remarks

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Meet our Panelists

George E. “Tink” Tinker, PhD

Clifford Baldridge Professor of American Indian Cultures and Religious Traditions, Iliff School of Theology

It is our pleasure to include prominent Native American theologian, George E. “Tink” Tinker, PhD, on our panel. Dr. Tinker is professor of American Indian Cultures and Religious Traditions at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver.

Dr. Tinker is the author of Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Theology and Spirit and Resistance: Political Theology and American Indian Liberation, is a member of the leadership council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado, and is Director of the Four Winds American Survival Project.

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Rose Fredrick, APAA

Curator and Art Consultant

We are pleased to welcome Rose Fredrick to our esteemed panel to share her insights into the world of fine art. She will be discussing how Native Americans and historical topics are represented in contemporary fine Western artwork.

Ms. Fredrick has more than two decades of experience in the Colorado art community, from retail galleries, educational presentations, and involvement in non-profit fundraising for major art shows such as the Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale, which she has curated since 1997.

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Tom Noel, PhD

Professor of History and Director of Public History, Preservation & Colorado Studies at University of Colorado Denver

No discussion of an aspect of Colorado history would be complete without the thoughts of Tom Noel, PhD, or “Dr. Colorado” as he is commonly known.

Dr. Noel teaches Denver, Colorado, Heritage Tourism, Historic Preservation, Mining & Railroads, National Parks History, U.S. West, and Western Art & Architecture courses at UCD, as well as conducting tours of the highest state and the Mile High City for the Smithsonian Institution and the Colorado History Museum. Tom is author or co-author of over 40 books, pens a regular column for the Sunday Denver Post Perspective section, appears on Denver KUSA Channel 9′s “Colorado & Company”, and co-directs UC Denver’s Center for Colorado & The West.

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Col Ronald G. Machoian, PhD

Director of International Programs and Assistant Professor of Military & Strategic Studies, US Air Force Academy

Colonel Machoian is the author of William Harding Carter and the American Army: a Soldier’s Story, a book that addresses the US Army’s transition from the “Old Army” model to a more professional force at the dawning of the 20th century.

An active-duty officer in the U.S. Air Force, Colonel Machoian brings to our panel an extensive academic knowledge of 19th-century American military history and a personal interest in the events of the Sand Creek Massacre. One of his current areas of research is cultural misunderstanding as a distinct influence on military actions in the American West. His published work includes chapters on the tragic events at Cibicu Creek (1881) and Wounded Knee (1890).

In addition to his current engagement at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Col. Machoian formerly taught American History at the University of Nebraska, Omaha while assigned to Offutt AFB, Nebraska.

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Glenn T. Morris, JD

Director, Fourth World Center for the Study of Indigenous Law and Politics at CU-Denver
Professor Morris’ areas of expertise are indigenous peoples in the international legal and political arena, public law, civil liberties, and race/gender and the law. He has been active in the development of international legal standards for the defense of the rights of indigenous peoples for over twenty-five years.

Professor Morris directs the Fourth World Center (FWC) for the Study of Indigenous Law and Politics at CU-Denver. The FWC provides resources, research and other opportunities for the examination of the condition of indigenous peoples in a global context.

Professor Morris has been permanently designated a President’s Teaching Scholar (the highest peer-awarded teaching/scholarly recognition from the University of Colorado). He has also been the recipient of the Rosa Parks Civil Rights Award, Native American Educator of the Year Award, and the Martin Luther King Peace Award.

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Our moderator: J. Wendel Cox, Phd

Senior Special Collection Librarian in the Western History & Genealogy Department at the Denver Public Library

I am most grateful to Wendel Cox, PhD for adding to this esteemed panel by agreeing to serve as our moderator.

Dr. Cox earned a PhD in history from the University of Minnesota, with a dissertation on early American expansion and the politics of relations with the Indian nations of the northern Plains, and later earned a MLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He previously taught and worked at the University of Minnesota, Arizona State University, the University of Minnesota Morris, and the University of Kentucky.