Sand Creek Massacre Research Paper

The strongest members of the tribe had departed days before on what seemed like another hopeless attempt to hunt; an attempt to survive. Conditions had been very difficult for the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, but their fearless leaders worked frivolously to attain peace with the white troops and settlers and meet the needs of their people. On the morning of November 29, 1864 women, children, and the elderly tribe members awoke to a horrific situation that would come to be known as the Sand Creek Massacre. Despite the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes ongoing effort to maintain peace and sustain their way of life, they suffered greatly at the hands of the US troops who throughout history have been thought to have heroically conquered and claimed the Wild West. The once vast land that was home to the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes was becoming ever more crowded and hunting opportunities were diminishing. The tribes came to realize that in order to survive they must attempted to coexist with settlers peacefully and gain access to the resources that they controlled. In exchange for peacefully surrendering the land they had occupied for many years, the Native Americans would receive annuities such as food, trade …show more content…
For many years the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes tried desperately to adjust to sharing the land that was once theirs, with the troops and settlers that had moved in on top of them, killed off their game, and essentially made roadways through what hunting grounds remained. Despite all of the sit downs and treaties, relocating to reservations, and being stripped of their dignity as they were forced to rely on the distribution of government annuities, the end result was bloodshed. The Native Americans were not valued as human beings much less the rightful owners of the land in which US troops viciously killed