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REASONS FOR CONFLICT

• The Cheyenne tribe leader Black Kettle was promised that the land his tribe resided on was not to be touched by the US government.

• This turned out to be complete lie and the government was planning on driving the Cheyenne off the land.

• There was a treaty in place that supposedly protected the Cheyenne land, this treaty proved to be ineffective.

MAJOR PLAYERS

• Colorado volunteers converged on Sand Creek in an attempt to drive the Cheyenne Indians off their land.

• 800 Cheyenne and the volunteers clashed at sand creek, only 400 Cheyenne survived out of the 800.

• Most of the Cheyenne that were killed were women and children.

• The Cheyenne were led by Chief Black Kettle, the volunteers were lead by John Chivington.

DETAILS

• It was the morning of November 28th when the volunteers surrounded the village.

• Black kettle waved the American flag as a sign of truce but the volunteer leader ignored the plea and ordered his men to attack.

• The volunteers brutality murdered 400 Cheyenne most of which were women and children

• Some Cheyenne were shot in the back as they were trying to escape, others were shot while on their knees begging for mercy.

• Soldiers were even seen shooting their rifles at distant infants for sport.

IMPACT ON RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATIVE AMERICANS AND US GOVERNMENT

• The relationship between the Cheyenne and U.S. government was bitter over the attack. The Cheyenne were angry after being promised that they could stay on their land and then being forced off to the undesirable territory reserved for them.

• The population of Sand Creek was decimated and this only lead to the bitter feelings.

• The Cheyenne and other groups of Indians were infuriated over the unnecessary violence and killing of their women and children, this led to more fights as the Native Americans refused to be pushed onto less desirable land.

• Today the land at the site of the battle is a national historic site.

RETALIATION

• The Indians agreed after the massacre that the whites must be stopped by force.

• The Sioux troops bonded together under the leadership of red cloud and ambushed a group of US troops and killed every one.

• The US government saw the stalemate at hand and passed the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie which gave the Cheyenne and Sioux large amounts of land.

• This compromise eased tensions for the time being but the peace was short lived.