Dispossession and belated steps toward reconciliation in Colorado

 

Th’offender’s sorrow lends but weak relief

To him that bears the strong offence’s loss

Sonnet 34.

 

Last week Colorado Government Jared Polis (link here) formally rescinded proclamations of the then Territory Governor John Evans.

 

The two orders were made by former territorial governor John Evans in 1864. The first required “friendly Indians” to gather at specific camps and threatened violence against those who didn’t comply. The second called for citizens to “kill and destroy” Native Americans who were deemed hostile by the state.

 

Here are links to a couple of the numerous media reports: (link here; link here). An excellent article laying out the background and recounting Indigenous lobbying that led to Governor Polis’ rescission can be found here.

 

The 1864 proclamations are widely held to be responsible for a notorious massacre the following year at Sand Creek. A 2014 article from the Smithsonian magazine by Tony Horwitz (link here) lays out the contextual background to the massacre as well as providing a rather horrific account. I recommend readers take a look at this article.

 

These events, distant as they are, should provoke us here in Australia to ask questions about our own history. Does Australian history contain parallels with the US experience? Even where we acknowledge dispossession, do we relegate it to some distant past? How should the past be acknowledged in the present? Are there events and policies that we have effectively forgotten?