IN LAYMAN'S TERMS

Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run


Listen Later

Bishop David Wilson and three others representing the Great Plains Conference took part in the 2025 Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run in October. The annual event honors the more than 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho people — mostly women, children and elderly persons — who were slaughtered by a band of volunteer soldiers on Nov. 29, 1864, along Big Sandy Creek in eastern Colorado.

The group was led by Col. John Chivington, who was a Methodist Episcopal pastor. As part of a resolution passed by the 2012 General Conference, The United Methodist Church has been taking part in actions of repentance while seeking to build relationships with Native persons in light of what happened on that cold Tuesday long ago.

This video shares about the healing run, but also shares stories bravely told by descendants of survivors, told prior to the start of the run this year. The path traces as closely as possible the path from the site near Eads, Colorado, to Denver, where the volunteer soldiers were based.


The run came shortly before a new exhibit opened in the Methodist Building in Washington, D.C., dedicated to remembering and repenting for the atrocities at Sand Creek. Joey Butler of United Methodist News Service provided a preview.

United Women in Faith recently provided an in-depth story about the massacre and its lasting impact on Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples. You can read Tara Barnes' Response magazine story here.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

IN LAYMAN'S TERMSBy inlaymansterms

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

7 ratings


More shows like IN LAYMAN'S TERMS

View all
Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,629 Listeners

Short Wave by NPR

Short Wave

6,550 Listeners