Smithsonian Digital Volunteers- Freedmen's Bureau Record Transcription Party 2 of 3

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Copyright 2026, The Owl & The Hourglass. All Rights Reserved. Website by Wei-Haas Creative.

Land Acknowledgement: The Owl and The Hourglass would like to acknowledge the indigenous history of the Denver and Colorado region as native to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Tribes. The 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty and 1861 Fort Wise Treaty reduced the land and forcibly relocated the Arapaho and Cheyenne. The 1864 Sand Creek Massacre and the murder of over 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho women, children, and elderly by 675 U.S. volunteer soldiers commanded by Colonel John M. Chivington drove all native population from the Denver area, formally acknowledged by the State of Colorado, written by Justice Greg Hobbs, Colorado Supreme Court on the 150th Anniversary as

“an incalculably important admission—that non-Native settlement of the eastern half of Colorado became possible through the coerced cession of Arapaho and Cheyenne homelands.”

We respect and honor the ancestors, the living descendants, the land, and the life sustained in this place and the creative force that sustains our life and work. Art and learning are the foundations of my work, and I am inspired by this place and native peoples. Next time you are down by the Denver Art Museum, give fresh eyes to the outdoor sculpture Wheel, by Cheyenne-Arapaho artist Hock E Aye Vi, Edgar Heap of Birds.

Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe websites.