Cinnamon Kills First will never forget the first time she visited the Sand Creek Massacre site in Colorado.
“It changed the way I walked in the world,” she said.
She and her uncle, the late William Walks Along, are both direct descendants of Sand Creek Massacre survivors.
Cinnamon Kills First, Northern Cheyenne, created and led an immersive theater experience to raise awareness among Natives and non-Natives about the Sand Creek Massacre.
On a November morning in 1864, U.S. soldiers attacked the lodges of 750 Arapaho and Cheyenne tribal members who were camped near Big Sandy Creek (in present-day Colorado). It’s estimated that 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho citizens were killed.
Kills First learned about the massacre from her uncle, from textbooks and teachers in school, but for her, nothing compared to actually standing at the site.
People are also reading…
“You can feel the spirit of a place,” she said. “That’s what changes you. There’s energy still there. That’s what you never forget.”
It was this experience that inspired Kills First, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, to create an immersive theater experience, encouraging both Natives and non-Natives to connect with the historic event.
With support from a National Endowment for the Arts grant, in May, Kills First began holding immersive theater events centered around the Sand Creek Massacre.
Your Trusted Source for Accurate and Timely Updates!
