The Northwestern University-Native American and Indigenous Students Association decided Friday to host an informational event by the end of this year to raise awareness about NU founder John Evans and his role in the Sand Creek Massacre, when a U.S. militia murdered between 70 and 163 Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians, most women and children, in Colorado in 1864.
NU-NAISA is a new student group that formed last quarter to support Native Americans on campus and to work toward developing a Native American Studies department.
The decision was made during a meeting of the Northwestern University Memory Project, a new initiative started by Weinberg junior Adam Mendel and NU-NAISA.
Mendel, a member of NU-NAISA, opened the meeting by asking if any of the 20 attendees knew about Evans. Very few did, and Mendel proceeded to discuss Evans and his role in the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864.
Although Evans did not actively participate in the massacre, he served as governor of the Colorado Territory and was the superintendent of Indian affairs at the time of the incident.
John Low, a visiting history professor, said Evans’ main objective was to expand railroad lines throughout the territory of Colorado. Evans saw the Indians as obstacles to railroad expansion and gave Colonel John Chivington the mandate to clear them from the area. In the aftermath of the massacre, Evans awarded all the cavalrymen involved in the killings medals of honor, Low said.
However, there remains some debate about what part Evans played in the massacre.
Craig Moore, a representative of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, said he was hesitant to place full blame on John Evans.
“There’s no direct evidence of his exact role,” Moore said.