Boulder History Museum, 1206 Euclid Avenue
Exhibit open through Thursday, December 31, 2015
To commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the tragic massacre at Sand Creek, Colorado, the Boulder History Museum is reintroducing the award-winning exhibition, Chief Niwot~Legend & Legacy, with new content and artifacts previously not on display.
Chief Niwot struggled to find peace during the most fateful years in Southern Arapaho history. His life and legacy are revealed in this exhibit along with the Arapahos’ place in Boulder’s history.
Niwot’s story is one of honor and deceit, hope and despair. When white men began migrating to the central plains in the mid-nineteenth century, they moved into the land that was home to the Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians. In 1858, the Arapaho Chief Niwot (translated as Left Hand) astonished the early gold-seekers in Colorado by greeting them in their own language. He and his tribe hoped to make peace with the newcomers to allow the two cultures to share the same land and coexist peacefully.
Niwot devoted his life to this struggle but his efforts ultimately failed. He was mortally wounded at the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864. This exhibit is the first to reveal the story of Chief Niwot and the complexity his struggle to find peace during the most fateful years in the history of the Southern Arapaho Indians.
The Boulder History Museum provides the historical substance for this community-wide collaborative effort. Particularly challenging is the fact that there are no known photographs of Niwot himself. We tell the story with carefully researched documents, artifacts, and interactive elements that chronicle the events and personalities that affected the Arapaho Chief.
Be sure to check out the Museum’s Chief Niwot~Legend & Legacy Program Series this fall co-sponsored by the Native American Rights Fund.