Sand Creek Massacre NHS News Release

 SAND CREEK MASSACRE TO HOST SPECIAL PROGRAM

The Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, located near Eads, will host a special program on Sunday, November 8.  The program titled The Life and Times of Making Medicine will begin at 1:00 pm.  Making Medicine, a Cheyenne, was a teenage witness to the Sand Creek Massacre.  This event, highlighting the career of Making Medicine, is being held in conjunction with National American Indian Heritage Month, which runs throughout November.

Making Medicine was a noted Cheyenne warrior and buffalo hunter.  His Cheyenne name also translates as Sun Dancer – given in recognition as the youngest male to have completed the annual sacred ceremony.  At the Sand Creek Massacre, Making Medicine was one of several dozen young men and warriors in the camp.  He likely made his way up the valley, alternately fleeing and skirmishing for 5 to 8 miles.  His father, Sleeping Bear is believed to have been one of those killed during the massacre. 

Near the conclusion of the Plains Indian Wars, Making Medicine was randomly selected as one of several dozen Cheyenne to be imprisoned at Fort Marion, Florida.  During his three year incarceration, Making Medicine became a noted artist – drawing depictions of his life and Cheyenne culture in ledger books.  Upon release, the young Cheyenne, before returning to the plains, travelled to Syracuse, New York to study the bible. Baptized in Grace Episcopal Church in 1878, and ordained to the diaconate three years later, he would be known for the remainder of his life as David Pendleton.  Pendleton’s Whirlwind Mission and Day School operated until 1917.  The Whirlwind Mission of the Holy Family, located in Watonga, Oklahoma has since been re-established and was dedicated anew in 2007.  David Pendleton’s life’s work was honored in 1985 by his posthumous selection as an Episcopal Saint.  The Anglican Communion annually celebrates Saint Pendleton’s feast day September 1. 

The program, hosted by the National Park Service and descendants of Pendleton, will use stories, letters, pictures, and music to highlight the life and times of this unique and special man.

As fighter, prisoner, survivor, victim, artist, and missionary, Pendleton’s life is symbolic of the turmoil, tragedy, hardship, change, and redemption that most people experience during the course of their lives

For additional information about The Life and Times of Making Medicine please contact the park at 719-469-0543 or 719-729-3003.

NPS