Centering Community Voice:
Co-developing the Sand Creek Massacre Exhibit
Museum
Topics
Exhibit Strategy
DEAI
Trauma Informed Design
Big Ideas
Genuine partnerships enhance exhibit creation and collaboration.
Engagement and respect are central to developing sensitive content.
AFFILIATE SPOTLIGHT
A NEW CHAPTER IN COLLABORATION
The Evolution of the Sand Creek Massacre Exhibit
History Colorado’s development of the Sand Creek Massacre exhibit evolved from early challenges to a process deeply rooted in partnership and mutual respect. In 2013, History Colorado closed it’s original Sand Creek Massacre exhibition, just over a year after it had opened. The closure was prompted by protests from the Northern Cheyenne, Northern Arapaho, and Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes over the lack of Tribal consultation during the exhibition’s development. In 2014, History Colorado initiated the development of a new exhibition, this time in close consultation with Tribal representatives. This new process was characterized by a commitment to authentic engagement, close consultation, and a profound respect for Tribal knowledge.
There’s this temptation to unveil the brilliant thing. Don’t do that. Work with people upfront to make sure that what you are creating is what the people you’re creating it for want and need.
History Colorado
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Phase 1: Rebuilding Trust and Laying the Groundwork
History Colorado acknowledged the importance of rectifying earlier mistakes and initiated a concerted effort to foster a renewed partnership with tribal communities beginning around 2013.
ESTABLISHING FORMAL COMMITMENTS
The signing of the Memorandum of Agreement in 2014, after the original exhibition’s closure, marked a significant institutional commitment to honor and integrate tribal knowledge. This agreement initiated a series of annual consultations, creating a constructive platform for ongoing dialogue and collaborative narrative development.
In reflecting on the process and its impact on the exhibit’s development timeline, Hanson emphasized the importance of allowing the necessary time for thoughtful creation and consultation, sharing, “We tried to make it very clear that if the exhibit needs more time, we will give it more time. In our after-action analysis, one of the conclusions was that the pressure to open this museum [the History Colorado Center, which opened in 2012] with that exhibit had forced the exhibit team to feel that they needed to move faster than it should have been moving. We wanted to make sure we weren’t forced into that same situation.”
INTERNAL COORDINATION
After 2016, History Colorado intensified internal efforts to ensure a unified approach in developing the exhibit. Frequent collaboration among department leaders and teams was essential to keep the project’s vision consistent and well-understood across the organization.
GRANT FUNDING AND SCALE OF EXHIBIT
Securing substantial funding from institutions like NIH and IMLS around 2020 was a testament to the exhibit’s ambitious scope and History Colorado’s dedication. This financial support allowed the team to go beyond a display-based exhibit to an engaging, educational experience that lived up to the collaborative vision.
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Phase 2: Collaborative Process and Sensitivity
This phase emphasized collaborative efforts to align the exhibit with the Tribal communities’ insights and experiences.
INCLUSIVE CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Content development for the exhibit involved extensive, iterative collaboration with tribal representatives. Narratives, photographs, and artifacts were thoroughly discussed and reviewed, ensuring historical accuracy and cultural integrity that genuinely reflected the perspectives of the tribal communities. Hanson details the depth of this collaboration by noting “Our exhibit developers would spend, however long in a consultation talking about whatever the topic was. [They would] Go back, write a summary of what he had heard. [And they would] Share that with the tribes say is this accurate? They would wordsmith it together. [Then] They would come back to the next consultation lock themselves in a room and really go word by word to make sure that this was exactly the way that they wanted to say, what needed to be said. And we we repeated that process just over and over again, for every single aspect of the exhibit.”
CONSULTATION AND ITERATIVE FEEDBACK
The review sessions extended beyond mere editing; they served as opportunities for cultural exchange and learning. Tribal representatives engaged in-depth, ensuring the exhibit’s language and presentation authentically mirrored their history and experiences. Reflecting on the level of commitment to understanding tribal perspectives, Hanson remarks “One of the important things the exhibit team did as part of the process was to go to the homes of our tribal representatives, visit them on the road, at the reservations, to see what the representatives wanted to show them and to get a better understanding of where they were coming from.”
DECISION ON DISPLAYING ARTIFACTS
Choosing not to display weapons was a deliberate decision, recognizing the potential for trauma associated with these artifacts. This decision, reached through executive sessions with tribal representatives, demonstrated a respect for the community’s sentiments, ensuring that the exhibit’s curation was considerate and mindful.
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Phase 3: Execution and Reflective Presentation
The opening of the exhibit marked the fruition of a long-term commitment to collaboration and mutual respect.
INTENTIONAL EXHIBIT LAUNCH
Choosing to close the museum for a private viewing day for the Tribal Members was a meaningful acknowledgment that the exhibition was their family history. Opening the exhibit to Tribal members only acknowledged not only their partnership in creating the exhibition, but ensured that they could experience the exhibit privately with their families and fellow Tribal members. Hanson shares the considerations behind this respectful decision: “Taking our lead from these tribal representatives,” he explains, “we closed the museum for a day when we opened the exhibit for the tribes to come and experience it without public crowds. We had reporters who really wanted to interview them and get their reaction, and we made that off-limits.”
ONGOING DIALOG AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
The launch marked the beginning of a continued dialogue with tribal representatives, highlighting History Colorado’s commitment to a genuine, evolving partnership focused on mutual learning and growth. Hanson emphasized the ongoing nature of this collaboration by sharing, “We have to continue to honor that Memorandum of Agreement and have annual consultations; even though they’re not built around the exhibit now, but to stay in touch and stay in relationship,” he notes. “Those lines of communication are a positive development; there’s willingness to say, let’s talk about this. But we need to not take it for granted.”
“This [exhibit development] was really done in the spirit of consultation with a commitment to centering the tribal oral history and tribal account of what happened. That’s what you will see in the gallery; it’s reflection. In this case, we were almost just the conduit. They brought the expertise in the subject, and we brought the expertise in terms of how to make an exhibit.”
History Colorado
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