Nothing Lives Long, Only the Earth: Cheyenne’s Chief White Antelope’s Honor Song
Monday, October 11, 7:30pm
Gates Concert Hall in the Newman Center (Lamont)
Over a century and a half ago, Colonel John Chivington led 675 Colorado volunteer soldiers to massacre a Cheyenne and Arapaho village on the banks of what is now known as Sand Creek. Chief White Antelope, one of the leaders of a respected Cheyenne military societies, the Dog Soldiers, saw the militia descend on his people and chose to sing his personal honor song in the face of death. Chief White Antelope earned this song because of his bravery and leadership in the protection of his people.
On October 11, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, at 7:30pm the University of Denver will welcome George Levi, Creg Hart, Roger Davis, and Kendal Kauley, four Southern Arapaho and Cheyenne singers who keep Chief White Antelope’s song as a living historical source for their community, the generations that preceded them, and the generations yet to be born.
Listen carefully, because as the song teaches us, “Nothing lives long, only the rocks and the earth.”
This campus visit will allow students to consider and learn from Cheyenne musical traditions and to interrogate the connection between the founding of DU and the Sand Creek Massacre. This visit also works to create reciprocal relationships with Cheyenne & Arapaho descendant communities, and to educate the broader campus community about the enmeshed history of our institution and the violent displacement of tribal communities.
Sponsored by the Lamont School of Music, the Office of the Provost, the Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, the First Gen Program, the Department of Anthropology, the Department of History, the Center for Judaic Studies, the Department of English, and the Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of (in)Equality.
Tickets are free at the Newman Box Office, or you can reserve online with a $4/ticket service fee. QR code leads to the online ticket system.