Capitol committee reviews Sand Creek Massacre memorial design; final vote postponed

The Capital Development Committee on a virtual session reviewed the design and installation plan for a Sand Creek Massacre memorial proposed for the West Plaza of the State Capitol, but the committee did not take a final vote.

The presentation featured tribal representatives and the sculptor who created a one-seventh scale model of the planned work, which the sculptor described as having a working title of "Peacekeepers." Gerald Anthony Shippen, sculptor, showed the scale model and said the final figures would be seven feet tall and cast in bronze. "What you're about to see is a working model for the full sized monument," Shippen said, adding that the one-foot figures in the model represent 1/7 scale of the planned 7-foot monument.

The memorial planning team emphasized collaboration with tribal descendants and local partners. Eleni Scalavenitis, executive director of the Sand Creek Massacre Foundation, said the design grew from work led by a Sand Creek Descendants Committee that includes tribal representatives Chris TallBear, Otto Braided Hair Junior and Gail Ridgeley. TallBear and other tribal representatives described the memorial as part of long-term efforts to recognize the 1864 massacre and its surviving descendants; TallBear opened part of the session with a prayer for the project and those who lost family in the massacre.

Shippen and others walked committee members through technical and site considerations: the scale models will be enlarged to the final seven-foot bronzes, the figures weigh about 700 pounds apiece when cast, teepee poles weigh "about a couple hundred pounds a piece," and foundry work would likely occur in Loveland, Colorado. Shippen said the final installation will include lighting and sitework on the west plaza and that the sculpture will be patinated bronze with stainless-steel armatures.

Committee members asked about ceremonial elements and timing. Shippen and Mark Rogers, architectural consultant, said the tribal custom of bringing a teepee pole and a period-appropriate Union flag figure in the annual November commemorative run is one likely occasion to display the flag; Rogers described that practice and noted the flag shown would reflect the number of states in the Union in 1864. The project team estimated a hoped-for completion in 2026–27, with enlargement from the scale model and site preparation to follow.

A motion to "approve the design of the Sand Creek Massacre Memorial with the memorial to be placed on the West Plaza of the State Capitol" and to "approve a long term loan of the Union soldier statue to the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs" was introduced during the meeting by Senator Mullica. Because not all committee members were present, the chair said the committee would withhold a final vote until full membership could attend; the committee tentatively scheduled a meeting for March 6 so absent members could review the recorded presentation. Senator Mullica later withdrew the motion he had made earlier. No formal roll-call vote on the memorial design or the related loan occurred during the session.

The committee and project team said they will continue coordinating the technical installation details and consultations with tribal descendants. Eleni Scalavenitis said the Sand Creek Massacre Foundation and the Capitol contacts will work together on construction planning and logistics.

The committee did not authorize construction or move the project forward by formal vote at this meeting; members said they expect further consideration once the full committee can meet.