Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 3.djvu/997

 PUBLIC LAW 106-465—NOV. 7, 2000 114 STAT. 2019 Public Law 106-465 106th Congress An Act To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to estabhsh the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in the State of Colorado. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the "Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2000". SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. ' (a) FINDINGS. —Congress finds that— (1) on November 29, 1864, a peaceful village of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians under the leadership of Chief Black Kettle, along Sand Creek in southeastern Colorado territory was attacked by approximately 700 volunteer soldiers commanded by Colonel John M. Chivington; (2) more than 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho were killed in the attack, most of whom were women, children, or elderly; (3) during the massacre and the following day, the soldiers committed atrocities on the dead before withdrawing from the field; (4) the site of the Sand Creek Massacre is of great significance to descendants of the victims of the massacre and their respective tribes, for the commemoration of ancestors at the site; (5) the site is a reminder of the tragic extremes sometimes reached in the 500 years of conflict between Native Americans and people of European and other origins concerning the land that now comprises the United States; (6) Congress, in enacting the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Study Act of 1998 (Public Law 105- 243; 112 Stat. 1579), directed the National Park Service to complete a resources study of the site; (7) the study completed under that Act— (A) identified the location and extent of the area in which the massacre took place; and (B) confirmed the national significance, suitability, and feasibility of, and evaluated management options for, that area, including designation of the site as a unit of the National Park System; and (8) the study included an evaluation of environmental impacts and preliminary cost estimates for facility development, administration, and necessary land acquisition. (b) PURPOSES. — The purposes of this Act are— Nov. 7, 2000 [S. 2950] Sand Creek Massacre Nationjil Historic Site Establishment Act of 2000. 16 USC 461 note.

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