They survived Sand Creek together.

They died at the Washita together.

The commitment to peace that defined his political life was shared — she was with him through all of it, one of the people whose survival he was working to secure, and one of the people whose death makes clear the cost of what the American government’s failures imposed.

The Language of Remembrance

The language used to describe Black Kettle and his story has changed significantly over the century and a half since his death, and those changes in language reflect changes in understanding.

Early accounts, particularly those from the 1860s and 1870s, described him in ways that reflected the dominant assumptions of the era: as a “friendly” chief (as opposed to “hostile”), as a man who understood that resistance was futile, as a figure who was useful to the American government’s peace objectives.