That is what the American government promised and failed to deliver.

That is what died with him on the Washita.

The right relationship he was building toward was never completed, not because it was impossible, but because the people he was building it with were not willing to do what it required.

The Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho people carry that incompletion forward.

The work is not done.

The story is not over.

Black Kettle’s name should be part of that ongoing story.