In October 1865, he signed the Little Arkansas Treaty, which was a new agreement attempting to address the violations of the 1861 Fort Wise Treaty and to provide some recognition of what had happened at Sand Creek.

The treaty provided for a new reservation and included a provision acknowledging that the Cheyenne had suffered wrong at Sand Creek.

It was not adequate reparation, but it was a formal acknowledgment of American fault.

By signing this treaty, Black Kettle was again extending trust to a government that had violated his trust in the most catastrophic way possible.

His fellow chiefs who had survived Sand Creek had different reactions — some refused to engage with the American government at all, some were committed to armed resistance.

Black Kettle’s position, which required not just personal courage but the continued faith of his followers, was the most difficult one available.