Descendants of Sand Creek Massacre victims sue

A lawsuit filed by descendants of American Indians killed in the Sand Creek Massacre argues the federal government hasn’t fully paid reparations for the slaughter of their Cheyenne and Arapaho ancestors in 1864.

The Department of Interior isn’t commenting on the pending litigation.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Denver on behalf of four Oklahoma-based members of the Sand Creek Massacre Descendants Trust. It seeks class-action status.

Plaintiff Robert Simpson of Anadarko tells The Denver Post, the plaintiffs won’t forget what happened.

The early-morning massacre in what is now southeastern Colorado is estimated to have killed more than 160 people – including many women and children – when federal soldiers attacked Indians camping at Sand Creek. The U.S. government had promised reparations in 1865.