Memories that haunt: layered landscapes of historical trauma on the American plains

ABSTRACT

This article explores the impact of American colonization on two American Indian communities, the Cheyenne and Arapaho, through the oral histories and personal narratives of tribal members. These stories were prompted by a series of photographs collected by Jesse H. Bratley – an Indian School teacher working on the Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation at the turn of the century – which were shared with these communities in 2016. Housed at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Bratley’s images speak to the subtle ways that photography confirmed and conformed to the assimilationist rhetoric of the United States federal government. When shared with tribal members, Bratley’s images produced a bricolage of memories, evoking layered stories of trauma and persistence. These narratives offer new insights into the relationship between martial violence, the American Indian education system, and the intergenerational historical trauma experienced by these two communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Cheyenne and Arapaho
• American Indian education system
• social memory
• historical trauma

Acknowledgments

This research is deeply indebted to the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal members who shared their time and stories with us. In addition to those tribal members who helped with this project, this research would not have been possible without the guidance of Chip Colwell at DMNS and the support of the museum’s curatorial, conservation, and archival staff. Finally, I would like to thank the children of Dr. Forrest Bratley, who graciously shared their collections and memories with us.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lindsay M. Montgomery

Lindsay Montgomery is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Human Rights from Barnard College (Columbia University) and received her doctorate in Anthropology from Stanford University. Her research interests include inter-ethnic interaction, colonialism, and mobility, and she is currently completing a manuscript on the cultural landscapes of mobile hunter-gatherers in New Mexico.