As the sun was rising on the morning of Nov. 29, 1884, a surprise attack by Army cavalry on a Cheyenne Plains and Arapaho village would become the deadliest single day in the Colorado Territory.

The Sand Creek Massacre still holds that grisly distinction in the state of Colorado.

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More than 230 Native people, primarily women, children and elders, lost their lives, according to the United States National Park Service and History Colorado. The reported number of fatalities has varied over the years but in recent time is based on tribal records and contemporary consensus.

The place where the raid occurred, along the Big Sandy Creek in southeast Colorado in today’s Kiowa County, is still hurting, said the Rev.…