October 25, 2017
By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –
The Washita Battle Field National Historic Site is introducing Owa Chita Sundays, beginning this coming Sunday.
Ranger Sydney Stover says, beginning Sunday – the last Sunday of every month – will be Owa Chita Sundays from 2017 through November of 2018, where families are invited to learn about the unique histories and cultures preserved and protected at the National Battlefield.
She says Owa Chita Sundays are a take-off of the Owa Chita summer camps at the park.
That’s what Owa Chita Camps are, but what’s Owa Chita?
Stover says adults are children, too, just with more experiences and Owa Chita Sundays will be an engaging experience for all age levels.
So, in essence, the Rangers are cramming all of the fun summer activities into a three hour summer camp session and holding it on the last Sunday of each month. It’s kind of a Mini-Owa Chita Camp.
This Sunday’s 3-hour mini-Camp Owa Chita will be concentrating on the Medicine Lodge Treaty. Stover says this Sunday is the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Medicine Lodge Treaty.
The Medicine Lodge Treaty is the overall name for three treaties signed between the Federal government of the United States and southern Plains Indian tribes in October 1867, intended to bring peace to the area by relocating the Native Americans to reservations in Indian Territory and away from European-American settlement.
On that October day, October 29 in 1867, more than 7,000 Southern Plains Indians gather near Medicine Lodge Creek, Kansas, as their leaders sign one of the most important treaties in the history of U.S.-Indian relations.
Stover says Sunday’s activities revolve around this event and why it was so important.
Owa Chita Sunday’s will begin this Sunday at 1 pm and held at the visitor center at the national historic site located just west of Cheyenne on Highway 47A.
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