“Rocks Karma Arrows - is a history that all Boulder county citizens need to be aware of.” Ray Ramirez, Native American Rights Fund
“If I could wave a magic wand I would love to have the Rocks Karma Arrows film be required viewing for all freshmen.”
Arturo Aldama, Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder
“I think there’d be value in every elected official, community representatives, nonprofits to see the film - to appreciate the history of where we come from. It’s a great learning tool.”
Deb Gardner, Boulder County Commissioner
“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”
On November 29th, 1864 the founders of Boulder and other Colorado officials participated in the Sand Creek Massacre. We have an opportunity to come together exactly 156 years later to face this history and reflect on how we can create a more equitable future. Don’t miss Part 1 of Motus Theater’s award winning Rocks Karma Arrows film which explores the Sand Creek Massacre with a focus on how this history is woven into the founding of Boulder, Colorado. With reflections from poet Tanaya Winder (Southern Ute, Pyramid Lake Paiute, and Duckwater Shoshone Nations), Assistant Director of Development at NARF, Dallin Maybee, and author of “Chief Left Hand”, Margaret Coel. Learn more about the current work of the Native American Rights Fund and how we can get involved.
Rocks Karma Arrows is a film of Motus Theater's multimedia contemporary theater piece looking at Boulder history through the lens of race and class. Historical figures, like the great Chief Niwot, come alive to tell the story of the early founding of Boulder and the massacre at Sand Creek. Interviews with local historians and Buddhist monks are woven with historical photographs and film into the drama. At times the photographic images completely take over 180° of the theatrical space so that actors are literally immersed in the history - interacting with the photos, struggling with the voices of the past, and trying to understand how those voices echo in the present. The highly acclaimed production debuted as an official city event for the Boulder Sesquicentennial in 2009 at the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The film was created with a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.