Colorado community honors Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Northern Cheyenne Chief advanced Native rights in U.S. Senate
The Colorado School of Public Health reported robust attendance at its recent event to honor the life and legacy of Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a Northern Cheyenne chief who represented Colorado at the federal level from 1987 to 2005.
Campbell’s impact spanned decades of political leadership, first in the U.S. House and then again as a senator. Campbell was also a Northern Cheyenne chief with additional ties to Crow Agency in Montana, where he spent substantial parts of his youth in a boarding school.
A decorated Air Force veteran who served in the Korean War, Campbell earned even more acclaim for competing in judo during the 1964 Olympics and designing award-winning jewelry in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
As the only Native congressional leader during his time in office, Campbell achieved significant advancements for the rights and opportunities of Indigenous people in the U.S. He chaired the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and helped establish the National Museum of the American Indian. He supported initiatives for education, housing and economic development in Indian Country. And he led the legislative push to honor Cheyenne and Arapahoe victims of the Sand Creek Massacre by preserving the grounds as a National Historic Site.
In the Colorado School of Public Health article recapping the honorary event, Spero Manson, the director of the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, called Campbell “a warrior for our time.”
Campbell died in December 2025 at age 92.
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