Contemporary

The Arapaho have gone through a number of changes since acculturation into western society. Their traditional music has felt these changes and as a result, much of their music has branched out into styles that reflect their ever-changing cultural heritage. As contemporary music continues to inundate our country's airwaves, many Native Americans, including the Arapaho, have integrated modern music with their own traditional styles. The Sand Creak Band plays contemporary music such as this. Arapaho music has and will continue to change; where this change will lead only time will tell.

The Sand Creek Band is a contemporary band from the Arapaho Wind River Reservation in Wyoming . The members include: George Lujan, Kim Delorme, Shawn Delorme, Eugene Ridgely, Jr., and Ben Ridgely. The band members chose their name "Sand Creek Band" to commemorate the Sand Creek Massacre

On November 2, 2001 , Sand Creek Band came to CU. They performed and answered questions regarding their band and culture.

The religion of most Arapahos today combines native spiritual beliefs and practices with those of Christianity; the Native American Church incorporates elements from both. Religious songs, for example, are both traditional Arapaho, sung in the native language, and also American gospel, translated to and sung mostly in Arapaho.

When asked how long he's been playing, Alonzo Moss replied: "I retired about three or four years ago but I'm still singing. They always say one more time, one more time, everything always one more time. So I just kept going." Alonzo has been playing for about 50 years at funerals and other events.