On a rainy Sunday at the end of August, about a dozen protesters held up signs outside the Foundations for Nations church near Arapahoe. Cars and trucks honked in support as they passed. One sign hanging on the fence summarized the general sentiment: “Leave.”
“She called our sacred pipe an idol,” said Northern Arapaho member MiRae Yellowbird.
Yellowbird is one of about a dozen protesters who have staged themselves outside the Foundations for Nations church every Sunday since Pastor Sarah Lucas called the tribe's Sundance ceremony a “demonic activity” during a sermon on July 5, the last day of the ceremony.
Yellowbird said Pastor Sarah Lucas’ comments were hurtful, especially because the Sundance was illegal to practice until 1978.
“We weren't allowed to practice our powwows, our Sundances, any type of ceremony. They would throw us in jail,” Yellowbird said.
In an interview with the Riverton Ranger, Pastor Lucas admitted she struck the wrong tone when describing the pipe.
“Words matter, right? Delivery matters,” Lucas said. “And that is where I feel repentant about it. I'm so sorry that that came off mocking. However, the word of God remains the same, and I can't apologize for something that I gave my life up for, right?”
Nicole Wagon is one of the organizers of the weekly protests. She helped coordinate a protest on Aug. 23 with the Montana chapter of the American Indian Movement (AIM). She said she’s skeptical of Lucas’ apology.
”When she chose not to apologize, ‘Okay, I'm going to double down.’ Fine, that's your choice. And then now all of a sudden last week, ‘Oh, I'm sorry.’ That's way too late. Sorry? That was hollow,” Wagon said. “She's not sorry about what she said.”
Wagon said she plans to continue protesting until the tribe’s wishes are heard. Both the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone have officially asked the church to leave the reservation.
”You're on our land here, as Indigenous people. You're guests. But now that we know where you stand, the request is simple: for them to leave. Pretty simple,” Wagon said.
But in her interview, Pastor Lucas said she and her husband Jason Lucas own the church’s property, even though it’s located inside the reservation.
”What people didn't realize is that we own our land. It's private. It's fee land, and we've built a church that's a rec center out there. And so everything that's out there is ours, and so we just can't up and leave,” she told the Riverton Ranger.
Both Wind River tribes have since adopted a registration program to help screen organizations before allowing them to move onto the reservation.
The Lucases filed a petition for a stalking order of protection last week, according to the Ranger.
