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Christian Pastor's Sermon Sparks Conflict with Arapaho Tribe
Developing
In Short: Arapaho people and activists protested outside a Christian church on the Wind River Indian Reservation after its pastor condemned their traditional ceremonies.
Arapaho people and activists protested outside a Christian church on the Wind River Indian Reservation after its pastor, Sarah Lucas, condemned their traditional ceremonies, according to reports from WyoFile.
Lucas, who owns the land under her church, has been preaching against Arapaho ceremonial practices, which she equates to idolatry, since founding her church nine years ago.
The Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes have made it clear that Lucas is no longer welcome on the reservation, while some Arapaho congregants, like Mary Rose Goggles, have struggled with the message.
The conflict stems from a video that circulated in July, showing Arapaho people emerging from a weeklong sundance ceremony, which Lucas criticized in her sermon.
Arapaho congregant Tearany Black found the tone of the sermon racist, while others like Chairman Keenan Groesbeck joined protesters marching toward the church.
What's still developing
- With the smell of coffee and sweetgrass swirling, regular Sunday demonstrators were recently joined by activists from the American Indian Movement and Arapaho Chairman Keenan Groesbeck as they marched past ranchland and scattered homes toward the church.
- As Arapaho people closed this year’s ceremony and welcomed a new year according to their traditions, Lucas and her smaller-than-usual congregation prayed for them.
- “There’s nothing I could say to make non-Arapahos understand,” Carpenter said.
- Since founding her church nine years ago, she said she has had “hard conversations” urging Native congregants to renounce sundance, sweat lodges and burning cedar during prayer, traditions she equates to idolatry.
- “The Bible makes it very clear to only worship one God,” Lucas said.
- Mary Rose Goggles was struggling with the costs of raising her grandchildren in 2017 when Lucas knocked on her door and warmly invited her to join her new church.
- Many Arapaho people say she took aim at something central to who they are, reopening wounds from a not-so-distant era of religious assimilation and abuse.
Sources
- WyoFilelink