(Wind River Reservation, WY) – On July 20, the Northern Arapaho Business Council (NABC) adopted a new policy that would require “outside organizations,” like Foundations for Nations Ministry, to consult with the Tribe before conducting organized activities on the Wind River Reservation. (You can read the policy in full here.) The policy was issued in light of comments made by Ministry pastor Sarah Lucas during her July 5 sermon, concerning the Northern Arapaho’s sacred, ceremonial peace pipe and the Sundance ceremony, which sparked backlash from the Tribal community and its supporters.
Today, July 31, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe issued a release on its Facebook page, which supports the policy and “calls on the Foundation for Nations church and any affiliated representatives to immediately stop all efforts directed at persuading Native children and families to reject traditional practices and to engage in governmental consultation and authorization directly with the Eastern Shoshone Business Council before continuing or expanding any recurring ministry activities, especially where it concerns tribal member children.”
The statement can be read in full below.
The Eastern Shoshone Tribe has both the responsibility and the authority to protect the health, welfare, cultural identity, governmental integrity, and traditional ways of life of the Eastern Shoshone people. Therefore, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe calls on the Foundation for Nations church and any affiliated representatives to immediately stop all efforts directed at persuading Native children and families to reject traditional practices and to engage in governmental consultation and authorization directly with the Eastern Shoshone Business Council before continuing or expanding any recurring ministry activities, especially where it concerns tribal member children.
It is a profound abuse of trust for any outside institution to be welcomed onto the Reservation, endear itself to our community, and then use that access to insult, diminish, or erase the people who offered that welcome. Hospitality must not be repaid with contempt. No organization should enter tribal communities under the appearance of service or fellowship while working to culturally cleanse tribal members of their ceremonies, teachings, or spiritual identity.
The Tribe respects the individual constitutional rights of all people to practice their faith. What is troubling is the use of religious expression as a cover for targeted efforts to undermine coexisting beliefs. Especially troubling is the use of tribal symbols and imagery to gain trust while simultaneously urging our people to turn away from traditional practices. Such tactics borrow the appearance of respect while working against the very cultures they claim to assist.
The Eastern Shoshone Tribe therefore stands with the Northern Arapaho Tribe in adopting a co-existing policy requiring outside organizations seeking to conduct recurring ministries, charitable services, outreach programs, or other organized activities on lands under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe to consult with and seek government authorization from the Tribe before engaging or expanding those activities. This policy will apply uniformly to outside organizations seeking to conduct recurring organized activities on lands under Tribal jurisdiction. It also establishes a clear governmental process that protects the interests of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, promotes communication, and encourages collaboration built upon mutual respect.
The Eastern Shoshone Tribe remains committed to working with organizations that respect Tribal law, Tribal leadership, and Tribal self-determination, but will stand in firm opposition to any organization or individual effort that targets Tribal members, especially Tribal children, for the purpose of counseling them away from their traditional lifeways and cultural identity. The Eastern Shoshone Tribe will always defend the right of its people to remain connected to culture and ceremony. Our traditional ways are not obstacles to overcome. They are sources of strength, belonging, and healing.
The original policy from the NABC Chairman Keenan Groesbeck invited Sarah Lucas and Foundations for Nations “to meet with the Business Council within ten days to discuss its mission, leadership, funding, activities, and any documentation it believes demonstrates authorization to operate on lands under Tribal jurisdiction.” That ten-day period culminated yesterday, July 30. County 10 is currently awaiting a reply from Chairman Groesbeck to confirm whether the meeting has taken place.
As of today, July 31, Lucas stated that she is continuing to decline media requests for comment.
Foundations for Nations resumed its food pantry services this week, and has continued with its Sunday sermons, despite the policy. At this past Sunday’s sermon, Lucas explained that Andrew Womack Ministries were in attendance with a film crew, “doing a story.”
“He is wanting to get us in front of his uh Christian network… just to bring more prayer support, more support to what God is doing out here,” Lucas shared in the sermon before bringing up a guest speaker. “…because as much as people don’t want to say this, this is a spiritual battle. We are in spiritual warfare and we don’t war against flesh and blood but powers and principalities.”
“We are in this to see lives changed and transformed only by God. He’s the only one that can do that,” Lucas continued. “…We were in prayer on uh Friday night as a team and somebody had said in that prayer meeting, and I’m not saying this to boast in any kind of way about who I am, but the Lord had said to one of the people, ‘For God so loved the reservation that they sent Sarah,’ and that spoke to my heart because truth speaks love and I love this community and we’re going to continue to see God do some great work in our county and this community and on this reservation.”
The situation continues to garner national attention, with recent reports from Newsweek and CNN. The Montana chapter of the American Indian Movement (AIM is an indigenous civil rights organization founded in Minneapolis in 1968) voiced its support for the NABC, and is currently raising funds to travel to Wyoming to stand “in peaceful solidarity with the Northern Arapaho Tribe, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, and the Wind River community in support of their efforts and their call for Foundations for Nations to immediately cease operations and depart from the Wind River Resevation.”