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Arapaho Tribe Seeks Removal of Church After Pastor Criticizes Tribal Ceremonies
Tribal councils say 2 religious groups must seek approval before operating on Wind River, as Sunday turnout at the church has fallen by half.
- Every Sunday, protesters gather outside Foundations for Nations Church on the Wind River Reservation to demonstrate against Pastor Sarah Lucas after she condemned Arapaho ceremonies as spiritually misguided.
- A video circulating in July captured Lucas preaching that traditional Arapaho sundance, sweat lodges, and cedar burning constitute "idol worship." She has urged Native congregants to renounce these traditions for nine years.
- The Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes passed ordinances in July requiring religious groups to seek tribal approval before operating on the reservation. Lucas reports Sunday attendance has dropped by half from 150.
- An Aug. 31 memo acknowledged "jurisdictional limits" likely prevent the council from regulating church activity on private land owned by Lucas, though tribal leaders say she is no longer welcome.
- Gardner, a 28-year-old former congregant, associates Lucas's rhetoric with 19th-century assimilationist boarding schools, highlighting how the standoff tests religious freedom against tribal protocols on Wind River.
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25 Articles
25 Articles
Associated Press News+24 Reposted by 24 other sources
A Christian pastor called Arapaho ceremonies 'idol worship.' Now the tribe wants her church gone
In the weeks since a Christian pastor on the Wind River Reservation likened Arapaho ceremonial ways to “idol worship,” the Sunday morning rhythm has become familiar.
·New York, United States
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Total News Sources25
Leaning Left11Leaning Right1Center10Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Left
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources lean Left
50% Left
L 50%
C 45%
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