New-age religion and Native American tradition
clashed at Bear Butte State Park in western South Dakota earlier
this summer. The Lakota and other tribes say the 4,422-foot
landmark is being desecrated by non-Indians who use it for
male-bonding weekends and crystal worship. More than 100 people,
mostly Lakota, protested at the butte in June. “Sometimes I wish
the white people would leave us alone,” Emma Waters, 67, told
Indian Country Today. Protest organizers asked the state to close
the park periodically for spiritual cleansing, and to designate
tribal sacred areas that would be off limits to all except tribal
members. Another demand: Employ Lakotas as full-time cultural
advisors. Park Manager Tony Gullet says some protesters threatened
violence against competing religious groups at the park. But,
Gullet says, “There’s no way that we can exclude certain groups.”
At a Lakota Nation meeting in Kyle last year, the tribe issued a
declaration of war against “pseudo-Indian charlatans’ who steal
from Native religions and misuse sacred sites. State Parks Director
Doug Hofer says his department is working with elders from several
tribes to resolve the conflict.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline No room for “pseudo-Indian charlatans”.
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