A former Naropa University student sued the Boulder,
Colo., liberal arts college this fall, claiming “cultural genocide”
and “spiritual hucksterism,” amid threats of a campus occupation by
American Indian activists.
Lydia White Calf and
her Oglala Lakota husband, Royce, accused the co-founder of
Naropa’s Native American Studies program of illegally practicing
sacred ceremonies in the classroom. The lawsuit, which alleges the
Buddhist-inspired college defrauded, harassed and defamed White
Calf, was filed Sept. 9 in Boulder District
Court.
The White Calfs’ accusation that
instructor Eagle Cruz falsely claimed to be a Lakota spiritual
leader has raised a broader question: Who is qualified to teach
religious ceremony?
“It’s a very sticky
problem,” said University of Colorado history professor Vine
Deloria, a Standing Rock Sioux. “In some areas of the country it
can be a grave offense, while in others it’s a common practice.” To
Deloria, though, it’s not what people teach, but who they say they
are. “I’ve taught courses on other religions that I’m not a
practitioner of,” he said. “But I didn’t hold myself out to be of
that religion.”
Naropa’s lawyers, in a motion to
dismiss the lawsuit, argue that the courts can’t make decisions
regarding the “appropriate” use of Native American culture. “Under
the First Amendment, the state may not intrude on academic
decisions,” attorney Alexander Halpern
wrote.
Cruz has left Naropa University and the
state, but in a letter to students, university president John
Whitehouse Cobb called Cruz a “staunch protector of the dignity and
integrity of native teachings.”
While the issue
is being fought in court, American Indian Movement leader Russell
Means has made it clear he wants the university held
accountable.
Means, made famous by the AIM
occupation of Wounded Knee, S.D., in 1973, said his presence at a
Sept. 9 news conference in Boulder was meant “to put Naropa on
alert.” Taking over the college’s campus, he said, is a definite
possibility.
“If this lawsuit doesn’t work, I and
those that I represent are going to physically challenge Naropa and
their legitimacy – and that includes their buildings,” Means told
reporters.
* Matt
Sebastian
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline ‘Spiritual hucksterism’ attacked in Boulder.
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