Wind River tribe moves to oust church after pastor calls sundance “idol worship”

The Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes are moving to remove a Christian church from the Wind River Reservation after its pastor called the Arapaho sundance ceremony “idol worship” in a sermon that circulated online. Foundations for Nations Church sits on private land within the reservation, and pastor Sarah Lucas has refused to leave, setting up a standoff over religious freedom and tribal authority.

Every Sunday on Wind River, congregants gather inside Foundations for Nations to pray while protesters demonstrate outside. The two rituals have unfolded in parallel since Lucas preached against Arapaho ceremonial ways.

“Jesus is the chain breaker. He is the only God that we should be praying to,” Lucas said.

The conflict stems from a video that circulated in July as Arapaho people surfaced from their weeklong sundance ceremony. Lucas called that cornerstone of Arapaho spiritual life “idol worship.” Many Arapaho people say she reopened wounds from a not-so-distant era of religious assimilation and abuse.

Arapaho Chairman Keenan Groesbeck joined recent marches past ranchland and scattered homes toward the church alongside activists from the American Indian Movement.

“We brought in our ceremonial elders. We heard them loud and clear,” Groesbeck said. “They don’t want them here no more.”

Big Wind Carpenter, who was among the protesters, said Lucas couldn’t have chosen a more painful target.

“There’s nothing I could say to make non-Arapahos understand,” Carpenter said.

Lucas said she regrets her sharp delivery but not the message itself. 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.

Lucas said Sunday turnout is down half from 150. Some weeks, the protest crowd has rivaled church attendance.

Arapaho congregant Tearany Black, who considers Lucas a stand-in parent, said she agrees Native Christians should turn away from ceremony but found the tone of the sermon racist.

“She cares for our people,” Black said. “I just don’t think she understands where we’re coming from.”

DJ Gardner grew up praying in sweat lodges and reading the Bible. He joined Lucas’ congregation last year and didn’t anticipate being asked to choose.

“I thought they accepted us,” Gardner said. “In my view, why else would you be on a reservation?”

The 28-year-old has walked away from Foundations for Nations and associates Lucas’ rhetoric with assimilationist boarding schools like the one his grandfather survived.

“I don’t believe you can have mixture,” Lucas said.

Mary Rose Goggles joined the church in 2017 when Lucas knocked on her door and warmly invited her in. Goggles liked the worship band and activities that kept her grandchildren busy, and she visited the church’s food bank and clothing giveaways as Foundations for Nations grew.

“It was good to see the kids enjoying themselves. It was good to see my relations getting help,” Goggles said.

Goggles left the church several years ago after moving away but thought warmly of it until seeing Lucas’ sermon, which she said left her “heartbroken.”

Jenea Mandan has cycled through feelings of anger and shame about sending her children to the church’s summer camp.

“At that time I was a single mom, I was in a low-income situation,” Mandan said. “It feels like they took advantage of that.”

Lucas deliberately built her church on private property within the reservation’s boundaries rather than tribal land, where, she said, the tribes would effectively be her landlords. She and her attorneys with the Liberty Counsel, a conservative Christian legal organization, assert that her ownership of the property shields her from banishment.

In July, the Arapaho and Shoshone councils passed ordinances requiring religious groups to seek their approval before operating on Wind River.

“That’s the law of the land on our reservation,” Groesbeck said.

That has forced Foundations for Nations to suspend youth programming since it is now prohibited from picking up and dropping off children on the reservation. In an Aug. 31 memo, the Arapaho council acknowledged that “jurisdictional limits” likely prevent it from regulating church activity on private land, and any tribal court enforcement could face federal review.

“God would not have us build this and provided all of it to empty it out,” Lucas said.

Gardner has returned to the Catholic church of his childhood and has been praying for guidance on forgiveness.

“In order for me to strive to be like Jesus, I would have to forgive,” Gardner said. “But there are some lines you just don’t cross.”