Community News · Fremont County
Wind River Reservation Tribes Ask Pastor to Leave After Sun Dance Sermon
On July 5, during the Northern Arapaho Tribe's Sun Dance ceremony at the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, Foundations for Nations pastor Sarah Lucas delivered a sermon that ridiculed the ceremonial pipe and Sun Dance practices. The video went viral across Indian country, prompting weeks of protests outside the church. Both tribal governments overseeing the reservation have asked the church to leave and adopted a registration system requiring approval of all nontribal organizations, which now bars the church from picking up or dropping off children on the reservation. Lucas told WyoToday she has no plans to leave, stating the church owns its land privately, though she apologized for how the sermon came across.