The religious freedom that the U.S. Supreme Court extended to American Indians in 1978 to practice traditional tribal religions at Bear Butte is now clashing with the same freedom granted to members of other religions.
Relations between state officials and leaders of the 17 tribes that hold Bear Butte sacred have improved greatly in the past five years, but problems remain among various religious groups, state Game, Fish & Parks Department managers and one practitioner of traditional tribal religion told the state Legislature's State-Tribal Relations Committee Thursday.
"Some of these New Agers, they're really far out in doing their ceremonies. Sometimes, it's a direct insult to what I practice every day for our rituals," Sonny Richards, an American Indian from Rapid City who regularly goes to Bear Butte to perform religious ceremonies, said.
Richards is a member of the Bear Butte Forum, a group established by the GF&P after a fire burned over most of the landmark near Sturgis in August 1996.
A range of disagreements and misunderstandings have been resolved through the forum, Richards and GF&P officials told the committee.
Recently, the state agreed to tear out the upper parking lot that overlooked the 10-acre ceremonial area. That will curtail tourists from photographing, disrupting and trying to join in the ceremonies, Ken Rost, the district park manager who oversees Bear Butte, said.
"Through the forum, we finally managed to get that parking lot removed. I think everybody's been happy with it ever since," Rost said.
After the lot was torn out earlier this year, more people have been touring the educational center at the lower parking lot, which helps advise tourists unfamiliar with the mountain's sacred nature.
"A lot more people have been stopping in," he said.
Some issues are harder to resolve than others. Managing the various religious groups topped the list at Thursday's meeting.
"We get mainstream religious groups at Easter sunrise services and weddings. We get Hare Krishnas; we get Moonies; we get Rainbow people; we get about everything that's ever been called religion showing up there," Rost said.
"A lot of people who are non-native think they should be able to just go down and join in the ceremonies with the native people."
Bear Butte State Park manager Jim Jandreau said many non-Indians arrive with an Indian medicine man but stay long after they've completed ceremonies.
"They don't leave after the ceremonies are over. Because they're attached to this medicine person's camp, they feel they've got carte blanche," Jandreau, an enrolled member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, said. "Without going down and prying them out of there by hand, they're not going to go."
Richards said he wants to find some way to curtail the length of stay of those at Bear Butte for religious purposes, especially after they have finished any religious activities.
"They are not going to sweat lodge. They're in Deadwood gambling, and they come back at night," he said. "They have a right to be there under cover of this 1978 freedom of religion ruling."
GF&P parks and recreation director Doug Hofer said restricting one group over another probably won't be possible but that he hopes continuing work through the Bear Butte Forum might ease tensions.
"The Supreme Court was quick to point out that this was not only religious freedom extended to Native Americans but to all people. I understand Sonny's position and respect it. But it's not clear whether there's any unanimity on limiting nontribal use of that ceremonial ground," Hofer said.
"I consider Bear Butte one of the most challenging state parks to manage. It's a church, an education center, a recreation destination, a ceremonial campsite, a horse camp, a campground for people traveling through our state, the starting point of the 111-mile Centennial Trail and home to a small buffalo herd. That's just to mention the highlights."