On Friday, July 22, the Oglala Sioux Tribe and its President, Kevin Killer, issued a statement demanding that the Jesus is King Mission leave the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation after pamphlets were distributed that promoted that Jesus, not Tunkasila (a Lakota word for Creator), is the “true god.”
“This week the Jesus is King Missionary was found distributing material that literally demonizes the Lakota Culture and Faith,” said the Oglala Sioux Tribe in a statement. “This is unacceptable and completely disrespectful. It is the view of the President and Council that these ‘pamphlets’ seek to promote Hate instead of Peace. Hate has no place on Oglala land.”
The Jesus is King Mission said on its website of the Wounded Knee Massacre: “What led to the Wounded Knee Massacre as one of the most famous sites in all of North American, Native American history was the Ghost Dance led by Wovoka, a Paiute Native American who claimed to be Jesus in the flesh. He told natives that if they would do the ghost dance, the white men would be exterminated and the dead native relatives would be reunited with the living; also, the buffalo would return.”
The OST (Oglala Sioux Tribal) passed an ordinance requiring all churches and religious organizations to complete a new form to request the right to conduct missionary work on the reservation. That form will be reviewed by the tribe’s executive committee.
The tribe also put a restriction on utilizing images, videos, and names of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and its citizens without a signed consent form from the OST executive committee.
The OST also called for an independent investigation of the Dream Center Missionary, to be conducted by a member of the tribe’s administration, Justin Pourier. The tribe wants to know how much the organization is earning in donations, where the funds come from, and how the funds are spent. If it fails to comply with the investigation, it may be removed from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
