The Daily Populous Sunday July 31st, 2022 night edition
Authored by nativenewsonline.net and submitted by LloydVanFunken

Oglala Sioux Tribe Temporarily Suspends All Christian Missionary Work

Details By Darren Thompson July 28, 2022

In an emergency meeting Tuesday July 26, the Oglala Sioux Tribal (OST) Council temporarily suspended all activity of Christian missions on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The OST 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.

Never miss Indian Country’s biggest stories and breaking news. Sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning.

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.

The nondenominational, non-profit Dream Center is alleged to be associated with Matthew Monfore, who was ordered by the tribe to leave the reservation on Friday, July 22, for the distribution of pamphlets that demonize Lakota culture.

Native News Online reported on Monday that the Jesus is King Mission, a baptist organization, was ordered to 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.” It’s not the first time Jesus is King Mission distributed pamphlets that the Oglala Sioux Tribe says spreads hate. Four years ago, inmates at the local jail reported that the same pamphlets were distributed throughout the jail, said a councilman at Tuesday's tribal council meeting.

The tribal council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, August 10 to review the investigation.

“We all know that churches have always played a violent role in our communities and to our peoples,” said Tyler Star Comes Out,19, at Tuesday’s tribal council meeting. “Today, we come to you as youth and young adults with a main objective to decolonize our minds, hearts, spirits, space, land, and knowledge.”

“We take pride in our identities. We are Lakota and it’s time to return to our ways,” she continued. “We don’t want any more assimilation. We don’t need any more churches and we don’t need your god.”

“Christianity didn’t become a world religion because of the quality of its teachings, but by the quantity of its violence,” said Eleanor Ferguson, Oglala Lakota and representative of the International Indigenous Youth Council, during the tribal council meeting.

“The reason we are here today is to demand that the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribal Council take immediate action against all churches and missionaries on our territory who are using impoverished children for financial gain,” Ferguson added. “If the tribal council fails to do so, the people will take it amongst themselves to remove them.”

According to the youth council, the Dream Center has been mistreating Oglala Lakota children for years.

“The Dream Center has been accused of a lot of false things and we have not been able to defend ourselves,” said Dream Center Pastor Lori McAfee at Tuesday's tribal council meeting.

The Dream Center works in four other reservations in South Dakota and stated specifically that they are not associated with Matthew Monfore, or the brochures being passed out.

“You have the wrong idea of who we are,” she said. “Your culture was beautiful and it’s being destroyed by hate.”

The challenge in pursuing an investigation is jurisdiction. Since many churches and missions have deeds to their land, who can investigate on private land within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation will vary. However, there is a tribal ordinance that regulates non-profit organizations and their operations on the reservation, Ordinance No. 11-23.

“Our youth are extremely aware and either they are ferocious with intent to fight for our culture, language, and land back or they are lost in their hopelessness and can’t see beyond the trauma that surrounds them,” said Candi Brings Plenty, mentor for the International Indigenous Youth Council, Oglala Chapter. “This group of youth asked me for support and guidance. We are going to pursue the tribal council and continue with strategic efforts to fight for the removal of all churches on the Pine Ridge reservation.”

The ordinance passed on Tuesday and reads in part:

Therefore, it being ordained that the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council does hereby approve the registration and request for authorization to conduct missionary activities form.

And be it further ordained that the Tribal Council delegates authority to the OST Executive Committee, the review and approval or denial of submitted forms to the secretary’s office with approval or denial done by Executive Committee resolution attached to the form and filed with the secretary‘s office and copy given to the church or missionary organization.

Be it further ordained that all church/missionary organizations shall submit a list of all participants of the organization and submit proof of background investigation clearance for all participants of the organization who will be located within the exterior boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation with their request form.

Do you appreciate a Native perspective on the news? For the past decade-plus, we’ve covered the important Indigenous stories that are often overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the toppling of colonizer statues during the racial equity protests, to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools, we have been there to provide a Native perspective and elevate Native voices. Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation this month to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps us remain a force for change in Indian Country and continue telling the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked. Most often, our donors make a one-time gift of $20 or more, while many choose to make a recurring monthly donation of $5 or $10. Whatever you can do, it helps fund our Indigenous-led newsroom and our ability to cover Native news. Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you. Donate Free Newsletter

Wurm42 on July 30th, 2022 at 16:03 UTC »

Just to inject some details from the article into the conversation:

There was one missionary, Matthew Monfore of the Jesus Is King mission, who's caused a lot of problems, most recently distributing pamphlets that are just anti-native hate speech cloaked in biblical symbolism.

The Jesus Is King mission was banned from the reservation a week ago, but somebody is still distributing the pamphlets, apparently by the affiliated Dream Center Mission, which is also accused of financial fraud and mistreating youth at Pine Ridge and other reservations.

The situation could get ugly, and frankly, calling a time-out on missionary activity on this reservation seems like a good idea that benefits everyone involved.

Before mission groups come back on the reservation, they will have to register with the tribe and submit some information, in part to make sure Monfore and his followers stay away:

> Be it further ordained that all church/missionary organizations shall submit a list of all participants of the organization and submit proof of background investigation clearance for all participants of the organization who will be located within the exterior boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation with their request form.

This situation is playing out in the context of a Supreme Court decision in June that created a lot of confusion about what levels of government have jurisdiction for crimes that happen on tribal lands, which has led several tribes to take new actions against non-Indians on tribal lands now that federal law enforcement has stepped back from those cases.

snooze_sensei on July 30th, 2022 at 15:32 UTC »

Nobody has noticed that they've already backed off and given in. Article posted today was basically damage control, apologies, and concessions to let everything go back to how it was.

https://nativenewsonline.net/sovereignty/oglala-sioux-tribe-rescinds-ordinance-suspending-churches-and-missions

talkingheads7429 on July 30th, 2022 at 14:03 UTC »

Out of curiosity I looked at Mathew Monfore Twitter account.

“Christian Baptist preacher in South Dakota. True conversion http://JesusIsKingMission.com Pornography & sex before marriage = SIN!”

His photo shows his shirt is reversed but partially say, “mask don’t save you”. All of the Lakota people deserve banning “missionaries” like him.