The Boulder Daily Camera: American Indian Movement ask attorney general to investigate

The Daily Camera

State may look into ceremony disruption

American Indian Movement asks attorney general to investigate

By Greg Avery, Camera Staff Writer
January 21, 2004

The Colorado chapter of the American Indian Movement is calling for a state investigation into the New Year's Eve police disruption of a sweat lodge ceremony outside Boulder.

At the request of Robert Cross, the Ogalala Lakota spiritual adviser who organized the ceremony, AIM has asked Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar to investigate whether the civil rights of about 20 ceremony attendants were violated when county and city police extinguished a sweat lodge fire and made them leave Valmont Butte or face trespassing tickets.

Officers stopped Cross' event on the city-owned butte east of Boulder about 10 p.m. Dec. 31. Cross had permission to regularly hold ceremonies on the Valmont Butte property but was supposed to alert Boulder officials ahead of time about when they would be there.

City officials said Cross gave no advance notice of the ceremony, and sheriff's deputies had been asked to thoroughly patrol the area because of vandalism at a neighboring cemetery.

As a result, when county sheriff's deputies and city police officers arrived, they enforced trespassing rules unaware the ceremony was permitted, city officials said.

Regardless of whether miscommunication started the incident, the police action disrespected attendants and desecrated a sacred ceremony, said Glenn Morris, an AIM member and University of Colorado-Denver professor.

"There needs to be more cultural awareness," he said.

AIM members, a Native American Rights Fund lawyer and Cross also plan to meet on Friday with representatives from the city and Boulder police to discuss ways to prevent a repeat of the disruption and to ask that compensation be given for the cost of renting toilets and providing food for the interrupted ceremony.

Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said he would attend the meeting and listen to AIM members' requests, but he said police didn't do anything wrong in the incident.

Camera Staff Writer Amy Hebert contributed to this report.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The American Indian Movement of Colorado has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is American Indian Movement of Colorado endorsed or sponsored by the originator.