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Dispute over Sun Dance led to clash in Oklahoma
Monday, June 12, 2006

A clash at the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes powwow grounds stemmed from a dispute over the Sun Dance, The Oklahoman reported.

A non-Indian woman who is married to a Cheyenne-Arapaho man said his family decided to hold the Sun Dance in Oklahoma rather than travel to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, where the Northern Arapaho Tribe is based. Catherine Curtis said her husband's mother and one of his uncles are too elderly and sick to make the trip.

But the decision to hold the Sun Dance in Oklahoma drew a group of protesters, some from Wyoming and others from Oklahoma. They allegedly attacked the Sun Dance encampment last Thursday evening.

The attackers wielded axes and chain saws, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose officers responded to the incident. Five people were treated for minor injuries.

The BIA is investigating but no arrests have been made so far.

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