CPTnet
July 21, 2006
BEAR BUTTE: Between Two Worlds
By John Spragge

As we are present at Bear Butte, we live stretched between worlds: the
world of bureaucrats with their fierce demands not only for compliance
but compliance on schedule, and the society of the campground,
established by a coalition of native groups in the shadow of the butte,
which moves by natural rhythms, eating and sleeping, trust and sharing.

The technological world, with its convenience, air conditioning, and
communications contrasts with the sweltering heat, settling dust and
swarming bugs of the camp. The buildings in and around the town closest
to Bear Butte, Sturgis South Dakota, mostly service the up-coming
motorcycle rally, August 7-13. These structures feel temporary. This
contrasts with the solidity and permanence of the mountain. The camp
maintains an emphasis on indigenous spirituality. At their request CPT
works to mobilize a charismatic and evangelical Christian community.

These different worlds rub up against each other all of the time.
-- In far-off Ontario, the Ministry of Transport demands that a CPTer
courier and fax a series of documents, in order to renew the
registration for the project car.
-- Officials from the local county appear and demand that camp
participants apply for permits. Later they offer to waive most of their
requirements on the grounds that, as a spiritual camp, organizers
neither charge a fee nor make a profit.
-- Highway patrol officers come to the camp, sit with us in a circle
under the trees, and explain that we will have to apply for permits to
march on the public highway.
-- This entire camp exists, and has asked for CPT's participation,
because of the greatest chasm of all: the conflict between an
entrepreneur who wants to make a profit off hedonism by building a biker
bar and party complex next to this sacred site, and the people of the
land who want a quiet place for prayer.

The Lakota have long faced demands from bureaucrats eager to protect and
justify their programs, and from entrepreneurs anxious to make a profit
from the land and resources. Perhaps the time has come for the people of
these other worlds to listen to the Lakota. Whether or not we hear, the
Creator certainly does.