Lincoln’s Wilderness Park

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https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/lin ... rotesters/

Lincoln mayor to OK development near Wilderness Park, disappointing protesters

Organizers of a protest encampment next to Lincoln’s Wilderness Park expressed disappointment Thursday that Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird has declined to veto a proposed housing development near two ceremonial Native American sweat lodges.

The proposed Wilderness Crossing development sits across a gravel road from a private enclave called “The Fish Farm,” which has hosted sweat lodge ceremonies for nearly 50 years.

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Native American group ends protest, vows to protect sacred land at Wilderness Park

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Lincoln ceremony seen as ‘significant step’ in improving relations between city and Indigenous people

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) — A special ceremony has been scheduled Sept. 21 by Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird to welcome back members of the original inhabitants of the Lincoln area. The proclamation of “Otoe-Missouria Day” is being hailed as a major step in fostering awareness about the Indigenous peoples who lived in present-day Lincoln and Lancaster County, and in “promoting reconciliation” between the city and the Otoe-Missouria nation.


A protest camp was erected in May to object to a housing development approved near Lincoln’s Wilderness Park.

“This is a significant step in moving our city and the University of Nebraska into a new, respectful relationship with one of the Indigenous nations that were forced to leave their homelands,” said Kevin Abourezk, co-director of the Reconciliation Rising Project and one of the organizers from Lincoln.

Protest over housing development

The relationship between the city and Native peoples took a hit recently over the Lincoln City Council’s approval of a housing development near Wilderness Park, where sweat lodge ceremonies are held on private land nearby. A protest camp was erected near the proposed “Wilderness Crossing” development, with Native Americans demanding “meaningful engagement” before such developments proceed on such property. Native groups are now mounting an appeal, hoping to overturn zoning changes that will allow the development. The owner of the “Fish Farm,” where the sweat lodge is located, has also taken legal action to block the development. Prior to the arrival of settlers, the Otoes and their cousins, the Missourias, resided in eastern Nebraska and in the Lincoln area. The Otoes, by 1714, had established a village on Salt Creek, and in 1798, the Missourias joined them there. The Otoe-Missouria Nation signed two treaties with the U.S. government in 1833 and 1854 that ceded their lands. The Otoe-Missouria moved to the Big Blue reservation near Beatrice, but Congress sold that land and removed them to Indian Territory in 1880 and 1881.

‘Full circle moment’

One of the event organizers, Christina Faw Faw of the Otoe-Missouria Nation, said it will be the first time many tribal members will have visited “this place we called home.” “I feel that this is a full circle moment, not just for our tribe as a whole, but for many of us as individuals,” Faw Faw said in a press release. The welcome back ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Sept. 21 at the Center for Great Plains Studies, 1155 Q St. The ceremony is open to the public and will be live-streamed at https://ianrmedia.unl.edu/live-2. Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence.

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Activists argue for dismissal of lawsuit filed over controversial development
near Lincoln’s Wilderness Park

LINCOLN — Attorneys for Native American activists asked a judge Friday to dismiss a lawsuit filed against them by the City of Lincoln over the right to appeal a controversial zoning decision. The court action was a continuation of protests over the approval of a housing development called Wilderness Crossing adjacent to Lincoln’s Wilderness Park and near a site where sweat lodge ceremonies are conducted.

Sweat lodge ceremonies disrupted

Native advocates, who erected a protest village called Niskíthe Prayer Camp on the site in May, maintain that the development will displace the ceremonies and disrupt their right to practice their traditional religion. The City of Lincoln sued the activists in September, seeking to block any appeals of the city’s Board of Zoning approval of Wilderness Crossing, which will sit on land purchased from the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln. The activists, who are being represented by the ACLU of Nebraska as well as the Big Fire Law & Policy Group, asked a judge Friday to dismiss the lawsuit.

Judge to rule later

After oral arguments Friday, Lancaster County District Judge Darla Ideus gave the activists 14 days to submit written arguments and took the matter under advisement. The activists, which include the Lincoln Indian Center, maintain that the city ignored and neglected the rights of Indigenous peoples in approving the housing development. They maintain that they should be allowed to appeal the city zoning decision and that to block that is an attempt to “muzzle” their voices. “Nothing about the way the mayor and city officials have handled this situation is okay,” said Erin Poor, a Niskíthe Prayer Camp organizer, in a statement after Friday’s court hearing. Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird has said that the housing development was properly approved. She has met with the activists and pursued reconciliation, including declaring an “Otoe-Missouria Day” in September to honor the tribe displaced by white settlement in the Lincoln area.

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Standoff between protesters, developers at site of housing project in Lincoln

A standoff continues between protesters and developers of a controversial housing project in Lincoln. Members of the Niskithe Prayer Camp stood in front of heavy machinery Monday morning in an attempt to stop workers from clearing trees near Wilderness Park. Lincoln police were called and work has stopped at the site. One person was taken into a police cruiser after he tried to stop a piece of equipment from coming onto the site. No word if that person will be formally arrested.

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Protests re-ignite as construction vehicles arrive at proposed Lincoln construction site
Just four days after a court decision seemingly went in favor of Native American advocates, members of the Niskíthe Prayer Camp are once again protesting as construction vehicles have shown up on the land of a proposed development in Lincoln.

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Just four days after a court decision seemingly went in favor of Native American advocates, members of the Niskíthe Prayer Camp are once again protesting as construction vehicles have shown up on the land of a proposed development in Lincoln. Work was temporarily halted on the site as protesters stood in front of heavy machinery. Lincoln Police officers were called to the scene Monday morning, as protesters began gathering by 9:00 a.m. in the area of Snell Hill. The Lincoln City Council voted to rezone the area near Wilderness Park in hopes of building a 500-home development.

The plan was signed off on by Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird. Part of the area is considered sacred to the Niskíthe people. In April, the Lincoln City Council members voted to rezone an area near Wilderness Park to build a 500-home development. The dismissed lawsuit aimed to prevent proceedings on an appeal of the Wilderness Crossing development plans before the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals. Indigenous community members say the development would displace religious ceremonies at a nearby historic sweat lodge. Lincoln City Attorney Yohance Christie issued a statement Monday afternoon stating that the city believed the court ruling reaffirmed the city's belief that the Board of Zoning Appeals does not have the jurisdiction to overturn a decision made by the mayor or the city council.