Crow v. Gullet

Plaintiffs-appellants, spiritual leaders and religious practitioners of the Lakota and Tsistsistas Nations, brought a class action suit against defendants-appellees, the Manager of the Bear Butte State Park, the South Dakota Fish and Parks Department, and the State of South Dakota. Appellants sought declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1976) on the grounds the appellees’ actions in developing and regulating public use of Bear Butte State Park violated appellants’ religious free exercise rights under the first amendment,1 the American Indian Religious…