Native American activists and their supporters will gather outside Wellsville City Hall on Wednesday to rally against the city’s controversial Founder’s Day “Sham Battle” between Mormon settlers and a Native American tribe.
They want to keep pressure on city leaders to change the tradition, which they say is racially insensitive and historically inaccurate.
Darren Parry is chair of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. He plans to address the city council tonight about making changes.
“How cool would it be if we could come up and plan something jointly because we were here first,” Parry says. “And you could learn from our culture and we could learn from your culture and make our own histories together.”
More than 200 Shoshone Indians were killed in what’s now known as the Bear River Massacre. At Wellsville’s “Sham Battle," white men and women dress as Native Americans, paint their bodies red and pretend to attack Mormon settlers.
Earlier this week, Wellsville City officials apologized in a statement. They said they’re working with the Shoshone Tribe to more accurately portray the battle.
View footage of the 2017 Wellsville Sham Battle recorded by reporter Robert Gehrke of the Salt Lake Tribune.
