Mead Gruver, Associated Press
Updated
6:11 pm CDT, Wednesday, July 29, 2020
FILE – During this Sept. 15, 2007, file photo former Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, directly, and direct Tom Scarlett walk into an antelope shot from the governor through the Only One Shot Antelope Hunt at Lander, Wyo. The coronavirus has continued the charity antelope search that has attracted teams of most famous, wealthy and powerful men to central Wyoming for over 75 years and increasing criticism that ceremonies tied into the occasion crudely and inaccurately portray Native American civilization. less
FILE – During this Sept. 15, 2007, file photo former Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, directly, and direct Tom Scarlett walk into an antelope shot from the governor through the Only One Shot Antelope Hunt at Lander, Wyo. The … more
Photo: Ed Andrieski, AP
FILE – During this Sept. 15, 2007, file photo former Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, directly, and direct Tom Scarlett walk into an antelope shot from the governor through the Only One Shot Antelope Hunt at Lander, Wyo. The coronavirus has canceled the charity antelope search that has attracted teams of most famous, wealthy and powerful men to central Wyoming for over 75 years and increasing criticism that ceremonies tied into the occasion crudely and inaccurately portray Native American civilization. less
FILE – During this Sept. 15, 2007, file photo former Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, directly, and direct Tom Scarlett walk into an antelope shot from the governor through the Only One Shot Antelope Hunt at Lander, Wyo. The … more
Photo: Ed Andrieski, AP
COVID-19 cancels Wyoming search amid Native American criticism
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The coronavirus has prompted cancellation of a charity antelope search that has attracted teams of famous, influential guys to central Wyoming for over 75 decades and today faces growing criticism that trainings attached into the occasion crudely and inaccurately proper Native American civilization.
The Lander One Shot Antelope Hunt was held annually since 1944. Participants have included Roy Rogers, Peter Fonda, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Vice President Dick Cheney, 16 astronauts as well as the governors of all 30 states.
Wyoming’s governors have engaged in two searches because 1954. This season, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon was intending to encourage Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, a fellow Republican, to be on his group, based on Gordon’s office.
The mid-September search has raised millions of dollars to conservation-oriented triggers but recently has faced criticism for related institutes where politicians such as former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat now running for U.S. Senate, have worn native women’s headscarves designating them as “losers” of the event.
Hickenlooper in 2018 wore a native headdress designating him a “winner” of the hunt, Wyoming Public Radio reported recently.
While the hunt takes place on the high plains — prime territory for social distancing — and rural Wyoming so far has escaped the worst of the virus outbreaks, banquets associated with the event draw hundreds of people.
Meanwhile, several of this year’s eight, three-man teams dropped out amid concern about traveling during the pandemic, said Vickie Hutchinson, a hunt organizer and executive director of the Water for Wildlife Foundation.
“It may not have been a safe situation for everybody involved. That is why it’s canceled,” Hutchinson said Wednesday. “It’s very sad that it has to be canceled but that is the decision that has to be made in the best interest of everybody.”
The hunt is the latest major outdoor event in Wyoming to fall victim to COVID-19. Cheyenne Frontier Days, a two-week rodeo and Western culture festival that would have wrapped up last weekend, also was called off at a cost of millions of dollars to the state capital economy.
Teams in the hunt try to kill antelope with no more than one shot per animal. More accurately but less commonly known pronghorn, they are North America’s fastest land creature.
The hunt over this years has raised $17 million for everything for wildlife conservation to college scholarships, student internships with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and rebuilding a Lander community center that burned, Hutchinson said.
“It’s a beautiful example of how sportsmen support conservation work,” Hutchinson said.
The hunt traces its origins to “respect and admiration for Native American hunting skills” such as the ability to kill big game with a single arrow, Hutchinson said.
Only men take part in the hunt. A similar Wyoming Women’s Antelope Hunt has been held in northern Wyoming since 2013.
Defending his participation in the headdress ceremony, Hickenlooper told Wyoming Public Media that a “hunt chief” put it on his head and “would have been offended” had Hickenlooper refused, a characterization disputed by the Eastern Shoshone member who served as “hunt chief.”
Individual families have passed down practices associated with the hunt but the tribe doesn’t sponsor, condone or participate in the hunt, Eastern Shoshone Business Council Vice-Chairwoman Karen Snyder told the radio station. The headscarf-wearing is a “mockery,” Snyder added.
Gordon has called for the occasion to be held “with more cultural sensitivity.”
A group of Native American leaders and organizations has meanwhile called on Hickenlooper to withdraw from the U.S. Senate race for showing an “unacceptable lack of judgement” by participating at their events.
Hickenlooper did not immediately return messages Wednesday seeking comment.
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