A South Dakota Indian organization says a Catholic charity failed to consult tribes before starting a Lakota youth program.

Native American Advocacy Program provides services to families and children on South Dakota reservations. Executive director Marla Bull Bear said Catholic Social Services started a rival program that will hurt her group's efforts.

"It's just appalling," Bull Bear told The Rapid City Journal. "They should have followed professional protocol to work with the people already doing it."

The CSS program is called Lakota Circles of Hope. It teaches elementary school children on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations to make healthy decisions based on traditional Lakota values, according to the Rapid City Diocese.

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Native American group protests Catholic Social Services' Lakota Circles of Hope program (The Rapid City Journal 6/5)