The sculpture elicited protests from Native American groups prior to being put on public display, and delayed the opening of the gallery's public art garden. Protesters were offended by a reference in the sculpture to the 1862 hanging of 38 Dakota Indians at Mankato, Minnesota. Durant agreed to dismantle "Gallows", and after initial plans to burn the piece, it was buried by Dakota tribal elders. "I made Scaffold as a learning space for people like me, white people who have not suffered the effects of a white supremacist society and who may not consciously know that it exists" said Durant, "white artists need to address issues of white supremacy".