Religious
Freedom for Native Americans
Native American religious practices and the sanctity of sacred sites should be protected as de facto First Amendment rights.
History of U.S. Policy: A Disregard of Native Religious Freedom
The history
of U.S. policy towards the religious practices of Native Americans
contrasts sharply with the image of the U.S. as a refuge from
religious persecution and domination. Beginning in the early
19th century, the federal government supported the "civilization"
and "Christian education"of Native Americans. Congress
financially supported mission activities, including 200 mission
schools which prohibited students from practicing their traditional
religions. The Dawes Act of 1887 outright prohibited native
religious ceremonies and the practices of traditional religious
figures. This was the law of the land for almost fifty years.
Even today,
the freedom of Native Americans to practice their traditional
religions continues to be questioned in the courts and discounted
in federal legislation. In the past few decades, issues such
as access to religious sites, the use of peyote in religious
ceremonies, the process of obtaining eagle feathers for religious
uses, and Native American prisoners' access to religious articles
and practitioners have all raised questions about the U.S. government's
true commitment to protecting religious freedom for all
people in the U.S., including Native Americans.
Protection for Sacred Sites
Imagine
holding worship service in a church that is designated by law
to be open at all times to the public- hikers, picnickers, and
tourists. Imagine rock climbers scaling the walls of the National
Cathedral during religious services. Imagine a place of worship
in your hometown being replaced by an open pit mine. Imagine
leveling the Wailing Wall to build a highway through Jerusalem.
Most people in the U.S. take for granted the sanctity of worship
sites. For many Native Americans, however, protection for their
sacred sites is uncertain at best.
- Enact
legislation to protect Native Americans' access to religious
sites. So far, the federal courts have found that neither
the First Amendment nor the American Indian Religious Freedom
Act of 1978 guarantee tribes protection of or access to sacred
sites. For example, in Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery
Protective Association (1988), the Supreme Court narrowly
defined the federal government's responsibility to protect
religious freedom. The court allowed for the U.S. Forest Service
to construct a road on USFS land, despite recognizing that
construction through the cemetery would "destroy the...Indians'
ability to practice their religion." Although a 1996
Executive Order instructed federal agencies to accommodate
Native Americans' use of ceremonial sites and to avoid "adversely
affecting the physical integrity" of sites, Native Americans
have nonetheless had to struggle to protect sites on a case
by case basis.
Religious Freedom for Prisoners
Many Native
American prisoners and their advocates have expressed several
concerns about the exercise of religious freedom inside prisons.
Some religious practices, such as possessing tobacco or prayer
pipes, or growing long hair, are illegal in certain prisons.
These rules infringe on the rights of Native Americans to practice
their traditional faiths if they so choose. Other rights such
as access to traditional religious leaders or ceremonies have
been blocked by prison administrators wary of that which they
do not understand.
- Protect
the religious rights of Native American prisoners who practice
their traditional faiths. Prisoners should be allowed
to access religious leaders, practice traditional ceremonies
as other people of faith are allowed to do, possess and carry
medicine pouches and prayer pipes, grow long hair for religious
reasons, and possess tobacco, cedar and sage for religious
purposes.
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
In 1990,
Congress passed the Native American Protection and Repatriation
Act (NAGPRA). The Act was intended to ensure that ancestral
remains and sacred objects would be returned to tribes by the
government agencies, universities and museums which held them.
Collections of ancestral skeletal remains speak loudly to Indians
of a vivid history which many Americans seem to have forgotten.
Many bodies were collected in ways repugnant by any standards
of decency. Today, the existence of these collections in museums
and other institutions denies the recognition of Indian tribes
as continuing, living cultures. Possessing Indian remains without
consent violates the beliefs of many Native Americans who believe
that disturbing the dead hinders their ancestors' spiritual
journeys. Many ancestral remains, along with religious artifacts,
have been returned to tribes. However, other collections remain
in museums and institutions.
Resource Contact
Native
American Rights Fund
1506
Broadway
Boulder,
Colorado 80302
(303)
447-8760
Reviewed 8/22/05
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