Native American Religious Freedom- Land as Sacred Ground

Native American Religious Freedom- Land as Sacred Ground

The freedom to exercise religion is guaranteed by the constitution, but for Native Americans, this has been violated throughout US history. The violent repression of native practices, the withholding from Native communities of their resources, and the devaluation of their religious practices and religious framework (which are viewed as not being in alignment with the normativity of protestants) have continued to be major hindrances to native Indians in realizing their religious freedoms. This essay argues that the American tribal people do not experience religious freedom.

From as early as the 1790s, the US 1st Amendment to the Constitution guaranteed the freedom of religion (Konvitz). However, from the native Indians’ perspective, this has been a commitment that, time and again, has proven to be an empty assertion. The definition of ‘religion’ by protestants does not include what the native Indians practice and believe; hence, native Indians have not enjoyed the protection accorded by the 1^st Amendment. The protection by the constitution was applied intermittently for the native Indians, and this went on until the time they were recognized as being American citizens (this was after the enactment of the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act) (Cahill 41).

The US constitutional policy tried in the 19^th and 20^th centuries to bring the natives under the US law’s responsibilities and protections, but nonetheless, authorities still viewed the native beliefs and ceremonies as primitive or savage and an impediment to cultural and religious assimilations. During this time, the Bureau of Indian Affairs was created under the Department of the Interior (Taylor). The discretionary authority on the freedom to practice religion was given to Christian missionaries and the Bureau of Indian Affairs; this meant that any violations of religious freedom rarely called for an action founded on the constitution. This discretionary authority resulted in executive orders being drawn which outlawed some native Indian religious ceremonies. Some of the religious ceremonies that were outlawed include the Lakota tribe’s Great Sun Dance and the Ghost Dance (this was an inter-tribal prophetic and visionary movement that preached the revitalization and renewal of persons through ceremonial dance and moral reform) (Warren 142). In 1890, the US massacred 200 children, women, and men of Lakota at Wounded Knee in S. Dakota, linked to the Ghost Dance. The government believed that the Sun Dance was a threat to law and order and a risk to safety for the non-natives (Warren).

According to Vilaca, most times, the repression of religious freedoms was subtle; native Indian reservation authorities were distributing treaty payments in the form of farming capital, livestock, clothing, and food using their own discretion. The authorities developed a rewards and punishment system where starving natives were forced to abandon their public display of traditions in exchange for the rewards. The public display of beliefs and traditions was quelched even when treaty agreements stated the people had the freedom to practice their religion freely.

In 1934, the US outright directed the Bureau of Indian Affairs, under the Indian New Deal, not to interfere with the life, religion, and ceremonies of native Indians (Bauerkemper 193). However, this was more heresy than it was the practice. The native Indians’ religious activities were not similar to the protestant Christians, and hence, the Bureau did not uphold the Indian New Deal directives. One of the responses to the pressure to give in to the protestant Christian’s definition of religion was seen by the Peyote Road, which was incorporated under the Native American Church (Dominique). The new church for native Indians started to identify with the Christian protestant church leadership, organization, structure, and beliefs in an attempt to gain protection from the 1^st Amendment. Other native Indian communities opted to repress their religious beliefs rather than conform to the protestant beliefs and instead kept away from the US courts’ purview (Kuppe 49).

CONCLUSION

The 2006 United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples gives rights to native Indians to practice their religious ceremonies and traditions. Initially, the US voted against this declaration, but even afterward, the 2010 US endorsement of the declaration was not followed by changes in domestic or international law. The US also refused to accept that governments (according to the declaration) were to get prior consent from the native people before embarking on any projects in the latter’s territories. However, similar to other dealings by the US in regard to native Indians, the former chose to enter into ‘meaningful consultation’, which were unclear and remain unclear to this date. Native Indians, in the meanwhile, still wait centuries later to be recognized as worthy to publicly practice their traditions and religious ceremonies.

Works Cited

Bauerkemper, Joseph. “Federalism Reconfigured: Native Narrations and the Indian New Deal.” The Routledge Companion to Native American Literature. Routledge, 2015. 193-206.

Cahill, Cathleen D. “” Our Democracy and the American Indian”: Citizenship, Sovereignty, and the Native Vote in the 1920s.” Journal of Women’s History 32.1 (2020): 41-51.

Dominique, Amanda. Peyote and Religious Freedom: How Legal Discourse, Race, and Identity Shape Religion for American Indians. Diss. The Ohio State University, 2019.

Konvitz, Milton R. Fundamental liberties of a free people: religion, speech, press, assembly. Routledge, 2018.

Kuppe, René. “Religious freedom law and the protection of sacred sites.” Permutations of Order. Routledge, 2016. 49-66.

Taylor, Theodore W. The Bureau of Indian Affairs. Routledge, 2019.

Vilaça, Aparecida. Native Christians: Modes and effects of Christianity among indigenous peoples of the Americas. Routledge, 2016.

Warren, Louis S. “Wage Work in the sacred Circle: The Ghost Dance as modern religion.” Western Historical Quarterly 46.2 (2015): 142-168.

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In 300 words or more, please reflect on the following question: “Do American tribal peoples experience religious freedom?”

Consider:

What is the relationship between the Native American view of land as sacred and religious freedom?

Native American Religious Freedom- Land as Sacred Ground

(Discussions 1 and 2)
Use examples from:

NAGPRA/AIRFA and their redeeming values are the basis for your essay.
Choose two tribes as examples to support your arguments.
Technicalities

Follow the essay format: Introduction, body, and conclusion.
Double space
Use MLA style for citations and bibliography
Use at least three academic sources, including Deloria and two more from Module 3 materials.