Day 8: 1978 Religious Freedom Act
Choose one thing to read, watch, listen to, do, or engage with today. Try to mix it up each day between the categories!
READ
Freedom Act How did religious discrimination impact Native Americans? How has that changed since the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act? by Dennis Zotigh (Kiowa/Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo/Isante Dakota Indian) Smithsonian Magazine (2018)
Native Americans and Freedom of Religion How, despite the First Amendment, has US federal policy toward native religions been inconsistent? National Geographic (2020)
Defend the Sacred: Native American Religious Freedom US courts have yet to affirm Native peoples religious freedom rights to the protection of sacred lands and waters, as evidenced by Standing Rock, Mauna Kea, Bears Ears, and other high-profile events and issues. by Michael McNally Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs (2020)
2021 marks 43 years since the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) Contextualizes AIRFA in the larger American Indian Movement (AIM) as well as in the overall native value system. Apotawatami.org blog (2021)
WATCH
Vine Deloria Jr. on Our Relationship to the Unseen Vine Deloria Jr. discusses the difference between the materialism of Western religion and the spiritual insights of indigenous religions that are connected to place. Sacred Land Film Project (2015) 5 minutes T CC
The Sacred Truth Behind America’s National Parks, Explores the Indigenous relationship between land, spirituality, ceremony, and vitality. PBS Digital Studios, A People's History of Native America series with Tai Leclaire (Kanien'kehá:ka Mohawk and Mi'kmaq), (2024) 11 minutes T CC
Smoke Signals Two young Idaho men with radically different memories of recently deceased Arnold Joseph go on a road trip to retrieve Arnold’s ashes. Available on iTunes and Amazon, also in local libraries (1999) 90 minutes CC
A Way Out of Our Predicament Barry Lopez explores the question: What is our ethical relationship to the world outside ourselves and posits how EuroAmericans can course correct for past harms. Sacred Land Film Project (2017) 6 minutes T CC
LISTEN
The Supreme Court v. Peyote Native American Al Smith was fired for ingesting peyote at a religious ceremony, a battle that made it to the Supreme Court. WNYCS Studios (2023) 63 minutes T
BRING IT HOME
Consider how you can include an Indigenous perspective into one of your own holidays/ observances
21-Day Questions
Is your holiday/ observance connected to something seasonal and/or nature-related, like it would have been for many Indigenous Peoples? (Solstice, Equinox, Harvest, First Snow, lights during the darkest months, etc.)
Can you do a Tribal Land Acknowledgment?
Celina Cada-Mataswagon - Native World Class Hoop Dancer at Plug Pond Pow Wow in Haverhill, MA 2012
DO
Google “where are the Indigenous burial sites in [your state]” and visit or make a plan to go visit.
21-Day Questions
Where are they located?
Is there something significant - from an Indigenous perspective - about the location? Look for a prominent physical feature nearby.
How is the site marked and described?
Indigenous people lived, loved, worked, and died on every piece of what’s now called US soil. If there are no sites, what does that mean?
EXPLORE & REFLECT
Notice the holidays and observances on your calendars:
21-Day Questions
Which are already “off” in your town, city, state, school, place of employment, etc.
What can someone do if their observance is not noted/ recognized at a school or place of employment?
Think about the difference between using the word “holiday” vs. “observance” - how is “observance” more inclusive?
What can you do to be an ally and make this more equitable (if it is not)?
T Transcript Available
CC Closed Captions Available