In a few cases, the efforts to protect sacred sites during the 1970s and 1980s were successful.
1970s and 1980s: Success and (mostly) Failures For Native American spiritual sites where the surrounding landscape may contribute substantially to the sacred qualities of the site, project relocation in proximity to the site may not be a viable solution.įor these reasons, traditional Indian people continue to engage (as they have for decades) in a struggle with the federal government - and occasionally state governments - to protect threatened sacred sites. The goals and needs of those who want to "develop" such lands are generally more readily incorporated into land management policies and decision-making, than are the religious beliefs of Native Americans affected by that development.įurther, government land managers often feel that simply relocating a development project a short distance away from a Native American site will suffice to mitigate the impact of developmental activity. For example, Western concepts of resource development, e.g., logging mining, tourism, are often inconsistent with the preservation of the integrity and sanctity of sacred sites. Frequently, the needs and philosophy of Western society have conflicted with the use of lands by traditional Indian people. The Contemporary ProblemĪ large number of those sites which are known to be sacred to traditional Indian religions are located on what is currently federal land. For example, Indian religious practitioners were frequently denied access to sacred sites located outside of reservations, often on federal lands, and those sites were not protected against development incompatible with their continued usage.
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However, many obstacles to free religious practice remained. One those reservations where it had had authority, the Bureau of India Affairs outlawed the "`sun dance' and all other similar dances and so-called religious ceremonies," as well as the "usual practices of so-called `medicine men.'" It was not until 1934 that the federal government fully recognized the right of free worship on Indian reservations. From the 1890s through the 1930s, the government moved beyond promoting voluntary abandonment of tribal religions to affirmatively prohibiting the exercise of traditional religion. Throughout the 19th and for much of the of the 20th Century, the government provided direct and indirect support to Christian missionaries who sought to "convert and civilize" the Indians. Historical Legal Backgroundįor most of American history, the United States government has actively discouraged, and even outlawed, the exercise of traditional Indian religions. As an illustration, it will describe the effort to protect a sacred Medicine Wheel in the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming. This article is designed to discuss the legal safeguards which protect sacred sites threatened by proposed development and the limitations of existing laws. In his article, Professor Ortiz has described the nature of Native American sacred sites and their importance to the practice of traditional Indian religions. As a result, even today, sites which are sacred to those Native American Indians who continue to practice their traditional religions lack complete protection under United States law. Their descendants, however, have failed to equally respect the religious traditions of the people who preceded them to the North American continent. Many of the initial European settlers in North America migrated to what became the United States of America to worship the Creator in the manner they freely chose.
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