Indigenous spiritual practices are fundamentally tied to their sacred lands. That has profound implications for protecting their freedom of religion: The right to practice their religion without interference.
Blocking Indigenous peoples access to their sacred sites is the definition of interference. Yet U.S. courts don’t get it, as can be seen in the recent ruling in Apache Stronghold v. The United States of America.
The decision could impact many other religions, too.
Continue readingThe Trump administration has done a lot to undermine our core democratic institutions and values. Trump has politicized the U.S. Justice Department. He’s undermined citizen confidence in our voting system and the free press. He’s used his office for personal gain. He’s doled out pardons as political favors. And now he’s messing with the U.S. Census.
His administration is shutting down the Census one month early, a decision that will lead to undercounts of black, Indigenous and other people of color. It will have significant consequences, from Congressional representation to school funding. Continue reading
Few non-Indian people probably know about the “Termination Era” of the 1940s-1960s, when federal policy tried to terminate Native nations’ sovereign rights and their reservations, and force indigenous peoples to move to the cities and assimilate to Main Stream America.
The Trump Administration is trying to revive that effort, according to a news report in IndianZ.com, targeting the “Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, whose homelands in Massachusetts are now on the chopping block,” the story says.
And its raising an alarm across Indian Country.
healingmnstories.wordpress.com 