Example research essay topic: American Indian Religious Freedom Act Of 1978 - 1,519 words

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THE AMERICAN INDIAN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT OF 1978 The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 Some people want the medicine man and woman to share their religious belief in the same manner that priests, rabbis, and ministers expound publicly the tenets of their denominations; others feel that Indian ceremonials are remnants of primitive life and should be abandoned. - Vine Deloria (NARF article) Religious freedom is an autonomy that most people living in the present take for granted. For most it is a right that they have never had to question. For example, if a westerner wants to practice Catholicism, study the Koran, or even master the art of Zen Buddhism he or she is free to do so without suffering any consequences. This is not true for the American Indian. Religious freedom has become more of a gift given to the Indians from the United States government rather than a birthright.

In the last two hundred years, the white mans desire to assimilate the Indian in to their own culture by refining them through religious persecution can be well noted from the times of the early Spanish settlements all the way through the arrival of the French, English, and ultimately the colonization of the Americans. All four above mentioned groups, with their own religious beliefs, felt that to educate the Indians upon their God was an equitable rationalization for taking Indian land, leading to the absorption of the American Indian into the dominating cultures which surrounded them. As a result of the paternalistic attitudes brought with the European colonizers, the American Indian religions were forced by law into partial extinction. The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 (A.

I. R. F. A. ) was created to protect the religious rights of American Indians living under the oppression of western society.

For Indians, religious freedom can be seen as their life-blood. It is not a practice seen as a duty they must fulfill to be granted passage into a heaven by congregating into a sacred church on Sunday. Religion is their way of life and without it they loose their heritage and ultimately their true identity as a unique and individualistic culture. The United States historical suppression upon the traditional pagan religious ways of the American Indian can be traced back all the way to the arrival of Columbus in 1492. Although the immigrants came to this land in search of religious freedom and base their nation upon it, they were reluctant to see the hypocrisy of their own actions. One need look no further than the Constitution itself to find this to be true.

Within the First Amendment of the United States Constitution it clearly states that, Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and should have ruled out the need for the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 (Vecsey 28). At the end of the 1800 s, government representatives promulgated policies that would deteriorate indigenous religions. In 1882 Interior Secretary Henry M. Teller demanded the end of all ceremonial dances due to their hamper on the United States civilization. As a result of this the Bureau of Indian Affairs enforced laws that would imprison any Indian found practicing their traditional rituals, for as many as thirty days. Among these laws passed was one that would oppress Indians for wearing their hair in braids and another outlawing the sacred sun dance.

The governments determination to further oppress Indian religions, provoked action to put an end to the Ghost Dance religion in fear that it may actually help the Indians to a rebirth of their culture and to be given back the land that was rightfully theirs. Instead of passing a law, the government used unnecessary violence to bring down the curtains upon the Ghost dance. In 1890 the horrific massacre, at Wounded Knee resulted in the death of 390 men, women, and children. Constraints opposing Indian religions carried on until President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated John Collier as the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1932. Throughout his term, Collier helped to put an end to the nations prejudices of Indian religious practices.

Through his valiant efforts to help end cultural discrimination the need to preserve the rights of the Indian religions presented itself. However he did very little to alter the nations pre-construed notions of ignorance towards Indian religions. Throughout the passing of the following thirty years of war, social cataclysm, and termination of the American Indian, the means to protect their religious entity through self-determination continued. In the mid- 1970 s, traditional religious leaders met in New Mexico to attest the governments transgression upon Indian religious rights. The awareness brought on by the meeting in New Mexico lead to more concrete proposals from Indian tribes demanding more changes in the federal legislation concerning religious freedom. Ultimately, Indian groups across the nation embarked on efforts to lobby for a bill to be passed that would protect Native religious rights.

In response, Senator James Abourezk unveiled his American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 into the Senate on December 15, 1977. Corroborations from Indians as well as Hawaiians upon religious suppression generated Senate support for the bill to be passed. In the Senate hearings, Justice Department spokesman Larry Simms presented two elements of concern from the administration. One, that the bill required federal agencies to protect the Native religions at the nations expense. Two, that the act itself would not infringe upon nor conflict with any existing federal laws desecrating the Equal Protection and Establishment Clauses.

Abourezk responded that the act would modify existing federal laws and regulations diverting acceptance of the proposal. The result was the Senate approved passage with a unanimous vote. Although passage of the bill was solid in the Senate, the approval of the House would not come so easily. Many argued that the bill would clash with the Equal Protection and Establishment Clauses. Other representatives rejected the act because it would permit entry onto privately owned lands for ceremonial worship; endangering protected wildlife and allow the use of hazardous drugs. In the following Senate hearings, Abourezk claimed that the bill would be complementing the First Amendment with a regulated cause of action for tribes.

The bill then went on to pass the House, with no further revised permutations with a vote of 377 to 81. On August 12, 1978 President Jimmy Carter signed the bill into law. He recognized the bills vital justification by stating, In the past Government agencies and departments have... denied Native Americans access to particular sites and interfered with religious practices and customs. It would now be the policy of the United States to protect and preserve the inherent right of American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Native Hawaiian people to believe, express, and exercise their traditional religion... The act, Carter continued, was in no way intended to...

override existing law, but is designed to prevent Government action that could violate... constitutional protections -Carter, 1979 (Vecsey 30). In addition to the bills passing, Carter selected a task forces consisting of nine federal agencies which included the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the American Indian Law Center. It was their duty to find the necessary legislative alterations within the federal agencies and regulations concerning the issue of Indian religious freedom. The task force then went on to demand that all federal agencies evaluate their policies in the boundaries of the new act and conduct ten on-site hearings from coast to coast. In 1979 the task force advanced its final report to Congress composed of thirty-seven pages of recommendations for the administrative and legislative changes in regards to cemeteries, sacred objects, ceremonies, and sacred land.

To this day very little has been accomplished by these tasks forces with a few minor exceptions amongst the federal agencies like the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of The Navy, and the Customs Service in regards to religious practices. In June of 1982 the House Subcommittee of Civil and Constitutional Rights addressed the never-ending problems that American Indian religious freedom continued to face even though the A. I. R. F. A.

had long since been passed. American Indians as well as governmental officials joined together to point out the fact that the federal administration was showing very little if any regard with the law and the failure of congress to set straight religious contraventions via legislative reform. The committee hearings proved to be somewhat of a vehicle for the restoration of attention upon Indian religious freedom, but did not attain any beneficial results to rectify any of the needed changes within the legislation. Six years passed until Congress challenged the scantiness of the A. I. R.

F. A. In March 1988, Senators De Concini, Inouye, and Cranston introduced legislation to ensure that Federal lands are managed in a manner that does not impair the exercise of traditional American Indian religion (S. 2250, 100 th Cong. , 2 nd Sess. 1988) (Vecsey 30). It was this bill that supported A. I. R.

F. A. by implementing a new section that stated, Except in cases in...

Research essay sample on American Indian Religious Freedom Act Of 1978