Court Says Alabama Prisons Can Force Native Americans To Break Sacred Traditions | ThinkProgress

Dealing a harsh blow to Native Americans’ religious practices on Wednesday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Alabama’s prison policy banning long hair. The decision comes decades after Native Americans’ fight to keep their long hair behind bars was initiated.

According to the judges, long hair threatens prison security and hygiene standards because it can be used to conceal weapons and other banned items in Alabama’s correctional facilities. But attorneys contend that long hair is an integral part of Native Americans’ religious traditions, and that cutting it has “eternal consequences.” They also pointed to the 39 U.S. states that do permit long hair for religious purposes.

The fight against the Alabama Department of Corrections’ short hair policy began in 1993, when plaintiffs filed a lawsuit charging the ADOC with violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The law states, “no government shall impose a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person residing in or confined to an institution,” unless it “is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.”

Court Says Alabama Prisons Can Force Native Americans To Break Sacred Traditions | ThinkProgress

Citing Religious Freedom, Native Americans Fight To Take Back Sacred Land From Mining Companies | ThinkProgress

For generations, members of the Apache Native American tribe have viewed Oak Flat as a holy, sacred place. Located about an hour due east of Phoenix, Arizona, the land has long served as a site for traditional acorn gatherings, burial services, and rite of passage ceremonies for young women. The flat is tucked inside Arizona’s Tonto National Forest, and has historically been protected by the federal government.

“It’s our sacred land — it’s where we come to pray,” Carrie Sage Curley, an Apache woman, told ThinkProgress.
But last year, the land quietly became something else: A proposed site for a massive copper mining project spearheaded by Resolution Copper, an organization run by two multinational corporations based in the United Kingdom and Australia.

The aggressive mining operation resulted from a last-minute addition to the National Defense Authorization Act, a “must-pass” military spending bill pushed through in December 2014. The language, which was inserted at the 11th hour by Arizona Senators John McCain (R) and Jeff Flake (R), essentially traded Resolution 2,400 acres of Arizona (including Oak Flat) in exchange for 5,300 acres of private land they already own. The swap is believed to be one of the first instances of federal land being given to a foreign corporation.

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The religious connections to Oak Flat are so powerful that mining the land could constitute a violation of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. That law, which was passed in 1978, stipulates that the federal government has an obligation to protect the religious liberty of Native Americans — including guaranteeing access to sites they hold sacred.

“It’s the same thing as a church,” Curley said. “We protect these temples, why can’t we do the same for our sacred land?”

Citing Religious Freedom, Native Americans Fight To Take Back Sacred Land From Mining Companies | ThinkProgress

Why Native Americans Are Outraged Over the Vatican’s First Hispanic U.S. Saint

A "man of his time,"  what a freaking cop-out!!

The Virgen de Guadalupe is depicted with spikes around her, much like the Nahua serpent god Quetzalcoatl. Though her original purpose as a way to secretly practice the old religion has since been forgotten, the indigenous Mexican still exists in her DNA. It also exists in the stones of the basilica. It exists in the Mestizo.

Mexico is Catholic because of conquest. It is Catholic because many years ago the Spanish came and brought with them murder, disease, and Catholicism. The Indians were forced to accept a foreign faith, and if they refused, they were met with violence.

It is a violence that has shaped Latin America.

And now, Native American groups are furious that the Vatican is seeking to canonize as a saint a man who perpetuated that violence.

According to Latin Post, Pope Francis will canonize Junípero Serra, an 18^th century Hispanic friar in Baja California who was responsible for bringing Catholicism to much of California.

Why Native Americans Are Outraged Over the Vatican’s First Hispanic U.S. Saint

White Wolf: Sacred ground for sale at Wounded Knee (Video)

I really hope that karma bites this dude in the ass, what a disgrace!!

White Wolf: Sacred ground for sale at Wounded Knee (Video)