Religious Freedom and Native Americans

1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-181
Author(s):  
John Dart
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Frame Of Reference

“Religious freedom for American Indians means something much more than going to church on Sunday. ‘It's an expanded frame of reference for them; religion is a part of their total culture,’ … Therein lies the beauty and complexity of the continuing tradition of Native American religiosity in this country.”

Native American Ethnicity: a View from the British Museum1

2000 ◽  
Vol 73 (182) ◽  
pp. 221-238
Author(s):  
J. C. H. King
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
North America ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The United States ◽  
Native Identity ◽  
Native North America ◽  
American Ethnicity

Abstract Identity in Native North America is defined by legal, racial, linguistic and ethnic traits. This article looks at the nomenclature of both Indian, Eskimo and Native, and then places them in a historical context, in Canada and the United States. It is argued that ideas about Native Americans derive from medieval concepts, and that these ideas both constrain Native identity and ensure the survival of American Indians despite accelerating loss of language.

The Disappearing Turnout Gap between Native Americans and Non-Native Americans

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy Skopek ◽  
Andrew Garner
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Political Values ◽  
Indian Gaming ◽  
The Past

Past research has consistently found that American Indians have traditionally turned out to vote at lower rates than do other citizens. Using two separate data sets, we examine this "turnout gap" over the past several decades. We find that not only has Native American turnout increased generally, but that the "gap" between Native Americans and non-Native Americans has declined substantially, and that in recent elections this "gap" has largely disappeared. We then provide a preliminary and tentative examination of possible causes for the decline, including the role of Indian gaming, mobilization by political parties and candidates, and shifting political values among Native Americans.

American Indians Encounter the Bible

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-157
Author(s):  
Christopher Vecsey
Keyword(s):  
Native Americans ◽  
American Indian ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
American Indians ◽  
New World ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Indian Languages ◽  
The Bible ◽  
To Receive

Abstract This article explores how Native Americans have received the Bible. Over the centuries some Indians have been inspired by the Bible, and some have been repelled by its long-standing place in colonization. The Christian invaders in the New World carried the Bible in their minds. It served as their inspiration, their justification, and their frame of reference as they encountered Indigenous peoples. In effect, the Bible was the template for exploration, conquest, identification of selves and others. The Christian invaders brought along or produced physical Bibles, which served their catechetical purposes, and in time they began to translate the Bible—in whole and in part—into American Indian languages. Therefore this article illustrates that to the present day Native Americans continue to receive the Bible actively and variously, attempting to fit it to their unfolding cultural stories. Ultimately, it has not lost its potency, nor have they lost their power to consider it on their own terms.

Native Americans and Cities

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas G. Rosenthal
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
American Indians ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Monumental Architecture ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Indian Country ◽  
Important Relationship ◽  
The Early 21St Century

An important relationship has existed between Native Americans and cities from pre-Columbian times to the early 21st century. Long before Europeans arrived in the Americas, indigenous peoples developed societies characterized by dense populations, large-scale agriculture, monumental architecture, and complex social hierarchies. Following European and American conquest and colonization, Native Americans played a crucial role in the development of towns and cities throughout North America, often on the site of former indigenous settlements. Beginning in the early 20th century, Native Americans began migrating from reservations to U.S. cities in large numbers and formed new intertribal communities. By 1970, the majority of the Native American population lived in cities and the numbers of urban American Indians have been growing ever since. Indian Country in the early 21st century continues to be influenced by the complex and evolving ties between Native Americans and cities.

Defend the Sacred

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. McNally
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Native Peoples ◽  
Preservation Law ◽  
Indian Law

From North Dakota's Standing Rock encampments to Arizona's San Francisco Peaks, Native Americans have repeatedly asserted legal rights to religious freedom to protect their sacred places, practices, objects, knowledge, and ancestral remains. But these claims have met with little success in court because Native American communal traditions don't fit easily into modern Western definitions of religion. This book explores how, in response to this situation, Native peoples have creatively turned to other legal means to safeguard what matters to them. To articulate their claims, Native peoples have resourcefully used the languages of cultural resources under environmental and historic preservation law; of sovereignty under treaty-based federal Indian law; and, increasingly, of Indigenous rights under international human rights law. Along the way, Native nations still draw on the rhetorical power of religious freedom to gain legislative and regulatory successes beyond the First Amendment. This book casts new light on discussions of religious freedom, cultural resource management, and the vitality of Indigenous religions today.

Unpacking the Mascot Debate: Native American Identification Predicts Opposition to Native Mascots

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie A. Fryberg ◽  
Arianne E. Eason ◽  
Laura Brady ◽  
Nadia Jessop ◽  
Julisa Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Native People ◽  
Sports Teams ◽  
Identity Centrality ◽  
People’S Attitudes ◽  
Racial Ethnic

While major organizations representing Native Americans (e.g., National Congress of American Indians, n.d.) contend that Native mascots are stereotypical and dehumanizing, sports teams with Native mascots cite polls claiming their mascots are not offensive to Native people (Vargas, 2019). We conducted a large-scale, empirical study to provide a valid and generalizable understanding of Native Americans’ (N=1021) attitudes toward Native mascots. Building on the identity centrality literature, we examined how multiple aspects of Native identification uniquely shaped attitudes towards mascots. While Native Americans in our sample generally opposed Native mascots, especially the Redskins, attitudes varied according to demographic characteristics (e.g., age, political orientation, education) and the strength of participants’ racial-ethnic identification. Specifically, stronger Native identification (behavioral engagement and identity centrality) predicted greater opposition. Results highlight the importance of considering the unique and multifaceted aspects of identity, particularly when seeking to understand Native people’s attitudes and experiences.

scholarly journals Volatile Compositions and Antifungal Activities of Native American Medicinal Plants: Focus on the Asteraceae

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 126
Author(s):  
Sims K. Lawson ◽  
Layla G. Sharp ◽  
Chelsea N. Powers ◽  
Robert L. McFeeters ◽  
Prabodh Satyal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Essential Oil ◽  
Essential Oils ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Xanthium Strumarium ◽  
Chemical Compositions ◽  
High Concentration

In the past, Native Americans of North America had an abundant traditional herbal legacy for treating illnesses, disorders, and wounds. Unfortunately, much of the ethnopharmacological knowledge of North American Indians has been lost due to population destruction and displacement from their native lands by European-based settlers. However, there are some sources of Native American ethnobotany remaining. In this work, we have consulted the ethnobotanical literature for members of the Asteraceae used in Cherokee and other Native American traditional medicines that are native to the southeastern United States. The aerial parts of Eupatorium serotinum, Eurybia macrophylla, Eutrochium purpureum, Polymnia canadensis, Rudbeckia laciniata, Silphium integrifolium, Smallanthus uvedalia, Solidago altissima, and Xanthium strumarium were collected from wild-growing plants in north Alabama. The plants were hydrodistilled to obtain the essential oils and the chemical compositions of the essential oils were determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The essential oils were tested for in-vitro antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans, and Cryptococcus neoformans. The essential oil of E. serotinum showed noteworthy activity against C. neoformans with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 78 μg/mL, which can be attributed to the high concentration of cyclocolorenone in the essential oil.

Alcatraz, Wounded Knee, and Beyond: The Nixon and Ford Administrations Respond to Native American Protest

2003 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean J. Kotlowski
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
White House ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Indian Rights ◽  
Wounded Knee

The period from 1969 to 1977 saw both unprecedented civil disobedience by Native American activists and breakthrough initiatives to advance Indian rights. This article argues that grass-roots protest helped push the executive branch to respond sympathetically to Native American concerns, replacing the policy of termination with one of tribal self-determination. After the seizure of Alcatraz Island (1969), Nixon's aides began work on a presidential statement repudiating termination and legislation to advance self-determination for Native Americans. Following the standoff at Wounded Knee (1973), Congress began to pass the President's agenda. Continuing Native American unrest kept Ford's White House on the course charted by Nixon. Whatever their shortcomings, both Presidents deserve high marks for redirecting Indian policy and for avoiding bloodshed during their many standoffs with American Indians.

scholarly journals Paranoia of Loss: An Ecocritical Study of Environmental Injustice against Native Americans in Silko's Ceremony

2020 ◽  
Vol V (I) ◽  
pp. 146-152
Author(s):  
Sardar Ahmad Farooq ◽  
Saher Javed ◽  
Ghulam Murtaza
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Special Place ◽  
Human Habitat ◽  
European Colonization

The paper analyzes Leslie Marmon Silkos’ Ceremony (1977) from Buell's theoretical perspective of eco-cosmopolitanism. In Native American worldview, nature holds a special place. The Natives not only identify themselves with nature but also have a life sharing bond of interdependence with it. European colonization displaced Native Americans from their homeland. Their natural resources have been mercilessly exploited since contact resulting in fatal diseases and poverty. The colonial exploitation of nature reached its climax during the WWII. The colonial insensitivity to the environment renders them callously indifferent to non-human life. The earth as a source of life is sacred for American Indians but it was commodified by Euro-Americans who dug up uranium mines for war which destroyed human habitat. The findings of the study reveal that European colonizers wreaked havoc in the Native Americans' life by destroying their environment and mental peace.

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