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Defend the Sacred

Native American Religious Freedom beyond the First Amendment
  • Michael D. McNally and Michael D. McNally
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2020
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About this book

The remarkable story of the innovative legal strategies Native Americans have used to protect their religious rights

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. In Defend the Sacred, Michael McNally 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.

The story of Native American advocates and their struggle to protect their liberties, Defend the Sacred casts new light on discussions of religious freedom, cultural resource management, and the vitality of Indigenous religions today.

Author / Editor information

Michael D. McNally is the John M. and Elizabeth W. Musser Professor of Religious Studies at Carleton College. He is the author of Honoring Elders: Aging, Authority, and Ojibwe Religion and Ojibwe Singers: Hymns, Grief, and a Native Culture in Motion. Twitter @mcnallymichaeld

Reviews

"[McNally’s] work is likely the most comprehensive on Native American religions and law to date."---James. W. Waters, Reading Religion --- "Comprehensive and widely accessible. . . . McNally successfully exposes the real breadth of Native American religious freedom discourse, making this text an important read for those working in law and policy on the ground as much as those students and scholars working at the intersections of law, religion, and Indigenous studies."---Nicholas Shrubsole, Religious Studies Review --- "An exemplary model of interdisciplinary scholarship, McNally’s book brings much-needed critical attention to the religious claims of Native peoples and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in securing greater legal protection for Native religious freedom."---N. Bruce Duthu, Native American and Indigenous Studies --- "An immensely validating book for advocates and community members immersed in Indigenous Peoples’ religious freedom." --- "Finalist for the PROSE Award in Legal Studies and Criminology, Association of American Publishers" --- "Finalist for the Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion, Analytical-Descriptive Studies, American Academy of Religion"

Topics

  • Publicly Available

    Frontmatter

    i
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    Contents

    vii
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    Illustrations

    ix
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    Abbreviations

    xi
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    Preface and Acknowledgments

    xv
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    Introduction

    1
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    1. Religion as Weapon

    33
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    2. Religion as Spirituality

    69
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    3. Religion as Spirituality

    94
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    4. Religion as Cultural Resource

    127
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    5. Religion as Collective Right

    171
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    6. Religion as Collective Right

    196
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    7. Religion as Poeplehood

    224
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    8. Religion as Peoplehood

    259
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    9. Conclusion

    295
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    Notes

    307
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    Bibliography

    351
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    Index

    361
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
April 6, 2020
eBook ISBN:
9780691201511
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691201511
eBook ISBN: 9780691201511
Keywords for this book
Indigenous peoples; Religion; Freedom of religion; Law of India; Religious Freedom Restoration Act; Native American religion; Treaty; American Indian Religious Freedom Act; Treaty rights; Tribal sovereignty in the United States; Peyote; Statute; Precedent; Spirituality; Repatriation (humans); Indigenous rights; International law; Native Americans in the United States; Native American Church; Traditional knowledge; Native American Rights Fund; Good faith; Law of the United States; Presumption; Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act; Amendment; Suzan Shown Harjo; Free Exercise Clause; Establishment Clause; International human rights law; Equal Protection Clause; Chaplain; Johnson v. M'Intosh; Sweat lodge; Environmental law; Appellate court; Strict scrutiny; Criminalization; Bureau of Indian Affairs; Custom (law); Regulation; Legislation; Ambiguity (law); Indian country; Lifeway; Historic preservation; Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock; Employment Division v. Smith; Navajo Nation; Racism; Doctrine; Consideration; Prison religion; National Congress of American Indians; Federal judge; Jurisprudence; Proclamation; Attempt; Piety; Court order; Tribalism; Rights; Jurisdiction; Politics; Federal agency (Germany); United States; Plaintiff; Slavery; Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; Supreme Court of the United States
Audience(s) for this book
For a non-specialist adult audience
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