- Indigenous Religious Freedom

Catalog description

An exploration of the ongoing cultural and legal contests over Indigenous sacred lands, mountains, waters, plant medicines, ceremonies and graves in the United States with a focus on the 20th century. Students will employ decolonial historical methods to examine Native peoples’ ongoing struggles for religious freedom. Topics include the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) the Native American Church and the sacrament of peyote, Native access to sacred sites on public and federal lands, the contest over Mauna Kea, the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests, and NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection Act). Students will also examine contemporary Native cultural revitalization and reclamation of ancestral Native lands and engage with transcription work to support the Kanatsiohareke Archives project with MDOCS.