American Indian Religious Freedom Act
The American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA), enacted in August 1978, was a significant legislative step that acknowledged and protected the rights of American Indian tribes to practice their traditional religions. This law enabled tribes to regain access to sacred sites on federal lands and allowed the possession of sacred objects, such as eagle feathers. AIRFA directed federal agencies to review and modify their policies to uphold the religious freedoms of Native Americans, helping to reverse decades of assimilationist policies that had previously prohibited these practices.
Despite this progress, challenges persisted, particularly concerning access to sacred sites and the use of peyote in religious ceremonies. In 1990, a Supreme Court ruling posed further challenges by denying unemployment benefits to Native American Church members who used peyote, leading to an amendment in 1994 that clarified the legal status of peyote for religious use. While the act laid the groundwork for Native American religious freedom, it does not provide mechanisms for legal recourse when federal actions conflict with these rights, highlighting the ongoing struggle for full religious autonomy. AIRFA remains a vital aspect of the broader conversation on cultural preservation and Indigenous rights in the United States.
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American Indian Religious Freedom Act
The passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in August, 1978, formally allowed Indian tribes the freedom to practice their religions. This law also allowed tribes to regain access to sacred sites on federal lands and the right to possess certain sacred objects such as eagle feathers. This joint resolution directs all federal agencies to examine their policies and procedures and to take appropriate measures “to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise traditional religions” and to allow them to maintain their practices and access their religious sites on government lands.
Until 1934, the Bureau of Indian Affairs had regulations prohibiting the practices of Indian religion and actively pursued a policy aimed at Christianizing and “civilizing” the Indians. To accomplish this, the Bureau of Indian Affairs forbade the practice of most traditional religions. Violators, if caught, could be punished by fines or imprisonment. The goal of these policies, strongly supported by Christian churches, was to stamp out aboriginal religions.
The American Indian Religious Freedom Act is a key element in Indian self-determination and cultural freedom in the United States. Even with passage of this act, however, Native Americans continued to experience problems in access to sacred sites and the use of peyote. In the case of Employment Division v. Smith (1990), the Supreme Court upheld the state of Oregon's right to deny unemployment benefits to two men who had been fired for using peyote, although both were members of the Native American Church, an official organized religion whose rituals involve the use of the drug. In response to this, Congress passed an amendment to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1994, guaranteeing that the use, possession, and transportation of peyote by an American Indian individual for religious purposes was fully legal. The issue of sacred sites, however, remained unsettled into the twenty-first century.
The 1978 federal statute affirms the right of Native Americans to practice their traditional religion, but it does not allow Indians to sue when federal agencies disregard Indian religious practices or when agencies pursue plans despite adverse impact on Native American religions. The extension of full religious freedom to Native Americans is an evolving concept, and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act is an important philosophical foundation.
Bibliography
Gallagher, Charles, and Cameron D. Lippard. Race and Racism in the United States: An Encyclopedia of the American Mosaic. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2014. Print.
Maroukis, Thomas C. The Peyote Road: Religious Freedom and the Native American Church. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 2010. Print.
Muñoz, Vincent Phillip. Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court: The Essential Cases and Documents. Lanham: Rowman, 2013. Print.
Ross, Jeffrey Ian. American Indians at Risk. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2014. Print.