Many Nations under Many Gods: Public Land Management and American Indian Sacred Sites

by Todd Allin Morman

The lands the United States claims sovereignty over by right of the Doctrine of Discovery are home to more than five hundred Indian nations, each with its own distinct culture, religion, language, and history. Yet these Indians, and federal Indian law, rarely factor into the decisions of the country’s governing class—as recent battles over national monuments on tribal sites have made painfully clear. A much-needed intervention, Many Nations under Many Gods brings to light the invisible histories of several Indian nations, as well as their struggles to protect the integrity of sacred and cultural sites located on federal public lands.

Todd Allin Morman focuses on the history of Indian peoples engaging in consultation, a process mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Indian Religious Freedom Act whenever a federal agency’s proposed action will affect land of significance to indigenous peoples. To understand this process and its various outcomes first requires familiarity with the history and culture that make these sites significant to particular Indian nations. Morman provides this necessary context for various and changing indigenous perspectives in the legal process. He also examines consultation itself in a series of case studies, including Hopi efforts to preserve the sacred San Francisco Peaks in the Coconino National Forest from further encroachment by a ski resort, the Washoes’ effort near Lake Tahoe to protect Cave Rock from an influx of rock climbers, the Forest Service’s plan for the Blackfeet site Badger-Two Medicine, and religious freedom cases involving the Makahs, the Quechans, the Western Apaches, and the Standing Rock Sioux.

These cases illuminate the strengths and dangers inherent in the consultation process. They also illustrate the need, for Natives and non-Natives alike, to learn the history of North America in order understand the value of protecting the many cultural and sacred sites of its many indigenous peoples. Many Nations under Many Gods reveals—and works to meet—the urgency of this undertaking.
 

Genres: Anthropology

276 pages, Hardcover

Published November 22, 2018

Reviews

[David Martínez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2018, Morman's book gives the reader an overview of the status of American Indian religious freedom on federally-controlled public land as of the Trump Era. Beginning with a summary history of American Indian religious freedom, which pays special attention to the period covering the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978), Antonin Scalia's majority opinion in 'Oregon Employment Division v Smith' (1990) and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1994), Morman sets the legal stage for a series of case studies. Most of what follows involves the National Forest Service, local tribal leaders, and non-Indian recreational and/or corporate interests striving the resolve a conflict of interests in a site that the local tribes, which are sovereign entities according to federal law, regard as an important part of their traditional homeland that's regarded as sacred. Unfortunately, despite AIRFA (1978) affirming that American Indian religions by the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, when it comes to protecting this right on behalf of American Indians on public land, the federal government will do little more than provide access to these places, some protection from interference when ceremonies are performed, and consult appropriate tribal representation when developments are proposed. However, ever since 'Lyng v NICPA' (1988), tribes cannot protect their sacred lands from federal powers. In fact, according to Lyng, as long as federal authorities, such as the NFS, is conducting lawful federal business on federal land, it is not obliged to pass the Compelling State Interest test. In addition, Morman explains why the RFRA (1994) failed to rectify this situation. With the foregoing in mind, Morman leads his reader through controversies at the Arizona Snowbowl, Cave Rock, Badger Two Medicine, along with conflicts over Makah whaling, mining at Oak Flats, mining and solar energy on the Quechan Ft Yuma reservation, and the epic struggle at Standing Rock. Morman concludes with a survey of various ideas that his peers in American Indian environmental justice have proposed over the years toward enhancing protection for sacred sites, short of returning these lands to the tribes. In this regard, Morman is most hopeful about the influence of UNDRIP. With that said, my only meaningful criticism of this volume is that it did not include a case study of a tribe taking control of a park, forest, or wilderness, such as occurred at Navajo Nation, which took control over Canyon de Chelly several years ago.