Dipping my toe in

After I was accepted early decision into Brown this December, my mom sat down with me and asked, “so, are you still going to do a senior project?” I looked at her with surprise. Well, of course I was still going to do a project. In her eyes, it had been a tool to aid admission, but I guess I had never seen it like that before. All of a sudden, the pressure to do something related to my career disappeared, and that turned out to be a good thing. After much tumult, frustration, and several complete project changes, I was finally able to lock down a project that I wanted to take on.

That led me here, looking at the violation of religious freedoms for Native Americans. When I first sat down this week, I realized how little knowledge I had about this area. I had learned some history of government interactions with Native Americans, and I was familiar with what was happening with the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), but besides that I was pretty unaware. At first, that struck me as very odd. I live in Arizona, there are several different tribes in areas nearby, and I had always taken pride on all the information I knew and remembered from all the history classes I’ve taken. Though, when I thought more about it, it made sense. Native American rights aren’t something we hear about often in the news, however, the protests against DAPL had brought it to the spotlight, and, although unrelated, it reminded me of the power of a good, strong protest.

This week I mostly tried to get my bearings. I have been looking for important legislation and court cases to read as I move farther into my project, and that’s helped me gain a broad and basic sense of what I’ll be looking at. Additionally, I’ve been reading a book called American Indian Law in a nutshell by William C. Canby, Jr. in order to gain more basic understanding of the relationship between the United States government and Native American tribes. As I have read and researched, a few key principles come into play in their relationships, which I’ll dive into further in the coming months, and of course the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment play a huge role in guiding decisions.

However, there were two big questions on my mind at the end of this week, and I think they will be crucial guiding questions as I explore this project. The first is about the nature of Native American religion and spirituality. The most predominant religions in our country all fit into a typical box, as far as structure and practices

. There are places of worship, important texts, important guidelines and actions, etc. While they are different, they have similar characteristics. American Indian religions do not fit into this box. Instead of a mosque, there is a sacred mountain valley. Instead of communion, there is a ceremonial and spiritual drug taken to go on journeys. Instead of priests, there are shamans and medicine men and women. These differences may be difficult to understand that they hold the same value and importance, and they may cause a lesser level of respect. How does the government respond when the religious issues that arise in tribes don’t fit its predetermined box? Second, the relationship between that of the US government and different tribes is not the same of that and my relationship with the government. Tribes are treated at independent nations that interact with the government, sometimes falling into a fiduciary relationship. How does that difference change the way the Supreme Court looks at my freedom to be non religious versus the Sioux’s freedom to protect sacred burial ground?

This is already turning out to be deeper and more complex than I originally had anticipated, and I’m excited to dive in deeper.

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