Admittedly, Native Americans have come a long way since Christopher
Columbus and his "Do or Die" ultimatum. Unfortunately,
complete religious freedom and restriction of government interference
is not yet a reality. Many issues remain unresolved, including the
following three:
(1)
Native Americans in jails and prisons are currently fighting for the same spiritual rights and freedoms granted to those of other religious groups.
(2)
The Capitalization of Native spirituality and the New Age movement which borrows from what is thought to be true Native American spirituality, but is generally formulated from romanticized concepts gathered from non-Native books and movies whose authors profit from a belief system that is not theirs. They sell crystal "healing" necklaces, give advice from Indian tarot cards, charge for Sweat Lodge participation, and erroneously leading clients through Vision
Quests and their own version of the Ghost Dance.
"Some people want the medicine man and woman to share their religious belief in the same manner that priests, rabbis, and ministers expound publicly the tenets of their denominations; others feel that Indian ceremonials are remnants of primitive life and should be abandoned."
~ Vine Deloria ~
(3)
The third is a subtle form of racism that probably goes unnoticed by most. It is the way Native American is described by people outside of the culture. To better explain this issue, I asked James W. Loewen, author of `Lies My Teacher Told Me' (The New Press, 1995, page 106 and 107) if I may reprint a section of his work that appropriately describes this third point:
"...In 1970 the Indian Historian Press produced a critique of our histories, `Textbooks and the American Indian.' One of the press's yardsticks for evaluating books was the question, "Does the textbook describe the religious, philosophies, and contributions to thought of the American Indian?" A quarter-century later the answer must still be no. Consider how textbooks treat Native religions as a unitary whole. `The American Way' describes Native American religion in these words:
These Native American [in the Southeast] believed that nature was
filled with spirits. Each form of life, such as plants and animals, had a spirit. Earth and air held spirits, too. People were never alone. They shared their lives with the spirits of nature.
"'Way' is trying to show respect for Native American religion, but it doesn't work. Stated flatly like this, the beliefs seem like make-believe, not the sophisticated theology or a higher civilization. Let us try a similarly succinct summary of the beliefs of many Christians today.
These Americans believed that one great male god ruled the world. Sometimes they divided him into three parts, which they called father, son, and holy ghost. They ate crackers and wine or grape juice, believing that they were eating the son's body and drinking his blood. If they believed strongly enough, they would
live on forever after they died.
Textbooks never describe Christianity this way. It's offensive. Believers would immediately argue that such a depiction fails to convey the symbolic meaning or the spiritual satisfaction of communion."
Though it is true that religious dissenters came to this continent seeking spiritual and personal freedom, it is equally true that they wanted that freedom only for themselves. Whether they forcibly converted those who disagreed with them, or considered them unworthy of conversion, the United States Constitution followed suit by creating a First Amendment guaranteeing religious freedom while
creating policy to deny that same independence to those who followed a different path - or born into a certain culture. This is the epitome of hypocrisy ... and the true foundation of the United States. A foundation NOT built on freedom, bravery and independence - but on control, conquest and forced conversion. |
