Post by blackcrowheart on Jan 30, 2006 9:21:49 GMT -5
How Indians' old-time religion is misread
Devotion to sacred sites misunderstood in U.S. legal circles,
professor insists
Reviewed by Chuck Leddy
Sunday, January 29, 2006
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
f=/c/a/2006/01/29/RVG3NGPRGF1.DTL&type=books
Were the Lightning Strikes
The Lives of American Indian Sacred Places
By Peter Nabokov
VIKING; 350 PAGES; $24.95
American Indians have never constructed cathedrals or mosques as
places to express their religious beliefs. Instead, as UCLA Professor
Peter Nabokov makes clear in his inspired and highly informative
book, "Where the Lightning Strikes," they've always viewed the earth
itself as the most sacred of places. Nabokov takes us on an engaging
journey across the sacred geography of American Indians, from the
rivers of Maine to the mountains of California, showing us the
religious and historical significance of these sacred places.
Preserving Indian sacred sites has been a centuries-long struggle
against the overwhelming forces of economic exploitation and
Eurocentrism, notes Nabokov. While the United States has a
constitutional amendment intended to protect "the free exercise" of
religion for all its citizens, those protections have been repeatedly
ignored when it comes to Indians. Nabokov explains how Indians
seeking legal protections have been compelled to distort their
religious beliefs in an attempt to make them understandable to a U.S.
legal establishment steeped in Judeo-Christian traditions.
The resulting "translations" have resulted in oversimplifications and
have not been well received by the federal judiciary. A case from
1982, explored by Nabokov and involving the Black Hills of South
Dakota, serves as a good example. A little background is needed
first. The Black Hills have long been the most sacred of places for
both the Cheyenne and the Lakota. These highlands have been under
constant assault since the 19th century, first from westbound
settlers and later from those who would exploit them for recreational
and economic motives. The Lakota fought back. In one famous 1876
battle, the Lakota warrior Crazy Horse defeated U.S. troops led by
Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer at Little Big Horn. Despite winning
the battle, the Lakota were losing the war: U.S. troops enforced a
policy of relocation and extermination. By the 20th century, few
Lakota or Cheyenne were around to pursue their religious practices in
the Black Hills.
In 1982, managers at South Dakota's Bear Butte Park in the Black
Hills refused to allow Indians to pray and fast on this sacred ground
unless they first obtained a government permit. Claiming a violation
of the free exercise of their religion, the Lakota and Cheyenne sued
in federal court. Their attempts to legally prove the sacred nature
of the Black Hills fell on skeptical ears, especially when weighed
against "important" interests such as recreation. The court upheld
the restrictions imposed by the park managers. Nabokov also explores
a number of similar cases, such as how Navajo sacred places in
Arizona have been subjected to petroleum exploration and coal mining.
Nabokov's method in this book is simple and quite effective. He
travels to 16 sacred places and describes each as the Indians view
it, stressing how these places have been threatened and how Indians
have responded to these threats. Nabokov points out that whites have
not always been adversaries. He chronicles how philosopher Henry
David Thoreau wrote lovingly about the Penobscots of Maine. When
Thoreau died in 1862, he was working on a monumental book about the
Penobscots, and his dying word was "Indian."
Of course, the sympathetic Thoreau was decidedly in the minority. Far
more common was the attitude of President Andrew Jackson, who
practically annihilated the Cherokees, killing thousands of them and
forcing almost all the rest to relocate to Oklahoma. Since the 1960s
and '70s, there's been a degree of respect for American Indian
religions, but there's also been an unmistakable backlash since then.
The claims of those who build roads and dams, as well as weekending
New Agers on trendy "vision quests," have repeatedly been placed
ahead of the religious rights of Indians, Nabokov points out.
This is a sad story for anyone who cares about cultural diversity,
and it has seldom been told so well or with such sympathetic
understanding. Nabokov is a skilled cultural historian who immerses
himself in Indian oral traditions and religious practices. Moreover,
his prose crackles with detailed observations and concrete
descriptions. Here's a short passage, wherein Nabokov describes the
Kumeyaay of Southern California:
"Forty or fifty dancers wove around a central altar built of concrete
blocks and plastered over with fresh adobe mud to resemble a
miniature, Aztec-style stepped pyramid. Its tiers sprouted burning
candles, bundles of feathers, figurines, burning incense -- all
topped by a fragile sapling with a few leaves sticking into the air."
The book is brimming with such vivid prose.
Nabokov's main idea is simple: Despite centuries of persecution and
wholesale exploitation, American Indian religion remains firmly
rooted in the soil of this land, as it has for centuries. Those
wishing to understand the embattled Indian religion, and its profound
relationship to the earth, won't find a better guide than Nabokov.
Chuck Leddy is a writer and book reviewer in Massachusetts
Devotion to sacred sites misunderstood in U.S. legal circles,
professor insists
Reviewed by Chuck Leddy
Sunday, January 29, 2006
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
f=/c/a/2006/01/29/RVG3NGPRGF1.DTL&type=books
Were the Lightning Strikes
The Lives of American Indian Sacred Places
By Peter Nabokov
VIKING; 350 PAGES; $24.95
American Indians have never constructed cathedrals or mosques as
places to express their religious beliefs. Instead, as UCLA Professor
Peter Nabokov makes clear in his inspired and highly informative
book, "Where the Lightning Strikes," they've always viewed the earth
itself as the most sacred of places. Nabokov takes us on an engaging
journey across the sacred geography of American Indians, from the
rivers of Maine to the mountains of California, showing us the
religious and historical significance of these sacred places.
Preserving Indian sacred sites has been a centuries-long struggle
against the overwhelming forces of economic exploitation and
Eurocentrism, notes Nabokov. While the United States has a
constitutional amendment intended to protect "the free exercise" of
religion for all its citizens, those protections have been repeatedly
ignored when it comes to Indians. Nabokov explains how Indians
seeking legal protections have been compelled to distort their
religious beliefs in an attempt to make them understandable to a U.S.
legal establishment steeped in Judeo-Christian traditions.
The resulting "translations" have resulted in oversimplifications and
have not been well received by the federal judiciary. A case from
1982, explored by Nabokov and involving the Black Hills of South
Dakota, serves as a good example. A little background is needed
first. The Black Hills have long been the most sacred of places for
both the Cheyenne and the Lakota. These highlands have been under
constant assault since the 19th century, first from westbound
settlers and later from those who would exploit them for recreational
and economic motives. The Lakota fought back. In one famous 1876
battle, the Lakota warrior Crazy Horse defeated U.S. troops led by
Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer at Little Big Horn. Despite winning
the battle, the Lakota were losing the war: U.S. troops enforced a
policy of relocation and extermination. By the 20th century, few
Lakota or Cheyenne were around to pursue their religious practices in
the Black Hills.
In 1982, managers at South Dakota's Bear Butte Park in the Black
Hills refused to allow Indians to pray and fast on this sacred ground
unless they first obtained a government permit. Claiming a violation
of the free exercise of their religion, the Lakota and Cheyenne sued
in federal court. Their attempts to legally prove the sacred nature
of the Black Hills fell on skeptical ears, especially when weighed
against "important" interests such as recreation. The court upheld
the restrictions imposed by the park managers. Nabokov also explores
a number of similar cases, such as how Navajo sacred places in
Arizona have been subjected to petroleum exploration and coal mining.
Nabokov's method in this book is simple and quite effective. He
travels to 16 sacred places and describes each as the Indians view
it, stressing how these places have been threatened and how Indians
have responded to these threats. Nabokov points out that whites have
not always been adversaries. He chronicles how philosopher Henry
David Thoreau wrote lovingly about the Penobscots of Maine. When
Thoreau died in 1862, he was working on a monumental book about the
Penobscots, and his dying word was "Indian."
Of course, the sympathetic Thoreau was decidedly in the minority. Far
more common was the attitude of President Andrew Jackson, who
practically annihilated the Cherokees, killing thousands of them and
forcing almost all the rest to relocate to Oklahoma. Since the 1960s
and '70s, there's been a degree of respect for American Indian
religions, but there's also been an unmistakable backlash since then.
The claims of those who build roads and dams, as well as weekending
New Agers on trendy "vision quests," have repeatedly been placed
ahead of the religious rights of Indians, Nabokov points out.
This is a sad story for anyone who cares about cultural diversity,
and it has seldom been told so well or with such sympathetic
understanding. Nabokov is a skilled cultural historian who immerses
himself in Indian oral traditions and religious practices. Moreover,
his prose crackles with detailed observations and concrete
descriptions. Here's a short passage, wherein Nabokov describes the
Kumeyaay of Southern California:
"Forty or fifty dancers wove around a central altar built of concrete
blocks and plastered over with fresh adobe mud to resemble a
miniature, Aztec-style stepped pyramid. Its tiers sprouted burning
candles, bundles of feathers, figurines, burning incense -- all
topped by a fragile sapling with a few leaves sticking into the air."
The book is brimming with such vivid prose.
Nabokov's main idea is simple: Despite centuries of persecution and
wholesale exploitation, American Indian religion remains firmly
rooted in the soil of this land, as it has for centuries. Those
wishing to understand the embattled Indian religion, and its profound
relationship to the earth, won't find a better guide than Nabokov.
Chuck Leddy is a writer and book reviewer in Massachusetts