Jimmy Lee Beason: Native people still denied religious freedom on their own lands

Thursday, July 4, 2019  

Amendment I

  Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof… 
-- U.S. Constitution, 1789 

Every 4th of July, Americans will stand a little taller, shoulders back as they admire “old glory” fluttering in the breeze outside their homes hoping the winds of patriotism will cleanse them of all unpatriotic impurities. Mainstream media outlets will broadcast segments in celebration of “independence” and show interesting little anecdotes about America’s birthday. Periodicals are published that invoke feelings of a glorious past slathered in the red, white and blue colors of “freedom”. Freedom of speech, freedom to choose and freedom of religion.  

When it comes to the concept of “religious freedom” in America, it is a given that Christianity is the de facto faith of the nation. From holidays to public prayers that invoke Jesus Christ, it is assumed that most people will abide by Christian observances. Even if you are not a devout worshipper of the “good book”, Christian privilege is flaunted in your face as if it were a platinum plated crown of thorns sported by Kendall Jenner.  

Although the 1st amendment sounded good on paper and made the “founding fathers” of America feel morally upright (while benefitting from the labor of enslaved Africans), the application of these concepts were drastically uneven or non-existent, especially when it concerned the Indigenous nations of North America. European invaders were rather intolerant of Native traditional spirituality and often viewed our ceremonies as “satanic,” declaring our ancestors as nothing more than minions of Lucifer ready to impale God’s servants with red hot pitchforks. 

Which is a rather smug position to take, considering Europeans who fled their homelands to escape religious persecution ended up persecuting the very people who took them in and instructed them how to grow crops and survive the winter. This intolerance and indifference towards a group of people they didn’t understand and ultimately feared, was eventually codified into American laws and policies based on religious and racial superiority that were aimed at Indigenous people of North America at the height of our colonization.  

One of the most blatant examples of this legalized religious persecution on the part of the U.S. government is found in a document entitled “Rules Governing the Court of Indian Offenses” (1883) that was sent out to reservation administrators from Hiram Price, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, as a means to stamp out tribal spirituality, culture and customs.   As the following excerpt from that memo aptly demonstrates: 

“The ‘sun-dance,’ the ‘scalp-dance,’ the ‘war-dance,' and all other so-called feasts assimilating thereto, shall be considered ‘Indian offenses,’ and any Indian found guilty of being a participant in any one or more of these ‘offenses’ shall, for the first offense committed, be punished by withholding from the person or persons so found guilty by the court his or their rations for a period not exceeding ten days; and if found guilty of any subsequent offense under this rule, shall by punished by withholding his or their rations for a period not less than fifteen days, nor more than thirty days, or by incarceration in the agency prison for a period not exceeding thirty days.” 

It is rather apparent that Native people were not afforded the right to practice their spirituality in their own lands as “promised” by the Constitution and were thus criminalized for their spiritual practices with threats of imprisonment, withholding of rations and fines. The restrictive nature of reservation life during this time also made these “punishments” a little easier for U.S. officials to enforce, considering they were little more than prisoner of war camps. Spiritual leaders, such as medicine men, were also viewed as barriers in the transformative path of Natives being led toward “European civilization” by benevolent Christians, as another excerpt of the text states:  

“The usual practices of so-called ‘medicine-men’ shall be considered ‘Indian offenses’...and whenever it shall be proven to the satisfaction of the court that the influence or practice of a so-called ‘medicine-man’ operates as a hindrance to the civilization of a tribe, or that said ‘medicine-man’ resorts to any artifice or device to keep the Indians under his influence, or shall adopt any means to prevent the attendance of children at the agency schools [Indian boarding schools], or shall use any of the arts of a conjurer to prevent the Indians from abandoning their heathenish rites and customs, he shall be adjudged guilty of an Indian offense, and upon conviction of any one or more of these specified practices, or, any other, in the opinion of the court, of an equally anti-progressive nature, shall be confined in the agency prison for a term not less than ten days, or until such time as he shall produce evidence satisfactory to the court, and approved by the agent, that he will forever abandon all practices styled Indian offenses under this rule.” 

 Other “rules” found in this memorandum forbid plural marriage (typically one man with multiple wives), gift giving as a part of marriage customs and “give aways” of a deceased relatives belongings. Due to these outrageous and highly demeaning policies, many ceremonies and traditional forms of spirituality were lost. Medicine people were deterred from passing this knowledge on to the youth during this systematic attack on Native adults and children that is nothing short of cultural genocide spurned by racism.  

This does not mean all traditional forms of spirituality were entirely lost, however. Measures were taken on the part of spiritual leaders and traditionalists (depending on the people and community) during this time of spiritual repression that ensured protocols and ceremonies were kept intact as much as they could.  

For example, cultural dances that were frowned upon by reservation officials, might be allowed to transpire if the reasoning offered was to “praise America” during a holiday such as Independence Day. When white administrators knew their ego was going to be stroked after being told a dance was to be held in their honor, they relished at the chance to bask in the glory from a troupe of grateful “savages” drumming and singing about how “magnificent” the white man is.  

Jimmy Lee Beason II (M.S.W.) is a member of the Osage Nation and is a faculty member of the Indigenous and American Indian Studies department at Haskell Indian Nations University. His writings and research focus on Decolonization, Native empowerment and social justice advocacy for Native communities. You can contact or follow him on Instagram @osage_native_scholar 

Copyright permission Native Sun News Today