Native Traditions

At Sacred Hawaiian Site, Veneration Looks a Lot Like Litter

April 22, 2007

Source: The New York Times

Wire Service: AP

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/us/22Volcano.html

HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK, Hawaii, April 21 (AP) — Rangers here are starting a program to stop people from littering the summit of Kilauea with offerings like incense, candles and food that attract rats and cockroaches.

Some park visitors consider the items an offering to Pele, the Hawaiian fire goddess. But park service...

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A Celebration of Spring

April 22, 2007

Author: Cory Frolik

Source: Farmington Daily Times

http://www.daily-times.com/ci_5724640

FARMINGTON — From the way he was dancing at Saturday's Apple Blossom Contest Powwow, it was clear Joe Lafferty has done his fair share of practicing.

Although he bounced and shook vigorously with every pound of the drum, he never lost his balance — even when he supported all of his weight on one foot.

He did not so much as stumble, although he...

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Prayer Walk Brings More Focus on Revered Indian Sites

March 31, 2007

Author: Todd R. Brown

Source: San Mateo County Times

http://origin.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_5565046

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO - REEDY GRASSES swayed in the warm wind at the southeast edge of San Bruno Mountain, the clear sky capping the brown curve of the hillside, where about 35 people gathered in a circle Friday afternoon.

Wounded Knee DeOcampo stood in the center, wearing a black baseball cap and...

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Native Americans Win Appeal on 'Sewage' Snow

March 14, 2007

Source: Saturday Star

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3729169

San Francisco - An Arizona ski resort's plan to use treated sewage to make snow on a mountain sacred to several Native American tribes violates religious freedom laws.

This was the ruling on Monday of a United States federal appeals court.

"We hold that the Forest Service's approval of the proposed expansion of the Snowbowl, including the use of treated sewage effluent to make...

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American Indians Sue Maine Prison Again

February 13, 2007

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6413528,00.html

BANGOR, Maine (AP) - American Indian inmates have sued state prison officials again, claiming they've been denied access to key religious requirements such as a sweat lodge, powwows and ceremonial food and music.

The federal lawsuit filed this month said that while Catholic and Protestant inmates can worship privately in the prison chapel, American Indians must conduct...

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American Indians Sue Maine Prison Again

February 13, 2007

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6413528,00.html

BANGOR, Maine (AP) - American Indian inmates have sued state prison officials again, claiming they've been denied access to key religious requirements such as a sweat lodge, powwows and ceremonial food and music.

The federal lawsuit filed this month said that while Catholic and Protestant inmates can worship privately in the prison chapel, American Indians must conduct...

Read more about American Indians Sue Maine Prison Again

American Indians Sue Maine Prison Again

February 13, 2007

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6413528,00.html

BANGOR, Maine (AP) - American Indian inmates have sued state prison officials again, claiming they've been denied access to key religious requirements such as a sweat lodge, powwows and ceremonial food and music.

The federal lawsuit filed this month said that while Catholic and Protestant inmates can worship privately in the prison chapel, American Indians must conduct...

Read more about American Indians Sue Maine Prison Again

"Even Where Eagles Fly," a Commentary by Martin E. Marty

January 1, 2007

Author: Martin E. Marty

Source: Sightings

http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/sightings/archive_2007/0101.shtml

Weary as we have a right to be after the wearying December Wars that pit one kind of Christian versus all kinds of everyone else, or after ringing the latest changes on Muslim-Christian and everyone-else issues, let's turn away and lift our eyes, which means to do our "sighting" high above such conflicts and issues. We can take a...

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Wiccans Want Recognition as a Nature-Based Religion

December 24, 2006

Author: Scott Bauer

Source: Houston Chronicle

Wire Service: AP

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4422483.html

BARNEVELD, WIS.--” With an estimated 400,000 members nationwide, and a high-profile fight with the federal government over veterans' grave markers, Wiccans are moving into a more prominent place in the religious landscape.

Selena Fox is leading the way.

A Wiccan priestess...

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Rocky Swamp Church Celebrates Heritage Day with Storytelling, Dancing, Prayer

November 24, 2006

Author: Loretta Demko

Source: The Times and Democrat

http://www.thetandd.com/articles/2006/11/24/news/doc4567bcf4d4bf2670328211.txt

An intertribal Heritage Day Gathering at Rocky Swamp American Indian Ministries on Nov. 18 drew participants from several tribes including Ojibwa, Wassamasaw, Edisto, Cree, Cherokee and Lakota.

Rocky Swamp is South Carolina’s first native ministry to perpetuate a spiritual...

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Calera Tribe Celebrates Harvest, not Thanksgiving

November 21, 2006

Author: Meredith Donnelly

Source: Shelby County Reporter

http://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/articles/2006/11/22/lifestyles/life02.txt

Contrary to common Thanksgiving depictions of Pilgrims and Indians, according to Marsha “Many Moons” Rice, many Native Americans regard the fourth Thursday of November as a black day.

Some tribe members may celebrate the American holiday with their families, but members...

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An American Indian Accuses Federal Agents of Using Wildlife Laws to Thwart his Religious Practices

November 10, 2006

Author: James Pinkerton

Source: Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/4327210.html

MCALLEN -- When Apache holy man Robert Soto performs at American Indian powwows, it is with some indignation: He's been left to dance with turkey feathers.

The revered golden eagle feathers that once topped his colorful headdress have been locked up since March, seized by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent after a...

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