religious freedom

What happened

Three sources shape Native religious-freedom law: the First Amendment, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. The 1978 Act states a policy "to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions of the American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Native Hawaiians, including but not limited to access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites."

In Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association (1988), the Forest Service planned a road and timber harvest in an area the Yurok, Karok and Tolowa have historically used for religious purposes. The Court held the Free Exercise Clause did not prohibit it, even assuming the Government's actions would "virtually destroy the Indians' ability to practice their religion." It wrote that the AIRFA "does not create any enforceable legal right."

A RFRA challenge to the Oak Flat land exchange also failed. The en banc Ninth Circuit held the plan did "not impose a substantial burden on religious exercise," as Justice Gorsuch quoted it when dissenting from the Supreme Court's May 27, 2025 denial of review. He wrote that Oak Flat is a place where tribal members hold "religious ceremonies that cannot take place elsewhere."

Protection for sacred places on federal land comes mostly from consultation laws and executive policy, described in the sacred sites record.

Good to know. Justice Gorsuch's dissent, joined by Justice Thomas, states his own view, not the Court's.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error