{"id":49601,"date":"2022-10-23T16:18:33","date_gmt":"2022-10-23T23:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=49601"},"modified":"2022-10-23T16:18:33","modified_gmt":"2022-10-23T23:18:33","slug":"everyday-erinyes-341","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2022\/10\/23\/everyday-erinyes-341\/","title":{"rendered":"Everyday Erinyes #341"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto<\/span><\/strong>, Megaera<\/strong><\/span>, and Tisiphone<\/span><\/strong>. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”<\/p>\n

The premise of this article is summed up on one sentence from it: [T]he U.S. government has often acted as if Indian traditions were somehow not truly religious and therefore not eligible for the constitutional protections of the First Amendment. I would file that under Captain Obvious (or preferably under my NSFW way of saying the same.) Finally at least some progress is being made, though probably not enough and not fast enough. How wold you feel if the government wanted to, say, run an oil pipeline through the cemetery where your parents are buried? Or under your house?
\n==============================================================<\/p>\n

Native Americans\u2019 decadeslong struggle for control over sacred lands is making\u00a0progress<\/h1>\n
Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano in Hawaii, with an observatory visible on its summit. Native Hawaiians consider the mountain sacred and object to construction on it.
\nChris Condon\/PGA TOUR via Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rosalyn R. LaPier<\/a>, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Who should manage public land that is sacred to Native Americans?<\/p>\n

That is the question that the United States government and some states hope recent policy changes will address by giving Indigenous people greater input into managing such land. Co-management, as the policy is called, might alleviate the friction<\/a> that emerges when sacred landscapes are managed without Native American input.<\/p>\n

Mauna Kea, a 13,802-foot dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii, is one example. The mountain is managed as public land by the state of Hawaii. Native Hawaiians have protested<\/a> the state\u2019s management of Mauna Kea for decades, saying Hawaii has allowed too many research buildings on their sacred mountain, which disrupts their ability to practice their religion.<\/p>\n

This kind of conflict is not unique to Hawaii. Indigenous peoples have lived in what is now the United States for thousands of years<\/a> and developed intimate relationships with the lands they call home. For years, Native people across the country have demanded more input into how the government manages areas they consider sacred.<\/p>\n

Now, the government may finally be listening.<\/p>\n

\u2018We worship there\u2019<\/h2>\n

As a Native American scholar<\/a> of religion and the environment, I am interested in Indigenous peoples\u2019 relationship to the natural world<\/a> and their struggle to protect<\/a> their sacred landscapes.<\/p>\n

Native Hawaiians believe that Mauna Kea is the first creation<\/a> of the Earth Mother, Papah\u0101naumoku, and the Sky Father, W\u0101kea. The mountain is an important part of their origin narrative.<\/p>\n

For astronomers, the mountain has another significance. They believe<\/a> the summit of Mauna Kea has the clearest skies for conducting research. For the past 50 years, the state of Hawaii has leased the summit of the mountain to dozens of research institutions<\/a>. Together, they have built 13 telescopes and numerous buildings on Mauna Kea.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/a>
The Subaru, Keck I and Keck II Telescopes at the Mauna Kea Observatories.<\/span>
\nJulie Thurston Photography\/Contributor via Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For years Native Hawaiian leaders have argued that the state ignored their concerns over such construction. When Mauna Kea was selected in 2009<\/a> as the preferred site for the Thirty Meter Telescope, a new class of extremely large telescope, Native Hawaiians protested to stop the project.<\/p>\n

Native Hawaiians, like those from other Indigenous religious traditions, believe that sacred areas should be left alone<\/a> without roads or buildings because they are the homes of the divine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe worship there, the iwis of our kupuna [bones of our elders] are buried there,\u201d Mililani Trask<\/a>, the Hawaii island\u2019s trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, said at a public meeting regarding an environmental impact statement of Mauna Kea with the National Science Foundation on Aug. 9, 2022. \u201cNo,\u201d she continued, \u201cyou will not build here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state of Hawaii is hoping to address this ongoing conflict with the creation of a new eight-person commission<\/a> that includes three Native Hawaiian leaders to manage Mauna Kea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we can find a way for science and culture to coexist on Mauna Kea in a mutually beneficial way,\u201d Hawaiian Gov. David Ige<\/a> said on Sept. 12, 2022, when he announced the new commission.<\/p>\n

What makes land sacred?<\/h2>\n

Native American religions, similar to other religions, view areas as sacred because they are the homes of gods or places that are sanctified by a god. Sacred places<\/a> may be physically small or large areas, they may be built or natural areas, such as churches and shrines, or mountains and rivers.<\/p>\n

Religious studies scholars such as Tisa Wenger<\/a> have argued that religious freedom for Native Americans<\/a> has been difficult because \u201cthe U.S. government has often acted as if Indian traditions were somehow not truly religious and therefore not eligible for the constitutional protections of the First Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>
People call for the protection of sacred Indigenous spaces to commemorate the delivery of a totem pole carved by the Lummi Nation as a gift to President Joe Biden on July 29, 2021, in Washington, D.C.<\/span>
\nJemal Countess\/Getty Images for Native Organizers Alliance<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In one dispute in the 1980s<\/a>, the U.S. Forest Service wanted to construct a road across a sacred mountain in Northern California. A consortium of tribes fought back, and the case ended in the Supreme Court; the tribes lost.<\/p>\n

Following that decision, in 1996, President Bill Clinton created a definition<\/a> of Native American sacred land as a \u201cspecific, discrete, narrowly delineated location on Federal land.\u201d<\/p>\n

This language intentionally excludes large areas such as mountains or open landscapes in favor of smaller sites. That does not fully represent the variety of places that Native peoples consider sacred<\/a>, say religious studies scholars, leading to inevitable clashes over the meaning and uses of such lands.<\/p>\n

Co-management is one small step<\/h2>\n

On Sept. 13, 2022, Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland released new federal guidelines<\/a> to help address these long-standing conflicts.<\/p>\n

This new policy, which focuses on publicly managed areas that Native Americans view as sacred or culturally important, will allow some tribes to share management responsibilities with federal agencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy acknowledging and empowering Tribes as partners in co-stewardship of our country\u2019s lands and waters, every American will benefit from strengthened management of our federal land and resources,\u201d Haaland said.<\/p>\n

In a related effort, Congress on Sept. 14 held hearings on two new bills<\/a> to address this same issue. If they pass, their backers hope they will facilitate the inclusion of \u201ctribal management of public lands\u201d and strengthen the \u201cprotection of sacred and cultural sites.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such changes are \u201ca small step, but an important one, in giving Tribal nations the respect and authority they deserve,\u201d said Rep. Ra\u00fal M. Grijalva<\/a>, a Democrat from Arizona.<\/p>\n

But, he added<\/a> of the federal government\u2019s new desire to share land management with tribes, \u201cThere is no deed that can undo or fully compensate for this country\u2019s historical neglect and desecration of Indigenous Peoples\u2019 culture and places that are sacred to them.\u201d\"The<\/p>\n

Rosalyn R. LaPier<\/a>, Professor of HIstory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

==============================================================
\nAlecto<\/span><\/strong>, Megaera<\/strong><\/span>, and Tisiphone<\/span><\/strong>, I realize I am preaching to the choir here. But, I don’t know, maybe the choir needs to sing louder. Both bills mentioned here have been introduced – and that is not nothing, because it means they have made it through some committees and gotten to the House floor. But that’s all. Neither has passed. I didn’t look up the Senate versions (which were also introduced), but dang, if the House can’t get it done – the Senate is even more of a jungle – I don’t really expect much from this Senate. It surely appears to me they will need to be re-introduced in the 118th Congress, or else they will die. Anyone can track them at these links – HR 8108<\/a> and HR 8109<\/a> – those are the general pages, and one can dig deeper from them.<\/p>\n

The Furies and I will be back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":46415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3729,4028,5186,5085],"class_list":["post-49601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-furies","tag-native-americans","tag-public-lands","tag-religious-freedom","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}