Parliament of Worlds Religion 1999 Capetown SA

Author(s): Parliament of the World’s Religions
Publisher: USA Parliament of the Worlds Religions

Page 28

1
9 9 9
PARLIAMENT
PARLIAMENT
AMERICA'S SHADOW STRUGGLE
O F
Native American Religious Freedom In this symposium, Professor Huston Smith interviews Native American elders on the complex issues of America's dark history, and the struggle on behalf of Native American's for Religious Freedom in their land.
These eloquent and insightful elders will discuss the history and the struggle with Professor Smith, who world renowned contemporary authority on the history of religions. He has taught at Washington University, MIT and Syracuse University, and most recently as visiting Professor at The University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of many books including. The World's Religions, and is the subject of a recent Bill Moyers' television series, The Wisdom Of Faith.
All presentations in this symposium will take place in Lecture Theater Two. 2 December, 10:00 a.m. 10:45 a.m.
Freedom From Fear: Persecution of Native American Religions - Past and Present
In this session, Walter Echo-Hawk and Professor Smith will review the history of oppression on the Indigenous religions in the United States and outline current concerns and potential remedies. This session will lay the groundwork for all the future sessions.
Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee) is an Attorney, lobbyist, tribal judge, scholar and a leader in the legal struggles for American Indian religious freedom. He is a Senior Staff Attorney of The Native American Rights Fund of Boulder, Colorado, and author of the book Battlefields and Burial Grounds; The Indian Struggle To Protect Ancestral Graves in the United States.
2 December, 11:00-11:45 a.m.
The Triumph of the Native American Church - A Reason For Hope
In this session, Frank Dayish, Jr. and Professor Smith will summarize the recent triumphant struggle of The Native American Church for religious freedom as documented in Professor Smith's book, One Nation Under God. They'll discuss the current ramifications for the other religions of America and ponder potential future problems.
SYMPOSIA
Frank Dayish, Jr. (Dine) is the former President of the Native American Church of North America, and a leader in the triumphant struggle to overturn the infamous U.S. Supreme Court Smith Decision, which threatened the religious freedom of 250,000 N.A.C. church members, and which was overturned by a 1994 act of U.S. Congress.
3 December, 10:00 a.m. 10:45 a.m.
A Place to Pray: Mother Earth, the Virgin Mother
In this session Winona LaDuke and Professor Smith discuss the interdependence of Native religions and Mother Earth. They'll consider pollution and clear cutting as religious persecution. and suggest respect for the creation as the remedy.
Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabeg) is an internationally acclaimed environmental and human rights activist, and a visionary for political, spiritual and ecological transformation. She is currently the Director of the Honor the Earth Fund, and a Founding Director of both the White Earth Land Recovery Project and the Indigenous Women's Network. She is also the author of All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life.
3 December, 11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Sacred Sites: Issues of Access and Protection
In this session Charlotte Black Elk and Professor Smith discuss the significance of the Black Hills of South Dakota on her people's religion, and they'll propose solutions to protect prayer sites and provide unlimited access for Native peoples.
Charlotte Black Elk (Oglala Lakota) is the primary advocate for
THE
WORLD'S
RELIGIONS
protection of, and Native access to, the Black Hills of South Dakota. She is an authority in the verification of the Lakota oral tradition. She is the Great granddaughter of Nicholas Black Eik, the subject of John Neihardt's book, Black Elk Speaks.
4 December, 10:00 a.m. 10:45 a.m. Destruction of Native Languages and its Effect on Ceremony In this session Oren Lyons and Professor Smith discuss the history of governmental efforts to destroy Native languages and the resulting damage to Native ceremonies. Chief Lyons will describe current efforts to save what has not yet been lost. Oren Lyons (Onondaga) is the Faith Keeper of The Turtle Clan. He is a world renowned voice of Indigenous wisdom, and author of the book, Exiled In The Land Of The Free. He is the Director of Native American Studies, State University of New York at Buffalo, and subject of the Bill Moyer's television special, The Faithkeeper.
4 December, 11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Prisioner's Rights: Access to Ceremonies
In this session Lenny Foster and Professor Smith discuss current injustices faced by incarcerated Native Americans, which no other race or religion in the U.S. faces. Mr. Foster will describe the situation inside prisons, and will propose remedies. Lenny Foster (Dine) is co-author of numerous pieces of legislation that make possible the practice of Native spiritual and religious practices in prisons. He is Spiritual Advisor to Native Americans in 89 Federal and State prisons. He is currently the Director of the Navajo Nation Corrections Project, and Coordinator of the National Native American Prisoners Rights Advocates Coalition.
5 December, 10:00 a.m. 10:45 a.m. The Threat of Scientism: The Jesuit Astrophysicists say "That Mountain is Not Sacred"
In this session, Anthony Guy Lopez and Professor Smith will discuss the dangers of organized religion partnering with science, as in the case of the Vatican Observatory constructing telescopes on the summit of Mount Graham in Arizona against the wishes of the Apache people, who know it as a sacred place. Anthony Guy Lopez (Crow Creek Sioux) is the National organizer for the Student Environmental Action Coalition's struggle against construction of the Vatican Observatory atop Mount Graham, Arizona. He is the Program Director of the American Indian Endangered Species and policy analyst at The Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson.
5 December, 11:00 a.m. 11:45 a.m.
The Human Genome Diversity Project: a Fundamental Lack of Respect
In this session Tonya Gonnella Frichner and Professor Smith will trace the chronological roots of disrespect for Indigenous religions from the infamous Papal Bull declaring Indian people as sub-human, to the Human Genome
Diversity Project where scientists decide certain Indigenous populations are close to extinction and react by gathering blood, hair and tissue samples for use in genetic research, patents and profits.
Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga) is the Founder and President of the American Indian Law Alliance of New York City. She is also a delegate to the United Nations Sub-Committee on Human Rights/Working Group on Indigenous Populations, and a leader in international advocacy on behalf of Indigenous Peoples.
7 December, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
A Prayer for the New Millennium
This session allows participants to ask questions to all the symposium panelists. The symposium will culminate in this session with a ceremony intended to help purge the sorrows of the past, and express a collective vision for religious freedom for Indigenous people's worldwide.
27 www.jainelibrary.org