The Stand and Prayers for the First Nations Sacred Places

THE MORNING STAR INSTITUTE
611 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 547-5531 / 546-6724-fax
JUNE 20 SET FOR NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER TO PROTECT SACRED PLACES

Washington, DC (6/10/03)—Leaders of a nationwide coalition have set June 20 as the National Day of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places. Observances will be held on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and in several locations throughout the United States.
“Native and non-Native people across the country will greet the sun on June 20 with prayers, songs, talks and moments of silence dedicated to the health and well being of our sacred places,” said Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee), President of The Morning Star Institute.
The Morning Star Institute, a leading national organization in the protection of Native American cultural property rights and religious freedom, is coordinating the Day of Prayer events for the Sacred Places Protection Coalition. The national Coalition was formed to address the growing number of Native American holy places that are facing serious assaults.
Native Americans have been trying since the 1960s to gain protections for sacred lands and waters. While numerous Native American sacred places have been returned or otherwise protected by federal law, there is no specific cause of action that will allow Native Peoples to defend sacred places in court. The national Coalition has identified a cause of action to protect sacred places as a top legislative priority.
“We deserve the legal tools that are available to all non-Native Americans to protect their churches,” said Ms. Harjo. “Without these, many federal and state representatives do not take us seriously and are increasingly comfortable in making unilateral decisions that impede our religious freedom and damage or destroy our sacred places. We hope to change that.”Prayer Day on the U.S. Capitol Grounds
In Washington, D.C., the National Day of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places will be observed on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Grounds, starting at Sunrise and continuing until approximately 11:30 a.m. For more information, contact The Morning Star Institute at (202) 547-5531.
Gathering at the U.S. Capitol will be representatives of organizations that form the Sacred Places Protection Coalition. Among these are the Association on American Indian Affairs (AAIA), the Indigenous Nations Network, the Medicine Wheel Coalition on Sacred Sites of North America, The Morning Star Institute, the National Congress of American Indians, the Native American Rights Fund and the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP).
Other tribal and organizational members of the Sacred Places Protection Coalition will be represented at Prayer Day activities in other parts of the country.
Representing the Medicine Wheel Coalition at the Capitol Grounds will be President Francis Brown, a Traditional Elder of the Northern Arapaho Tribe; Steve Brady, Sr., a Headsman of the Northern Cheyenne Crazy Dogs Society; and Vice President George Sutton, a Traditional Southern Cheyenne Chief.
The Medicine Wheel Coalition, represented by the AAIA, has intervened on the federal side of a case to defend the Historic Preservation Plan designed to protect the sacred Bighorn Medicine Wheel and Medicine Mountain in Wyoming.
Also joining the circle on the Capitol Grounds will be representatives from Capitol Hill, from the National Museum of the American Indian and from the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, the River Road Unitarian Church, the United Methodist Church Global Board for Church and Society and other churches and religious organizations in the Washington area.Observances Across the United States
Observances that are open to the general public will take place in various cities, including those listed below. Other observances and ceremonies will be conducted privately at various sacred places, including some of the most endangered ones.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, an observance will take place at the Morning Star House, 6001 Marble Avenue, NE. For details, contact Gwendolyn Dale Packard (Yankton Sioux), Director of the Morning Star House, at (505) 232-8299 or by e-mail (morningstarwomen@qwest.net).
In Boulder, Colorado, the Prayer Day will be observed at the headquarters of the Native American Rights Fund, 1506 Broadway. John Emhoolah, Kiowa & Arapaho Elder and member of the Native American Church, will begin the event with a Prayer Ceremony. Songs will be offered by Walter R. Echo-Hawk, Sr, (Pawnee), NARF Staff Attorney. For more information, contact Rose Brave Cuny (Oglala Lakota), NARF Office Manager, at (303) 447-8760.
In Green Bay, Wisconsin, there will be an observance of Prayer Day at the Native American Journalists Association Annual Convention at the Radisson Hotel. For additional information, contact Montoya A. Whiteman (Cheyenne), Development & Public Relations Administrator for the Native American Rights Fund, at (303) 447-8760. Native and non-Native journalists wishing to join the circle should contact Ms. Whiteman or should meet in the hotel lobby before Sunrise.
In Lawrence, Kansas, an observance will take place at Haskell-Baker Wetlands, starting at Sunrise and continuing until approximately 9:00 a.m., to call attention to the wetlands and ceremonial site and burial ground there that are being threatened by a highway development project. For additional information, contact Michael Caron (785-842-6293) and Dayna Carlton (785-865-2861), with Save the Wetlands.
Activities will take place at threatened sites along the Missouri River, including the Yankton Sioux Tribe’s annual Walking in Memory of the Ancestors. Runners from the White Swan/West direction will gather at the North Point/East White Swan Burial/Sacred Site and offer prayers for protection of the ancestors and all sacred places. Francis Bernie is the contact for the Camp for the Ancestors, Ihanktonwan Ocet, Defenders of All Sacred Things.
For additional information regarding the Yankton activities, contact Faith Spotted Eagle (Ihanktonwan Dakota/Nakota) of the Tribal White Swan/North Point Negotiating Team and The Braveheart Society, Yankton Sioux Tribe, Lake Andes, South Dakota, at (605) 840-2700 or by e-mail (eagletrax@hotmail.com); and Sharon Drapeau (605-487-7871 or 605-491-0233) and Kenny Honomichle (605-384-3621).
Observances at other sacred places on the Missouri River are being coordinated by Pemina Yellow Bird (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara), who is a Cultural Rights Specialist for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation in North Dakota. Ms. Yellow Bird can be reached at (701) 477-9412 or by e-mail (Pemina@hotmail.com).
In 2002, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) listed the Missouri River as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. For information about that listing and the Native American historic and sacred sites, contact Scott Jones (Lower Brule Sioux), Public Relations Director for the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule, South Dakota, at (605) 730-0515 or by e-mail (socky@wcenet.com).
For further information about Missouri River sites – and about Bear Butte in South Dakota which is threatened by a gunnery range proposed for location within earshot of the holy mountain -- contact Jamie R. Ducheneaux (Cheyenne River Lakota), Tribal Historic Preservation Office of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, at (605) 964-7554, (605) 964-7553 or by e-mail (crpreserv@sat.net).
In New York City, the American Indian Community House is sponsoring an observance at the Noon hour at the American Indian Community House, 708 Broadway. For more information, contact Rosemary Richmond (Mohawk), AICH Executive Director, at (212) 598-0100 or by e-mail (akwesasne@aol.com).
A morning gathering will be held in Phoenix, Arizona, at a location to be determined. For updated information, contact Cal Seciwa (Zuni), who is Director of the American Indian Institute at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, at (480) 965-8044 or by e-mail (Calbert.Seciwa@asu.edu). Also on June 20 in Phoenix, the Heard Museum will show the Sacred Lands Film Project’s In the Light of Reverence at 10:00 a.m.
In Sacramento, California, Indian people will gather at the south side of the State Capitol Building for a Sunrise Ceremony and morning address of words and wisdom on protecting American Indian sacred places and cultures in California from further threats and destruction. The gathering will begin at 5:15 a.m. and conclude at 11:30 a.m.
For information about the Prayer Day activities in Sacramento and about endangered sacred places in California, contact Mark LeBeau (916-929-9761 or mark.lebeau@mail.his.gov), Mickey Gemmill (530-242-4510) and Radley Davis (530-275-1650 or radleyad@aol.com) of the Pitt River Nation; and Phillip Hunter (Yokuts), Vice Chairperson of the Tule River Tribal Government (559-781-4271).
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Prayer Day Blessing and Offering will be at the Tulsa Creek Indian Community Field Arbor Community Garden Site, 8601 S. Union Ave. For additional information, contact TICAR49@MSN.COM and Hopayi@aol.com.
The Tulsa Indian Coalition Against Racism (TICAR) and the Redstick Vision Keepers have planned their observance to last for one hour after Sunrise and to include a Sacred Sites Fire Blessing and Offering and a Tobacco and Water Blessing for Sacred Mother Earth. Everyone is advised to bring a small container for water to take home. The Redstick Vision Keepers will remain to watch the fire until 8:00 a.m., so that others can offer their prayers.
The focus in Tulsa will be on sacred places nationwide, especially those that are sacred to the nearly 40 Indian nations in Oklahoma that were removed from their homelands to Indian Territory in the 1800s. One such place in the traditional homeland of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation is the Ocmulgee Old Fields in Georgia, a ceremonial and burial ground, which is threatened by a state highway project. The Ocmulgee Old Fields is listed on the NTHP’s 2003 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a traditional cultural property.Examples of Native American Sacred Places Under Attack
The following endangered sacred places were identified in San Diego, California, at a Nov. 8-9, 2002 gathering to protect sacred places and at the National Congress of American Indians Nov. 10-15, 2002 annual convention.
Among the endangered sacred places identified in California are the following:
Medicine Lake, a Pitt River Nation ceremonial and healing place in the Modoc National Forest in northeastern California, is threatened by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service decision to permit the state-funded Calpine Corporation to build a network of geothermal power plant facilities to produce electricity to export to Bonneville Power Administration for consumers in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Indian Pass, which was named on the 2002 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, is a sacred place in the California Desert area that is threatened by the BLM’s decision permitting Glamis Gold, Ltd., to undertake what the Quechan Indian Tribe calls a “massive, open-pit cyanide heap-leach gold mine on 1,600 acres.”
Coastal Chumash lands in the Gaviota Coastal region in southern California.
Yurok Nation’s salmon fisheries in the Klamath River affected by the Interior Department’s waterflow decreases.
Berry Creek, Moore Town and Enterprise Rancherias’ lands impacted by the California Water Project’s fluctuation zone at the Oroville Dam Reservoir.
the sacred Puvungna of the Tongva and Acjachemen Peoples.
the sacred Katuktu (Morro Hill) of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians.
The groups called for the protection and recovery of these identified sacred places in the Southwest:
in Arizona -- Apache holy land, Mount Graham, from the FS and the University of Arizona’s development of a massive telescope project; Hualapai Nation landforms in Truxton and Crozier Canyons from private extraction of boulders for decorative landscaping; Hopi and Navajo lands and the Navajo aquifer from slurry coal mining by Peabody Coal Company; the San Francisco Peaks from FS and private expansion of the Arizona Snow Bowl; and the Boboquivari Mountain of the Tohono O’Odham Nation.
in New Mexico -- the micaceous clay-gathering place of the Picuris Pueblo from mica mining by Oglebay Norton Specialty Minerals; and Zuni Salt Lake, also on the 2003 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, from coal strip mining by the Salt River Project.
in Texas -- Carrizo/Comecrudo lands flooded by Amistad Lake and Falcon Dam.
Other sacred places identified as under attack now, include the following:
Badlands, Black Hills, Medicine Wheel and Missouri River in the Plains.
Semiahmah Village burial ground and Snoqualmie Falls in Washington.
Pipestone National Monument and Cold Water Springs in Minnesota.
Hickory Ground ceremonial and burial ground in Alabama.
Ocmulgee National Monument and Ocmulgee Old Fields in Georgia.
Taino Caguana ceremonial site in Puerto Rico.
Yaqui Zona Indigena in Sonora, Mexico.