Native neighbors

Here’s a fact that surprises a lot of people. There is no single “Native American religion.” There are hundreds of nations, each with its own language, history, ceremonies and ways of understanding the sacred.

The federal government recognizes 575 tribes, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Many more Native communities are recognized by states, or are still seeking federal recognition. Each tribe is a nation with its own government, not a club and not a costume.

Many paths, sometimes at once

Native people practice faith in many ways. Many are Christian, with deep roots in Catholic, Protestant and other churches. Many keep the traditional ways of their own nation. Many do both, and don’t see why they should have to choose. Some belong to the Native American Church, incorporated in 1918, which brings together Christian teaching and Native traditions and uses peyote as a sacrament.

Your Native neighbor might sing in a church choir on Sunday and take part in a family ceremony on Saturday. That’s not confusion. That’s a person.

A hard history, said plainly

For a long time, the United States tried to stamp these traditions out. Starting in 1883, federal Courts of Indian Offenses prosecuted Native people for taking part in ceremonies such as the Sun Dance. Many spiritual leaders were jailed. The stated aim was to replace Native ways with Christianity.

We are Christians, and we’d rather say that out loud than leave it out. Faith forced at the point of a law isn’t faith. It’s just law.

On August 11, 1978, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act became law. It declared that Native Americans have the right to believe and practice their traditional religions, including access to sacred sites, use of sacred objects, and freedom to hold ceremonies. A 1994 amendment protected the use of peyote in traditional ceremonies. The law was a promise more than a fence, and tribes still work to protect sacred places.

Northern Arizona

In northern Arizona, Native neighbors are not a chapter in a textbook. They’re the next town over.

The Navajo Nation, whose people call themselves Diné, covers about 27,000 square miles across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. It’s the largest reservation in the country. Navajo Parks and Recreation asks visitors to get permission before taking pictures of people and to respect family homesites.

The Hopi Tribe lives in 12 villages on three mesas in northeastern Arizona, surrounded by the Navajo Nation. Hopi villages ask visitors not to record anything: no photos, no video, no audio, not even sketches. Not every ceremony is open to the public. When one is, guests stand at the edges and stay quiet.

How to be a good guest

• Don’t photograph, record or copy ceremonies. Some things are not for sharing.
• Don’t buy “sacred” items or headdresses as souvenirs or costumes.
• Ask what a person’s nation is, not whether they’re “really” Native.
• When in doubt, ask, and then listen to the answer.

Try it on

The last time you saw Native dress used as a costume or a logo, did you see a people, or a product?