National prayer days for sacred places facing threats across the land

Thursday, June 20, 2019  

The following is a statement from the Morning Star Institute on the 2019 National Sacred Places Prayer Days. The Morning Star Institute, based in Washington, D.C., has organized the annual Sacred Prayer Days since 2003.

• Full List: National Days of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places

Observances and ceremonies will be held across the land on the Summer Solstice, which is June 21 this year. The Solstice and the days before and after it mark the 2019 National Days of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places. The observance in Washington, D.C. will be held on the Solstice at 8:30 a.m., on the U.S. Capitol Grounds, Union Square, diagonally across the street from the National Museum of the American Indian on Third Street, SW/NW.

Descriptions of certain sacred places and threats they face, as well as times and places for public commemorations are listed in these pages. Some of the gatherings highlighted in this release are educational forums, not ceremonial, and are open to the general public.

Those that are both educational and ceremonial usually are open to the public. Most ceremonies are conducted in private. (See listings or contact those listed for specific guidance.)

In addition to those listed on these pages, there are myriad observances and prayers being offered at sacred places that are both under threat and not endangered at this time, but where privacy is needed.

“Native and non-Native Peoples gather at the Solstice and other times for ceremonies and events to honor sacred places. Everyone can participate in the National Prayer Days as a reminder to honor these precious lands and waters all the time by simply respecting them and not allowing them to be harmed,” said Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee). She is President of The Morning Star Institute, which has organized the Sacred Places Prayer Days since 2003.

“Observances are necessary,” she said, “in order to call attention to Native Peoples’ struggles with developers and others that are desecrating and harming Native sacred places.” The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1988 that the First Amendment and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act do not provide a right of action for Native Peoples to protect sacred places in court, and said that Congress would have to enact a statute for that purpose.

“Developers and many federal agencies have taken the Supreme Court ruling to mean that the steal sign is on and they can run roughshod over Native Peoples’ collective and individual rights and responsibilities to protect sacred places and site-specific ceremonies,” said Dr. Harjo. “Native Peoples have had to cobble together laws and regulations to protect sacred places on a piecemeal basis. While courts often find these solutions to be insufficient, some courts have prevented development or held desecrators accountable under these and other laws.

“Today, shamefully, development seems to trump Native sacred places, and health, well being and safety are being treated as expendable. Some of the strongest protections are being withdrawn or overrun unlawfully; consultation and other legal requirements are being ignored and undermined; and other available administrative and legislative strategies are being opposed and blocked.”

The Morning Star Institute – together with the Native American Rights Fund, the premiere Native legal organization, and the National Congress of American Indians, the oldest and largest national Indian and intertribal organization -- have called for a statutory cause of action, as well as a strengthened Executive Order on Indian Sacred Sites and consultative process. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has called on the U.S. to consult with and return sacred places to Native Peoples.

The NCAI membership and other Native Nations have called on federal agencies to review the manner in which they acquired jurisdiction regarding Native sacred places and whether such jurisdiction was taken with or without Native Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent. “This is the standard set by the world community of nations, when the United Nations approved the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” said Dr. Harjo. “An orderly process for protecting sacred places -- by returning them, jointly stewarding them or using agreed-upon methods to prevent desecration and repair damage -- would go a long way toward instilling confidence that the justice system can treat Native sacred places as well as it treats non-Native churches, which are fully accommodated by federal agencies, even on the public lands.

“Our coalitions and tribal advocates have provided details to federal agencies on how they can maintain mission consistency and use existing laws and policies to protect Native sacred places. We appreciate the efforts of those who are attempting to do so. We also appreciate the mighty efforts on Capitol Hill to use existing laws and find new approaches to defend Bears Ears, Chaco Canyon and other sacred landscapes during this new mining rush that is threatening to desecrate and injure Native Peoples, lands and waters.”

• Full List: National Days of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places

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