{"id":737659,"date":"2026-08-06T00:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T05:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=737659"},"modified":"2026-08-06T10:50:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T15:50:40","slug":"native-america-calling-testing-the-limits-of-religious-freedom-in-indian-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2026\/08\/06\/native-america-calling-testing-the-limits-of-religious-freedom-in-indian-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Native America Calling: Testing the limits of religious freedom in Indian Country"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"card mb-2\">\r\n  <div class=\"row\">\r\n    <div class=\"col-md-4 align-self-center\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/nativeamericacalling.jpg\" class=\"img-fluid\" alt=\"native america calling\"\/>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"col-md-8\">\r\n      <div class=\"card-body\">\r\n        <div class=\"h5-responsive card-title\">Native America Calling<\/div>\r\n        <div>\r\n           Listen to Native America Calling every weekday at 1pm Eastern.\r\n        <\/div>\r\n        <div>\r\n          <!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\r\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-1859-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/playerservices.streamtheworld.com\/api\/livestream-redirect\/NV1.mp3\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/playerservices.streamtheworld.com\/api\/livestream-redirect\/NV1.mp3\">http:\/\/playerservices.streamtheworld.com\/api\/livestream-redirect\/NV1.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>\r\n\t\t\tAlternate Links: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nv1.org\/\">Native Voice One<\/a> |\r\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativeamericacalling.com\/\">NAC<\/a>\r\n\t\t\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\"><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Thursday, August 6, 2026<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source-links\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativeamericacalling.com\/\"><i class=\"fas fa-link fa-xs\"><\/i> nativeamericacalling.com<\/a>\r\n&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nativeamericacalling\/\"><i class=\"fab fa-instagram fa-xs\"><\/i> nativeamericacalling<\/a>\r\n&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nativeamericacalling\"><i class=\"fab fa-facebook fa-xs\"><\/i> nativeamericacalling<\/a>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">\r\nTesting the limits of religious freedom\r\n<\/div>\r\nTwo separate instances are putting Native authority related to religious freedom to the test.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northernarapaho.com\/167\/Business-Council\">Northern Arapaho Tribe<\/a> demands the Christian ministry, Foundations Nations Church, leave the  Wind River  Reservation in Wyoming. The demand comes after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@cwrelentless\/video\/7659827840136891661\">video circulated on social media<\/a> showed one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buffalobulletin.com\/news\/foundations-for-nations-church-doubles-down-on-message-to-tribal-members\/article_09df61fa-441a-4412-a619-d90fec1c5b56.html\">church\u2019s pastors characterizing Native sacred practices<\/a> &#8212; including the Sun Dance &#8212; as \u201cidol worship\u201d and \u201cdemonic.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<blockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@cwrelentless\/video\/7659827840136891661\" data-video-id=\"7659827840136891661\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;\" > <section> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"@cwrelentless\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@cwrelentless?refer=embed\">@cwrelentless<\/a> Foundations for nations church in Wyoming. <a title=\"nativeamerican\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/nativeamerican?refer=embed\">#nativeamerican<\/a> <a title=\"indigenous\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/indigenous?refer=embed\">#indigenous<\/a> <a title=\"awareness\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/awareness?refer=embed\">#awareness<\/a> <a title=\"christianity\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/christianity?refer=embed\">#christianity<\/a> <a title=\"church\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/church?refer=embed\">#church<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"\u266c original sound - CW I am I can I will\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/music\/original-sound-7659827946345073421?refer=embed\">\u266c original sound &#8211; CW I am I can I will<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n Top tribal leadership calls the comments \u201cdespicable\u201d and link them to past abuses of Native Americans at the hands of Christian church officials. The Foundations Church leaders say they\u2019ll fight the tribe\u2019s efforts to remove them. Tune in to hear about what\u2019s next in the dispute.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAt the same time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclunebraska.org\/press-releases\/settlement-secures-new-protections-for-religion-in-nebraskas-prisons\/\">Native American inmates in a Nebraska state prison scored a victory in securing access to religious ceremonies<\/a>. In a settlement of a federal civil rights lawsuit, corrections officials lifted a temporary ban on accessing a place where Native men conducted ceremonies like sweats and smudges.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n Corrections officials had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclunebraska.org\/press-releases\/lawsuit-challenges-prison-ban-on-indigenous-faith-practices\/\">instituted the ban affecting Native ceremonies after finding contraband at the site<\/a>. Tune in to hear about the legal principles behind the outcome.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Faclunebraska%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0332zf7wtvkV7Z5Rz9JEVZSMcHdncreVSpBgPaV3z9cWwNcckjDw3urDvatPGSPvfHl&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"653\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Guests on Native America Calling<\/div> \r\nKeenan Groesbeck (Northern Arapaho), chairman of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northernarapaho.com\/167\/Business-Council\">Northern Arapaho Business Council<\/a> on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jesse-crispin-91408a248\">Jesse Crispin<\/a> (Northern Arapaho), council member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northernarapaho.com\/167\/Business-Council\">Northern Arapaho Business Council<\/a> on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAndi Snowball (Muscogee and Winnebago), associate attorney with <a href=\"https:\/\/bigfirelaw.com\/\">Big Fire Law and Policy Group LLP<\/a>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nCarter Matt, staff attorney with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aclunebraska.org\/\">ACLU Nebraska<\/a>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border-radius:12px\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/show\/4RE6juPYr7cl2Zsmb2zjq7?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"232\" frameBorder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">All Episodes on <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4RE6juPYr7cl2Zsmb2zjq7?si=2a56e59533534bf9\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativeamericacalling.com\/subscribe-to-podcast\/\">More Options<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<img src=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/06\/FoundationsforNationsMinistries.jpg width=0 height=0 class=invisible>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two separate instances are putting Native authority related to religious freedom to the test.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":737701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[7660,7661,1554,1573,180,7659,7658,410,243,133,69,414,61,134,278,876,356],"class_list":["post-737659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law","category-national","tag-andi-snowball","tag-carter-matt","tag-discrimination","tag-inmates","tag-internet","tag-jesse-crispin","tag-keenan-groesbeck","tag-law-firms","tag-media","tag-native-america-calling","tag-nebraska","tag-northern-arapaho","tag-racism","tag-radio","tag-religion","tag-sweat-lodges","tag-wyoming","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-35TJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/06\/FoundationsforNationsMinistries.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737659"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":737702,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737659\/revisions\/737702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}