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Old Ground And New Directions At Sacred Sites On The Western Landscape, Kristen A. Carpenter
Old Ground And New Directions At Sacred Sites On The Western Landscape, Kristen A. Carpenter
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The federal public lands contain places with both religious and secular value for American people. American Indians, in particular, hold certain natural features to be sacred, and visit them for ceremonies and worship. Simultaneously, non-Indians use the same places for economic, recreation, and many other purposes - and conflicts arise between these groups. In the past twenty years, a body of constitutional jurisprudence has developed to address questions of religious freedoms and public access rights on these lands that are owned and managed by the federal government. This article outlines the relevant First Amendment framework as well as recent statutes …
In The Absence Of Title: Responding To Federal Ownership In Sacred Sites Cases, Kristen A. Carpenter
In The Absence Of Title: Responding To Federal Ownership In Sacred Sites Cases, Kristen A. Carpenter
Publications
This paper examines the challenge of protecting American Indian sacred sites located on federal public lands. Many have addressed this issue in the religious freedoms context, but I believe the problem is just as much about property law. The Supreme Court's decision in Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association, for example, would appear to suggest that federal ownership of certain sacred sites trumps tribal free exercise clause claims regarding those sites. This holding corresponds with a classic model in which "[p]roperty is about rights over things and the people who have those rights are called owners." However, a …