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49 The฀Washoes฀had฀very฀little฀reason฀to฀hope฀for฀a฀favorable฀outcome ฀฀if฀their฀attempt฀to฀halt฀climbing฀at฀Cave฀Rock฀was฀taken฀into฀the฀ court฀system.฀Prior฀to฀the฀last฀decade฀of฀the฀twentieth฀century,฀no฀Native฀ American฀sacred฀site฀claim฀had฀ever฀been฀upheld฀in฀a฀federal฀court.฀While฀ Christian฀sites฀such฀as฀Catholic฀missions฀and฀the฀National฀Cathedral฀in฀ Washington,฀ D.C.,฀ gained฀ protection฀ as฀ national฀ monuments,฀ Native฀ sites฀continued฀to฀be฀exploited,฀developed,฀and฀destroyed. Euro-Americans฀have฀ignored฀Native฀property฀rights฀from฀the฀time฀ of฀earliest฀contact.฀Because฀at฀first฀the฀Natives฀themselves฀had฀no฀understanding ฀ of฀ the฀ American฀ concept฀ of฀ landownership,฀ the฀ newcomers฀ identified them฀as฀“hunter-gatherers”฀who฀had฀a฀transitory฀and฀impermanent ฀ relationship฀ with฀ specific sites.฀ European฀ immigrants฀ simply฀ appropriated฀the฀lands฀they฀coveted,฀either฀failing฀to฀recognize฀the฀sort฀ of฀communal฀ownership฀the฀Indians฀practiced฀or฀placing฀no฀value฀on฀it.1 In฀฀Chief฀Justice฀John฀Marshall฀issued฀what฀would฀become฀a฀landmark ฀ruling฀on฀the฀subject.฀In฀the฀case฀of฀Johnson฀v.฀M’Intosh,฀the฀Court฀ had฀to฀decide฀on฀the฀legal฀ownership฀of฀a฀piece฀of฀land.฀One฀of฀the฀parties ฀to฀the฀suit฀had฀purchased฀the฀land฀from฀Indians;฀the฀other฀had฀been฀ given฀ a฀ patent฀ of฀ ownership฀ for฀ the฀ land฀ by฀ the฀ federal฀ government.฀ The฀Court฀ruled฀in฀favor฀of฀the฀latter,฀writing฀that฀the฀Indians฀had฀never฀ owned฀the฀land,฀and฀thus฀had฀no฀right฀to฀sell฀it.฀Marshall฀ruled฀that฀the฀ United฀States,฀as฀a฀Christian฀nation,฀had฀inherited฀from฀England฀title฀to฀ all฀property฀in฀North฀America฀previously฀unclaimed฀by฀a฀Western฀nation.฀ Indians฀had฀the฀right฀to฀occupy฀land฀but฀could฀not฀own฀it.฀Since฀M’Intosh฀ the฀courts฀have฀consistently฀found฀for฀state฀interests,฀which฀have฀often฀ involved financial promotion, over฀Native฀American฀religious฀values.2 Courts฀ base฀ their฀ findings฀ on฀ precedent,฀ and฀ tens฀ of฀ thousands฀ of฀ property฀cases฀define฀recognized฀property฀rights.฀G.฀Jon฀Roush,฀presis i x Hunter-Gatherers฀and฀Courts 50 cave rock dent฀of฀the฀Wilderness฀Society,฀termed฀such฀rulings฀“the฀cover฀of฀law”฀ when฀he฀urged฀Congress฀in฀฀to฀protect฀sacred฀Indian฀sites.฀In฀his฀ dissent฀against฀the฀majority฀ruling฀in฀Lyng฀v.฀Northwest฀Indian฀Cemetery฀ Protective฀Association฀in฀,฀Supreme฀Court฀Justice฀William฀J.฀Brennan฀ Jr.฀ pointed฀ out฀ that฀ rather฀ than฀ balancing฀ the฀ competing฀ viewpoints฀ of฀Western฀culture฀and฀Native฀Americans,฀the฀court฀was฀both฀finding฀ against฀ the฀ Native฀ peoples฀ and฀ establishing฀ unassailable฀ precedent฀ for฀ the฀ future.฀ “The฀ Court,”฀ he฀ wrote,฀ “has฀ effectively฀ bestowed฀ on฀ one฀ party฀to฀this฀conflict฀the฀unilateral฀authority฀to฀resolve฀all฀future฀disputes ฀in฀its฀favor,฀subject฀only฀to฀the฀Court’s฀toothless฀exhortation฀to฀be฀ ‘sensitive’฀to฀affected฀religions.฀In฀my฀view,฀however,฀Native฀Americans฀ deserve—and฀ the฀ Constitution฀ demands—more฀ than฀ this.”฀ Only฀ two฀ justices฀joined฀in฀Brennan’s฀dissent.3 The฀ courts’฀ reasoning฀ has฀ always฀ centered฀ on฀ economic฀ concerns฀ and฀the฀issue฀of฀the฀government’s฀control฀of฀federal฀lands.฀Glen฀Canyon฀ Dam,฀built฀in฀฀to฀create฀Lake฀Powell,฀flooded฀a฀Navajo฀prayer฀site.฀ After฀the฀dam฀was฀finished,฀the฀Bureau฀of฀Reclamation฀raised฀the฀water฀ level฀behind฀it฀until฀the฀water฀entered฀Bridge฀Canyon,฀another฀important ฀religious฀and฀cultural฀feature.฀The฀higher฀water฀level฀gave฀tourists฀ easier฀access฀to฀the฀tribe’s฀sacred฀Rainbow฀Bridge.฀Earlier฀the฀Park฀Service ฀had฀licensed฀boat฀tours;฀now฀it฀promoted฀other฀activities฀around฀the฀ bridge.฀When฀the฀Court฀finally฀heard฀the฀tribe’s฀appeal฀in฀,฀it฀found฀ for฀the฀federal฀land฀managers฀despite฀its฀favorable฀view฀of฀the฀Navajos’฀ religious฀arguments.฀The฀interests฀of฀the฀tribe฀simply฀did฀not฀measure฀ up฀when฀weighed฀against฀the฀economic฀prosperity฀produced฀by฀Glen฀ Canyon฀Dam.4 Native฀American฀religious฀sites฀encompass฀lands฀used฀for฀ceremonies,฀ prayer,฀ vision฀ quests,฀ gravesites,฀ and฀ places฀ such฀ as฀ Cave฀ Rock฀ where฀ shamans฀work฀with฀power.5฀The฀fact฀that฀there฀are฀tens฀of฀thousands฀of฀ these฀sites฀and฀that฀they฀include฀vast฀expanses฀continues฀to฀cause฀problems ฀in฀acknowledging฀and฀preserving฀them.฀But฀even฀when฀only฀a฀small฀ property฀is฀at฀stake,฀the฀federal฀government฀tends฀not฀to฀give฀up฀control.฀ The฀government฀determines฀whether฀an฀area฀should฀be฀open฀to฀the฀public ,฀open฀to฀development,฀or฀protected฀as฀a฀historic฀site. Government฀ interests฀ that฀ have฀ been฀ awarded฀ precedence฀ over฀ ฀ Native฀ American฀ religious฀ concerns฀ include฀ logging,฀ road฀ building,฀ flood control,฀ navigation,฀ electric฀ power฀ generation,฀ the฀ construction฀ of฀ an฀ observatory,฀ and฀ recreational฀ uses฀ including฀ skiing.฀ In฀ the฀ case฀ [3.141.100.120] Project MUSE (2024-04-24 08:40 GMT...

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