1. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is a federal law that governs the Indian Gaming in order to provide security for the industry and restrict involvement from State governments. The Act signed by President Ronald Regan, provides financial stability to American Indian Governments and sets up a regulatory standard for all tribes to follow in the interest of fairness. The Act comprises of three classes. Class I has minor games such as raffles and conducted only during local festivals or ceremonies. The prizes awarded are in any range since the State Government cannot have any ceiling. The State officials will have no jurisdiction over this class either.
According to Wayne Stein in chapter 8, the benefits of the gaming industry will help funding the American Indian populations significantly. The economy in the nation today is not conducive to increase taxpayers’ dollars in funding to the tribal governments. There are multitudes of issues that will hinder the free operations. The Tribal Government and their inhabitants only answer to the Federal government. Hence, it is difficult to involve any state officials even to enforce the letter of the law. This shortcoming keeps the State governments alert to any opportunity they can exploit and alter the rights of the tribal government. The incessant lawsuits are both expensive and invasive for tribal governments.
2. The primary source of food for the Wabanaki people was meat, fish, and forest produce. However, when the number of settlers constantly increased, the resources became scarce. The tribesmen took up work in factories and mills to support their families since the influx of settlers increased dramatically throughout the 1800s. Their experience with modern tools taught the Wabanaki people to fashion their traditional Ash wood baskets to suit the needs of their customers. Initially, the baskets found their use in American households as containers. The newly fashioned baskets became popular for their artistic value. The traditional design for the baskets involved weaving the baskets around a rock or any other natural shape. The new shaping mechanism involved industrially produced shapes to fashion the designs. Therefore, the Wabanaki basket making trade gained significantly from the rise of industrialization in the United States.
Throughout the 1800s, all the popular summer resort destinations drew thousands of tourists fleeing winter. Their stay usually lasted until the beginning of fall. During this period, the Wabanaki people left their traditional reservations to sell their wares to the tourist population. The tourists flocked to purchase fancy decorative baskets from the artisans. The artisans mimicked Victorian style creations for a much cheaper price. This made their wares irresistible to the American middle class. The Wabanaki basket people made their presence in the exact same spots each year to the point where entire generations used the same locations. The production of the baskets and other decorative works involved large family units. They weaved the baskets by sitting together and swapping stories as they worked. When the demand for the baskets increased, they hired women from their Canadian counterparts to meet the demands. There were families who moved into the cities during seasons like Christmas to sell their wares. Others chose to market their products through Indian Agents or through retailers. There were a few of them who camped in resort compounds temporarily. The resorts welcomed the Wabanaki people since they attracted tourists to their resorts.
The Great Depression inflicted a crushing blow to the Wabanaki basket industry as it did with several other businesses in the United States. A large percentage of Americans did not have employment. This resulted in the middle class feeling the brunt of it. Since they were always the target consumers of Wabanaki artifacts, the artisans felt the impact too. Some family units attempted to fill in for international orders or for bulk domestic orders due to the near standstill condition of the resort industry. World War II brought some relief however, only through the means of employment in defense factories. Moreover, a large population of the Wabanaki basket people enrolled in the US Army for active duty. The Red Power Movement gained momentum in the 1990s when the younger generation urged their elders to teach them the trade. The movement involves planting Brown Ash trees throughout the belt where the Wabanaki basket trade once flourished in the United States. This movement is bringing a revival of the Wabanaki basket people (Morrison 173).
3. American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) signed into law in 1978, provides constitutional guarantees for religious freedom among the Native Americans. The act came into existence when there was a growing neglect of rights for the Native American community. The Piscataway Indians were facing a conflict with the Alice Ferguson Foundation (AFF). The organization successfully applied for agricultural permits on the holy burial grounds of the Piscataway Indians. In addition, similar conflicts revealed themselves from different parts of the nation. Hence, Congress swung into action and passed the Act into law. The Act allows Native Americans to pursue their religious practices and confirms their right to hold religious ceremonies.
Moyaone is the holy ancestral burial ground of the Piscataway Indians. The preservation of rights for the Piscataways to visit the gravesite of Chief Turkey Tayac faced testing times courtesy of the AFF and the National Park Service (NPS). The AIRFA was ineffective in providing comprehensive rights to the Piscataways. They blocked entrance and habitually locked visitors inside the site. However, the Piscataways are able to access their sacred ground with relative ease since the Act’s passing. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) prohibit the trafficking, ownership, and distribution of Native American artifacts, burial symbols, or human remains by any federal agency or institution that avails federal funding. This Act prevents future archaeological expeditions that might disturb to the holy burial site of the Piscataways.
4. Religious communities can contend with the authority of State or Federal Governmental agencies by evoking the Right to freedom of religion guaranteed under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. This right allows all religious communities to practice their individual religious practices freely. In order to challenge a policy or legislature on the grounds of the First Amendment right, the community will have to prove the extent of deviance along with proof of spiritual legitimacy. For example, in the 1980s, the parents of Jehovah’s Witness children will refuse blood transfusion despite the threat to life due to blood loss. The courts held the decisions valid since the Bible of the Jehovah’s Witness features such a belief. This is the proof of spiritual legitimacy. In the case of American Indians, it is difficult to prove such legitimacy since they neither have a record of spiritual practices or their beliefs do not conform to the common law of the constitution which finds basis in the Bible.
The three significant cases in the history of the American Indians’ pursuit of religious freedom are Tee-Hit-Ton Indians vs United States, Lyng vs Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association, and Employment division vs Smith. These three cases are significant due to their shaping of the American Indians Religious Freedom Act of 1978 and of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. Without these three cases reaching the US Supreme Court, the legislature to protect Native American rights for religious freedom, equality, and incorporation into the US Constitution might not be a reality.
Tee-Hit-Ton Indians vs United States (1955)
The tribe of Tee-Hit-Ton Indians filed a claim for compensation of timber taken from their traditional lands duly authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture. They demanded compensation under the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution. The lands allotted for the Tee-Hit-Ton Indians was invariably the property of the Federal Government. The tribes only had occupancy rights. Hence, the verdict was in the favor of the Federal Government. This case indicated to the American Indian community that they did not own the land they lived on and only the Federal government of the United States had ownership.
Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association (1988)
The Secretary of Agriculture, Robert E. Lyng filed the case in the Supreme Court to build a timber log road through lands considered sacred by several American Indian tribes. The tribes filed cases in lower courts and won an injunction against the US Forest Service. Hence, Lyng filed the case with the US Supreme Court citing the Free Exercise Clause in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Court ruled in favor of Lyng stating that the Free Exercise Clause does not allow any individual or community to hold the Federal government at bay on account of religious beliefs. The road did not become a reality despite the ruling of the Supreme Court. The US Congress enacted a legislature and moved the entire expanse of land under the Wilderness Act. The case is significant since despite winning the preliminary trials and losing in the Supreme Court, the Native American tribes won the case with the US Congress. Two years later the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 came into existence.
Employment Division v. Smith
Alfred Smith lost his job for using peyote during a religious ceremony. Smith sued the city of Oregon for unemployment benefits denied to him. The case reached the Supreme Court after two successful representations by the plaintiff. The Supreme Court, while agreeing to the question of religious freedom, questioned the nature of dismissal. The Court’s argument was that while Smith had the right to practice his religion, breaking state laws was not acceptable. Hence, Smith lost the case and his claim to unemployment benefits. The case is significant since the ritual of passing in the Native American Church required the use of peyote. The verdict is in-line with similar verdicts where unlawful practices in the form of religious beliefs excluded as part of right to freedom of religion.
5. Asa Carter, James Beckwourth, and Lance Long were impostors pretending to have legitimate roots with various Native American tribes. Their stories paint a grim picture of the Native Americans and each of them has a justification for their adopting the identities. Carter was the only one who brought out promising tales of wisdom and patience practiced by the Native American tribes. He chose to reveal the experiences of a child who faces the intolerance of the European settlers. Asa Carter’s portrayal of Little Tree and his lesson from his grandfather brought comfort to American families. He hoped to build a bridge between the minds and the comprehensions that dictated Americans on their perspective of the lifestyle of Native American Indians. Beckwourth did not profess to become a Native American Indian out of love for the people, he only sought acceptance in some form from the American community. He used his stories to exhibit his supposed loyalty towards the Union Government. Lance Long wanted to escape his existence as an African American. He realized early that the Native American Indians were landowners on the continent and had rights even before the first African slave arrived. He chose to belong with a community that had a long-standing relationship with the continent.
All three of them attempted to engage in relationships with the Caucasian American population than to retrace their roots to their supposed Native American tribes. All three of them had the requirement to belong in a society which will abhor them in their true identities. Only Carter and Long tried to create a new understanding of the Native American Indians among the general population. They pronounced propaganda in favor of the race they chose to belong. The author is correct in the assumptions with Carter and Long. James Beckwourth however, is a different story. He is unable to make up his mind on which race he wants to belong. Although it is comprehensible that he did not prefer to identify with the Caucasian community, he willfully defrauds his own race of a hero in their midst. He claims to protect the interests of the Union Government by allegiance to the Crow nation. However, he seem to forget the plight of the African slave community altogether. It is as though he never belonged with them.
Works Cited
Morrison, Dane Anthony. American Indian studies: an interdisciplinary approach to contemporary issues. Switzerland: P. Lang, 1997. Print.
