Document Type

Brief

Publication Date

9-13-2022

Abstract

No. 21-15295
Apache Stronghold v. United States of America

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, Honorable Steven P. Logan (2:21-cv-00050-PHX-SPL)

From the Summary of the Argument

Meaningful access to sacred sites such as Oak Flat is an indispensable part of many Indigenous tribes’ religious exercise. Nonetheless, the government has repeatedly denied necessary access and even destroyed such sites, thus thwarting the ability of tribal members to exercise core aspects of their spiritual practices. The tribal members in this case face the same fate.

Comments

Amici are the National Congress of American Indians, a Tribal Elder, and other Native American cultural heritage and rights organizations. Amici submit this brief to highlight the history of the U.S. government’s seizure of Indigenous lands and sacred sites, the panel’s misapplication of Navajo Nation v. United States Forest Service, 535 F.3d 1058 (9th Cir. 2008), Navajo Nation’s incompatibility with subsequent Supreme Court free-exercise precedent, and the problematic double standard the panel’s decision creates.

Table of Authorities include:

Stephanie Hall Barclay & Michalyn Steele, Rethinking Protections for Indigenous Sacred Sites, 134 Harv. L. Rev. 1294 (2021).

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