Arcing Toward Justice

• Published in: Tribal college 2024-10, Vol.36 (1), p.1-3
• Main Author: Shreve, Bradley
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Christianity; Course Objectives; Federal Government; Freedom of religion; Holy places; Judges; Judges & magistrates; Justice; Native North Americans; Tribal Colleges & Universities; Tribally Controlled Education
• ISSN: 1052-5505

Badoni v. Higginson (1977), Crow v. Gullet (1982), Wilson v. Block (1983), and Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association (1988), which went all the way up to the Supreme Court, underscored that there was seemingly a fundamental flaw in the Constitution, as the courts reasoned that taking steps to protect places deemed sacred by Native peoples violated the establishment clause in the First Amendment. Navajo Nation Chief Justice Emeritus Robert Yazzie, electrical engineering professor Dr. Sundaram Arumugam, Diné Hataałii Association leader and culture professor Anson Etsitty, and building information modeling faculty Dr. Anusuya Vellingiri bring to the table an array of ideas and solutions from diverse perspectives. Fred Chapman, an applied scientist from the University of Wyoming, has worked closely with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Chief Dull Knife College on the Northern Cheyenne Ecoregional Ethnographic Assessment project, which is creating a customized database of cultural and environmental information that can help preserve and protect sacred places of the Northern Cheyenne.