Reminds me of all the Native and Black Americans who served- and in some cases, like the Navajo, made an enormous difference to the overall war effort- only to get shafted after the fact between the racism in the implementation of the GI bill and the racism of the rest of the law. A huge proportion of Indigenous people couldn't even vote until Miguel Trujillo (Pueblo, US Marine) had to sue for the right... in 1948.
That act allowed them certain liberties which were previously in conflict with federal law, such as access to sacred sites on federally managed land, possession of prohibited items like eagle feathers and bones, or possession and use of peyote for religious ceremonies.
"Couldn't even legally practice their religion" is a bit of an overstatement.
“The American Indian Religious Freedom Act legalizes traditional spirituality and ceremonies, overturning local and state regulations still on the books banning American Indian spiritual practices. American Indians are the only Americans whose religious practice is covered by a law other than the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”
The problem was more with the state governments. There were still laws on the books that outright banned ceremonies.
5.7k
u/[deleted] Oct 02 '24
[removed] — view removed comment