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United Nations
Preparatory Conference for the World Conference Against Racism
3 - 7 December 2000, Santiago, Chile
Item 2 on the Agenda, Victims of Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
Oral Intervention by Mr. Lenny Foster, International Indian Treaty
Council
On behalf of the International Indian Treaty Council I would like to
thank you for the opportunity to make this important statement to this
forum. It is indeed a privilege and an honor to be part of the United
Nations conference against Racism, Xenophobia, Racial Discrimination
and Related Intolerance regional meeting in Santiago Chile.
My name is Lenny Foster, a Board member of the International Indian
Treaty Council and a member of the Navajo Nation, which is the largest
Indian Nation in North America. I am also the National Coordinator
of the National Native American Prisoners Rights Advocacy Coalition,
and the director and spiritual advisor and Director of the Navajo
Nation Corrections Project. I visit and represent over 1,500 Native
American clients incarcerated in 96 state and federal prisons. My
clients are victims of extreme racism and racial discrimination in the
United States criminal justice system.
The paramount human rights concern we have is the denial of religious,
cultural and spiritual practices in the prison systems. This racist
practice has been identified as a pressing criminal justice,
rehabilitation and human rights concern of paramount importance to the
respective Indian Nations in the United States. The ability to
practice traditional native religions is paramount to the cultural
survival of the Native Peoples.
For years the Native American has been denied his right to practice
his traditional Native religious and spiritual beliefs in the United
States prison systems, especially in states such as Texas.
Presently, Indian Country is seeking increased legal protection for
the free exercise of religion because it is the essential component to
the correctional rehabilitation of Native offenders and to the
cultural/spiritual well being of the individual, so he can return to
his indigenous community as a productive person.
Our people are incarcerated in highly disproportionate numbers to
their numbers in the general population. The Native spiritual
practices are very important for the spiritual healing of Native
persons and they have proven to be very successful for the
rehabilitation of the mind, body and spirit. A recovery movement
across Indian Country has been developing for the past thirty years
and as a result a spiritual healing has evolved especially among the
Native prisoners in the prison system. Until 1978, countless
ceremonial practices were banned and outlawed by the United States
government, and religious structures and articles were destroyed in an
effort to assimilate the Native Peoples into the dominant society.
Our ancestors were displaced physically and spiritually by the United
States government. During the displacement, many of the traditional
ways of spiritual and religious practices were repressed. The dominant
society sought to destroy our culture. However a spiritual and
cultural revival has developed in the past thirty years in which the
Native Americans have sought to regain the roots of our culture. This
spiritual healing has seen Peoples of all Tribal backgrounds embracing
the roots of our spiritual and religious practices. The Sweat lodge,
an ancient old ceremonial practice of cleansing and purifying the mind
and spirit, has been a very positive and successful therapy for our
people in prison.
Long hair, worn in a traditional fashion for cultural and spiritual
beliefs is also very important. The California state prison system
has implemented a haircutting policy for Native Americans and this
racist practice is very detrimental to the spiritual and psychological
well-being. Equal access and use of sacred herbs and items such as
cedar, sage, the Pipe, tobacco, gourd, drum and sweet grass are very
important to the traditional ceremonies.
The outright denial of religious practices is tantamount to a denial
of an opportunity for recovery and spiritual healing.
Enforcement and compliance with existing laws, policies and statutes
have not been uniform, and lawsuits filed to enforce existing laws
have resulted in adverse decisions. Freedom of religion for Native
American prisoners has depended upon the whim of individual prison
officials. Ignorance and lack of awareness should not be an excuse
for systematically and arbitrarily denying religious rights and then
justifying these denials on the basis of security concerns.
Hypothetical situations should not be conjured and passed as fact.
These racist attitudes and racial discrimination should not be the
basis for the arbitrarily and capriciously denying these basic human
rights.
Traditional religious practice helps imprisoned Native Americans. The
traditional religious and spiritual practices such as the cleansing
and purification ceremonies (sweat lodges) have proven to be very
successful in positive changes in attitude, in behavior and
personality. The sweat lodge teaches respect, responsibility and
sobriety. The Pipe Ceremonies, Talking Circles and individual
spiritual counseling have also proven very effective toward spiritual
healing, renewed dignity and cultural pride. Having a traditional
spiritual leader to lead instruction and teach the ceremonies is very
important and has also been a successful approach. All of these
therapies have to be done on a consistent basis.
We also have forty-four Native American inmates on Death Row and
condemned to be executed in the U.S. prisons. These Native Americans
need access and the opportunity to be allowed to use the ancient
ceremonial practices such as sweatlodges and the pipe to pray and
prepare to meet the Maker. It is very important for a condemned
person to be allowed to use the sweat lodge as a Last Rite request yet
the various prison officials in California and Missouri have denied
such requests. This is racism in its most extreme form and must be
condemned. The Death Penalty is inhumane, racist, unethical and
immoral. The Death Penalty must be abolished in the United States.
Racism, racial discrimination and related intolerances must be stopped
and we invite the officials of this Conference to study and help stop
these practices. We recommend that findings of these violations of
fundamental human rights be presented in an appropriate forum, and
seek compliance with the elimination of religious intolerance.
Free Leonard Peltier!
Thank You. |
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