Faith and Native Communities: Fighting for Freedom of (and from) Religion

February 24, 2022

The U.S government has long restricted—and even criminalized—many faith practices of Native American communities. Today, tribes across the country continue to bring religious liberty suits to defend their members’ religious exercise: most notably, to protect religious sites from environmental and spiritual degradation. At the same time, laws intended to protect religious exercise can also harm Native people by making them vulnerable to discrimination by religiously affiliated groups, such as foster care agencies.

In this panel, Professor Matthew Fletcher and attorney April Youpee-Roll discussed protecting Native American communities’ right to religious exercise and their right to be free from religiously motivated discrimination. The discussion was moderated by Liz Reiner Platt, Director of the Law, Rights and Religion Project at Columbia Law School.

This event is hosted by the Law, Rights and Religion Project and Columbia Law School's NALSA Chapter.