HaCKeRz KrOnIcKLeZ 3/HaCKeRz_KrOnIcKLeZ.iso/drugs/peyote.speech

Text File | 1996-05-06 | 15KB | 311 lines

Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
From: "Eric E. Sterling" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Date:          Tue, 18 Apr 1995 14:02:02 +0000
Subject:       Re: native american church

Mario asked for information on contacting the Native American Church.

I thought that he, and DRCtalkers, would like to see the speech that
the late NAC leader gave here in Washington in 1990 about the
persecution of peyote use.  I was the ghostwriter, I am proud to say.

Eric Sterling


-------------- Enclosure number 1 ----------------
                               STATEMENT OF
                           REUBEN A. SNAKE, JR.
                               (1937 - 1993)

                               COORDINATOR,
                 NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PROJECT

            AT A GATHERING OF NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS LEADERS
       AT THE U.S. CAPITOL TO OBTAIN GUARANTEES OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

                            SEPTEMBER 29, 1990
                             WASHINGTON, D.C.


     SENATOR INOUYE, CHURCH PRESIDENT EMERSON JACKSON, HONORED
GUESTS, AS AN AMERICAN IT IS INSPIRING TO STAND HERE AT THE FOOT OF
THE U.S. CAPITOL TO EXERCISE TWO OF OUR BASIC AMERICAN RIGHTS, THE
FREEDOM OF SPEECH, AND THE RIGHT TO PETITION THE GOVERNMENT FOR A
REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES.

     NATIVE AMERICANS HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE LIBERTY OF
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SINCE THE FOUNDING OF THE NATION.  IN 1773, AT
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY, THE EARLY PROTESTORS AGAINST BRITISH ROYAL
TYRANNY DRESSED AS MOHAWKS BECAUSE INDIANS, IN ENGLAND AND IN
EUROPE, WERE A SYMBOL OF AMERICAN LIBERTY.  INDIANS, AND OUR WAY
OF LIFE, WERE THE VERY SYMBOL OF AMERICAN LIBERTY ADOPTED BY THE
EARLIEST AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARIES.

     BUT FOUR OR FIVE CENTURIES BEFORE THAT DRAMATIC EVENT, EVEN
BEFORE CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS SAILED FROM SPAIN, THE FIVE NATIONS
OF THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY FORMED A GOVERNMENT UNDER A
CONSTITUTION CALLED THE GREAT LAW OF PEACE.  CONSIDER SOME OF THE
ENLIGHTENED FEATURES OF THAT GOVERNMENT  -- PARLIAMENTARY-TYPE
GOVERNMENT, SEPARATION OF POLITICS AND RELIGION, SEPARATION OF
CIVIL AND MILITARY GOVERNMENT, THE CONCEPT OF CHECKS AND
BALANCES, VETO, REFERENDUM, AND SO FORTH.  THOSE GOVERNMENTAL
CONCEPTS WERE SO REMARKABLE, BOOKS WERE WRITTEN ABOUT THEM IN
THE EUROPEAN LANGUAGES.  THESE CONCEPTS BECAME KNOWN TO JOHN
LOCKE AND JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU, EUROPEAN POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHERS WHOSE WRITINGS ARE CITED IN IDENTIFYING THE SOURCES
OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION.

     THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION WAS AMONG THE MANY FEATURES
OF THAT GREAT NATIVE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, AND THE FREEDOM OF
RELIGION IS ONE WHICH MANY OF US TAKE FOR GRANTED TODAY.

     ON SEPTEMBER 15, 1620, ENGLISH SUBJECTS SAILED FROM PLYMOUTH,
ENGLAND, TO SEEK REFUGE FROM RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION.  THE STORY OF
THE PURITAN PILGRIMS LANDING AT PLYMOUTH ROCK IN MASSACHUSETTS
TO ACHIEVE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IS ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN STORIES IN
AMERICAN HISTORY.

     IT IS TRAGIC TO SAY HOWEVER, THAT WE ARE NOW IN A SITUATION IN
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WHERE WE CAN NO LONGER TAKE SUCH A
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT, THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION, FOR GRANTED.

     AS VENERABLE AS THE HERITAGE OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY HAS BEEN IN
AMERICA, RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IS NOW IN JEOPARDY FOR ALL MINORITY
RELIGIONS.

     LAST APRIL, IN THE CASE OF OREGON v. SMITH, A CASE INVOLVING
NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, THE U.S. SUPREME COURT THREW
OUT ITS LONG STANDING PRECEDENTS AND DECLARED THAT NO LONGER
DOES THE GOVERNMENT HAVE TO SHOW THAT LAWS WHICH BURDEN AND
RESTRICT RELIGIOUS LIBERTY MUST BE JUSTIFIED BY A COMPELLING
GOVERNMENT INTEREST.  EVEN VERY LARGE RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS
ISSUED PROTESTS AND SOUGHT A REHEARING IN THE COURT.  THE
BAPTISTS, THE METHODISTS, JEWISH GROUPS, DOZENS OF RELIGIOUS
GROUPS, AND OVER 50 OF AMERICA'S MOST DISTINGUISHED
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW PROFESSORS SOUGHT A REHEARING OF THE COURT'S
DECISION.

     BUT CONSIDER THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS CASE FROM OUR
PERSPECTIVE.  THE U.S. SUPREME COURT REVERSED A LONG LINE OF
SETTLED CASES IN ORDER TO RULE THAT THE USE OF THE SACRAMENT OF
NATIVE AMERICAN WORSHIP, THE HOLY MEDICINE, PEYOTE, IS NOT
PROTECTED UNDER THE FIRST AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION.  THEY
SAID, IN OUR CASE, OUR RELIGIOUS EXERCISES, OUR FORM OF WORSHIP,
THE USE OF OUR HOLY SACRAMENT, IS NOT PROTECTED BY THE
CONSTITUTION.  THE COURT SAID THAT NATIVE AMERICANS, WHO HAVE
ENJOYED RELIGIOUS LIBERTY ON THIS LAND SINCE BEFORE THE PILGRIMS
FLED HERE, ARE NO LONGER ENTITLED TO RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.

     THIS TRAMPLING OF NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IS
INTOLERABLE.

     OUR PEOPLE HAVE BEEN USING THE HOLY MEDICINE, PEYOTE, FOR
THOUSANDS OF YEARS, THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

     FOR THE LAST TWENTY YEARS, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE BEEN
SUFFERING AN EPIDEMIC OF ABUSE OF REFINED CHEMICAL DRUGS LIKE
COCAINE, HEROIN, AMPHETAMINES, PCP, AND SO FORTH.  AMERICAN CITIES
ARE CRAWLING WITH VIOLENCE AND CRIME.  THIS IS A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY,
AND THIS KIND OF DRUG ABUSE IS ALSO A PROBLEM FOR SOME INDIAN
YOUTH.

     BUT THERE IS NO PEYOTE DRUG ABUSE PROBLEM.  I DEFY THE
JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT TO FIND NEWSPAPER REPORTS OF
DRIVE-BY SHOOTINGS IN CONNECTION WITH THE HOLY MEDICINE.  I
CHALLENGE ANYONE CONCERNED ABOUT THE PROBLEM OF DRUG ABUSE TO
FIND EXAMPLES OF DOPE PEDDLERS SELLING THE HOLY MEDICINE IN
AMERICA'S SCHOOL YARDS AND PLAY GROUNDS.  THE IDEA IS
PREPOSTEROUS.  WE DON'T HAVE A PEYOTE ABUSE PROBLEM IN THIS
NATION.

     YET THE WIDESPREAD FEAR, BORDERING ON PANIC, ABOUT THE
TRAGEDY OF DRUG ABUSE HAS CLOUDED THE MINDS OF THE JUSTICES.  IN
THE NAME OF THE WAR ON DRUGS, OUR USE OF OUR HOLY MEDICINE IS
RESTRICTED.  IN THE NAME OF THE WAR ON DRUGS, OUR GUARANTEE OF
FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION HAS BEEN VIOLATED.  IN THE NAME OF THE
WAR ON DRUGS, THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OF EVERY AMERICAN HAS BEEN
PLACED IN JEOPARDY.

     THE CONSEQUENCES ARE OUTRAGEOUS.  FOR DECADES NATIVE
AMERICANS HAVE ENDURED THE HARASSMENT AND PERSECUTION OF LAW
ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES IGNORANT OF, OR INDIFFERENT TO, OUR
ANCIENT WAYS OF WORSHIP.  THE LAW REPORTS ARE FILLED WITH TRAGIC
CASES OF OUR MEN AND WOMEN DRAGGED FROM WORSHIP, OR FROM THEIR
HOMES, TO JAIL CELLS AND TO COURTROOMS, FORCED TO DEFEND
THEMSELVES, TO JUSTIFY THEMSELVES TO THE IGNORANT AND THE
CALLOUS.  BUT IN THOSE DEGRADING CIRCUMSTANCES, WE COULD ALWAYS
POINT, CONFIDENTLY, TO THE FIRST AMENDMENT'S GUARANTEES OF FREE
EXERCISE OF RELIGION, AND KNOW THAT ULTIMATELY WE WOULD PREVAIL.
NOW, UNBELIEVABLY, WE ARE NO LONGER ASSURED THAT WE WILL PREVAIL.

     THIS HAS BEEN INTOLERABLE TO US, THIS IS INTOLERABLE TO US, AND
IT IS INTOLERABLE TO EVERY AMERICAN WHO TREASURES THEIR RIGHT TO
WORSHIP GOD WITHOUT GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE.

     IN THE NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH EVERY DAY IS A HOLY DAY, BUT
TODAY IS SPECIAL.  IN THE HEBREW CALENDAR, TODAY IS YOM KIPPUR, THE
DAY OF ATONEMENT, THE MOST SOLEMN DAY OF JEWISH WORSHIP.   MANY
JEWISH FRIENDS OF NATIVE AMERICANS INVITED TO JOIN US THIS MORNING
EXPLAINED THAT THEY COULD NOT WORSHIP WITH US HERE, FOR THEY
WOULD BE IN THEIR OWN TEMPLES IN PRAYER.

     FOR MANY OF THE 5741 YEARS OF THE HEBREW CALENDAR, THE
JEWISH PEOPLE HAVE SUFFERED OPPRESSION ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR
RELIGION.  TODAY, 199 YEARS AFTER THE AMERICAN BILL OF RIGHTS WAS
ADOPTED, WE ARE THANKFUL THAT THE JEWISH PEOPLE FEEL FREE TO
WORSHIP WITHOUT FEARING GOVERNMENT HARASSMENT.

     BUT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TODAY THE 250,000 MEMBERS OF THE
NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH ARE NOT FREE TO WORSHIP GOD WITHOUT FEAR
OF GOVERNMENT HARASSMENT.  CHURCH PRESIDENT EMERSON JACKSON
HAS DECLARED TOMORROW A DAY OF PRAYER FOR PEACE.  TODAY,
HUNDREDS OF OUR PEOPLE ARE PREPARING FOR A NIGHT-LONG NATIVE
AMERICAN CHURCH SERVICE AND PRAYER FOR PEACE.  BUT MANY OF OUR
ELDERS, WHO HAVE TRAVELED THOUSANDS OF MILES TO BE HERE TO
WORSHIP IN OUR NATION'S CAPITAL, WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THE
INDIGNITIES OF RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION, EXPRESSED TO THE ORGANIZERS
OF THIS WORSHIP SERVICE A GREAT FEAR -- WILL WE BE ARRESTED?  WILL
WE BE ARRESTED?

     WE HAVE HAD TO CALL LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES --
ATTORNEYS GENERAL, PROSECUTORS, ASSISTANT STATE'S ATTORNEYS,
NARCOTICS UNITS -- AROUND THE REGION TO ASSURE OURSELVES THAT
OUR WORSHIP WILL PROCEED UNDISTURBED BY THE HIDEOUS SPECTER OF A
POLICE RAID.

     I ASK MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO ARE CHRISTIANS, MY
BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO ARE MOSLEM, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS
WHO ARE HINDUS, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO ARE BUDDHISTS, MY
BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO ARE JEWISH, DO ANY OF YOU WORRY THAT
YOUR WORSHIP SERVICES WILL BE RAIDED BY THE POLICE?   DO ANY OF YOU
FEEL IT NECESSARY TO CALL THE POLICE IN ORDER TO SET UP A WORSHIP
SERVICE?  DO ANY OF YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO LAW ENFORCEMENT
OFFICERS THAT YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO WORSHIP YOUR GOD IN YOUR OWN
MANNER?

     I ASK MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO ARE CHRISTIANS, DO YOU NEED
PERMISSION FROM YOUR STATE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL
COMMISSION TO GIVE SACRAMENTAL WINE TO COMMUNICANTS UNDER THE
AGE OF 21?  DO YOUR PRIESTS NEED LICENSES FROM THE GOVERNMENT TO
PERFORM A MASS?  OF COURSE NOT, BUT UNDER THE SMITH DECISION, THAT
SHOCKING POSSIBILITY MAY YET COME TO PASS.

     I ASK MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WHEN THEY TELL THEIR CHILDREN
ABOUT THEIR RELIGIOUS RITES, DO THEY HAVE TO WARN THEIR LITTLE ONES
ABOUT THE POLICE?  DO THEY HAVE TO EXPLAIN THAT THEY SHOULD NOT BE
ASHAMED BECAUSE OF THE SPECIAL POLICE "INTEREST" IN THEIR WORSHIP?

     I ASK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, DOES THIS SOUND LIKE THE RELIGIOUS
LIFE WE EXPECT TO LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?

     WELL MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THIS UNBELIEVABLE CONDITION
BURDENS OUR WORSHIP.  THIS RELIC OF PREJUDICE BURDENS OUR
WORSHIP.  THIS GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN OUR RELIGION BURDENS
OUR WORSHIP, AND IT IS INTOLERABLE.

     TODAY, AT THE HIGHEST POINT IN WASHINGTON, OVERLOOKING OUR
LITTLE PRESS CONFERENCE, THE NATIONAL CATHEDRAL IS BEING
DEDICATED.  TODAY THE LAST STONE IS BEING PLACED IN THAT BEAUTIFUL
MONUMENT TO THE CENTRAL IMPORTANCE OF GOD AND PRAYER IN
AMERICAN LIFE.

     IT IS PROFOUNDLY IRONIC THAT JUST AS THAT GLORIOUS CATHEDRAL
IS BEING COMPLETED AND DEDICATED IN OUR NATION'S CAPITAL, THE U.S.
SUPREME COURT HAS JEOPARDIZED THE STATUS OF EVERY MINORITY
RELIGION, AND IT HAS DONE SO IN A CASE INVOLVING NATIVE AMERICAN
CHURCH MEMBERS USING THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF OUR CHURCH.

     WE ARE HERE TODAY WITH ONE SIMPLE MESSAGE -- WE DEMAND THAT
OUR USE OF OUR SACRAMENT, THE HOLY MEDICINE PEYOTE, BE FULLY
PROTECTED BY LAW WITHOUT QUALIFICATION.  WE ASK NO MORE, WE
EXPECT NO MORE, AND WE ARE ENTITLED TO NOTHING LESS!

     WHY MUST WE STAND HERE AND DEFEND OUR RELIGION?  WHY MUST
WE TELL YOU THAT OUR CHURCH IS A GOOD CHURCH?  WHY MUST WE TELL
YOU THAT WE DO NOT TOLERATE DRUG ABUSERS OR ALCOHOLICS IN OUR
CHURCH?

     WE ARE REDUCED TO THIS POSTURE BECAUSE OF LAWS PASSED AND
ENFORCED IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF ALMOST TOTAL IGNORANCE ABOUT
NATIVE AMERICANS.  PERHAPS WE SHOULD NOT BE SURPRISED.  LIKE MOST
AMERICANS WE LIKE TO GO ABOUT OUR BUSINESS QUIETLY AND WITHOUT
DRAWING ATTENTION TO OURSELVES.  ONE OF THE CENTRAL TEACHINGS OF
OUR CHURCH IS HUMILITY.

     WE HAVE NEVER HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE BEFORE.  WE HAVE
NEVER DRAWN ATTENTION TO OURSELVES BEFORE.  WE ARE
UNCOMFORTABLE THIS MORNING, BUT TO PROTECT OURSELVES, WE HAVE A
DUTY.  WE ARE HERE TODAY TO TELL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT OUR
WORSHIP IS SACRED, IT IS LEGITIMATE, IT IS PROFOUND, IT IS GOOD, IT IS
WONDERFUL IN THE EYES OF GOD, IT IS WONDERFUL FOR OUR PEOPLE, AND
WE MUST, WE MUST PRAY THE WAY GOD HAS TAUGHT US.

     AMERICANS, YOU HAVE TAKEN MUCH FROM US.  YOU HAVE BENEFITED
FROM US IN MANY WAYS.  YOU HAVE LEFT US LITTLE LAND, YOU HAVE TAKEN
AWAY OF TRADITIONAL LIVELIHOODS.  DO NOT ALLOW THE GOVERNMENT TO
TAKE OUR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AWAY.

     WE URGE YOU TO JOIN US IN SUPPORTING THE "RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
RESTORATION ACT OF 1990," H.R. 5377.  BUT THIS IS ONLY A FIRST STEP.  THE
BILL DOES NOT GO FAR ENOUGH.  IT DOES NOT SPECIFICALLY PROTECT OUR
WORSHIP, THE ONE THAT THE SUPREME COURT CHOSE TO DISREGARD AND
DENY PROTECTION.  WE URGE THAT THE BILL BE AMENDED TO SPECIFICALLY
PROTECT NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

     THAT IS NOT TOO MUCH TO ASK.  SOON WE WILL BE RETURNING TO
OUR HOMES ACROSS AMERICA AND TO OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN.
WE WILL SAY WE ENGAGED IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS, WE SPOKE TO THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE AND TO THE NATIONAL NEWS MEDIA.  WE WENT TO
WASHINGTON, AND WE TOLD OUR STORY.

     CAN WE TELL OUR CHILDREN, "WE SUCCEEDED, YOU ARE NOW SAFE"?
CAN WE TELL OUR CHILDREN, "WE HAVE BROUGHT BACK FOR YOU THE
SECURITY, THE SAFETY, THE CERTAINTY THAT YOU, OUR CHILDREN, AND
YOUR CHILDREN CAN WORSHIP GOD AS WE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT"?

     IT IS OUR PRAYER THAT WE CAN!

                                   # # #

Mr. Snake was assisted in the preparation of these remarks by Eric E. Sterling,
President of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, 1899 L Street, NW, Suite 500,
Washington, DC  20036.  Tel. [phone].  Please contact him if you would like
more information about the occasion on which these remarks were made.

On October 6, 1994, President William J. Clinton signed into law P.L. 103-344, the
"American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994," to protect the
traditional use of peyote by Indians for religious purposes throughout the United States.
(108 Statutes at Large 3125).  The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives on
August 8, 1994, and passed the U.S. Senate on September 26, 1995.  (H.R. 4230,
103rd Cong., House Report 103-675).  The Native American Rights Fund played a
major role in enacting this legislation.  For information, contact NARF, 1712 N Street,
NW, Washington, DC 20036-2976.  Tel. [phone]; or contact Walter Echo Hawk,
Esquire, 303-447-8760 .

The year before, on November 16, 1993, President Clinton signed the "Religious
Freedom Restoration Act of 1993" reversing Oregon v. Smith  by prohibiting any unit of
government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion unless the
government demonstrates that the application of the burden to the person is in the
furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of
furthering that governmental interest.  (Public Law 103-141, 107 Statutes at Large
1488.  It was H.R. 1308, 103rd Cong., House Report 103-88, and Senate Report 103-
111).  The Coalition for the Free Exercise of Religion played the principal role in
enacting this legislation.  For information, contact the Coalition at 200 Maryland
Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002.  Tel. [phone].  The Coalition consists of at
least 50 religious and civil liberties organizations including the Native American Church
of North America, the Council on Spiritual Practices, and the Criminal Justice Policy
Foundation.

The Autobiography of Reuben Snake will be published in April 1995.  Mr. Snake has
collaborated with Huston Smith on a book, Voices of the Native American Church  For
information on obtaining the writings of Reuben Snake, please contact James Botsford,
Esquire, Wisconsin Judicare, P.O. Box 6100, Wausau, WI 54402. Tel. [phone].

For information on the Native American Church of North America, feel free to contact
the Church's President, Frank Dayish, Jr., 1509 Pullman Drive, Severn, MD  21144.
President Dayish works at NASA, his office telephone number is 301-286-5730.

                                                          February 16, 1995