Culture in danger: protecting Native American sacred spaces in the 21st century

For centuries, indigenous and tribal communities around the globe have upheld the celebrated roles and responsibilities of their ancestors as custodians of sacral lands. These sites, identified by cultural heritage professionals as Sacred Natural Sites, have been of increasing interest to heritage experts since UNESCO implemented its cultural landscape criteria for outstanding universal value in 1992. These sites are indispensable to Native American communities for it is in these domains that religion and nature intersect to recognize profound ancient and cultural traditional values that are still prevalent in their everyday lives. Despite their vital significance, sacred natural sites in the United States are faced with increased pressures of globalization and landscape development that threaten to extinguish not only the fragile ecosystems that custodians have spent centuries curating, but also the cultural values that utilize them. This thesis aims to investigate the current national frameworks that govern sacred natural site protection, namely religious freedom acts, land treaty claims and federal regulatory acts. Case studies involving the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona; Yucca Mountain, Nevada; and Lake Oahe, North Dakota will highlight the efficiency and effectiveness, if any, of current jurisprudence.M.A.Includes bibliographical referencesby Crysta Sotirho