PREVIEW OF LIFE UNDER THE AKAKA BILL
US Supreme Court Says Tribes Have No Religious Rights
Flagstaff, AZ - On Monday, June 8th 2009, the Supreme Court denied the petition by Tribes & Environmental groups to hear a case to protect the holy San Francisco Peaks.
For nearly a decade, the Save the Peaks Coalition, Tribes, Environmental groups, and community members led an effort to stop the Snowbowl ski area’s plan to expand it’s development on the Peaks, and make snow from treated sewage effluent.
The ski resort operates on the Holy Mountain through a lease by the United States Forest Service, which sanctioned the proposed development in 2004.
According to Howard Shanker, attorney for the Navajo Nation, the Havasupai Tribe, the Yavapai-Apache Nation, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, Flagstaff Activist Network, the Center for Biological Diversity and others, and former congressional candidate, “It is unfortunate that the Supreme Court denied our petition for certiorari.
"The Court’s denial serves to perpetuate injustice and the application of bad law regarding the rights of Native Americans to protect sacred and holy sites....
...The Court dismissed Plaintiffs' religious beliefs as calling them mere "damaged spiritual feelings."
Mere Damaged Spiritual Feelings???
