Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

American Indian Religious Freedom Act

The American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) is a federal law that was enacted to protect the rights of Native American groups to their religious practices (Native American Rights Fund [NARF] 2). While Native American religions are theoretically protected under the First Amendment, they have historically been devalued; non-indigenous lawmakers have pointed to these religions’ stark difference from Western faiths and great plurality of beliefs as justifications for denigrating them (NARF 2). While some government regulations of Native practices had legitimate reasons (e.g., restrictions on hunting endangered species such as eagles and buffalo), most amounted to "forced assimilation" (NARF 2; Citizen Potawatomi Nation). Missionaries and government agencies worked to extinguish not only Native religion, but also culture and language; the persecution was so severe that in 2021, the total of surviving first-language Potawatomi speakers was estimated to be less than 10 (Kimmerer 5; Citizen Potawatomi Nation; Spears).

In “Learning the Grammar of Animacy,” Robin Wall Kimmerer discusses how the unique structure of the Potawatomi language—how it acknowledges the agency and the state of being of nature—can enrich our relationship with the living world (9). While Kimmerer recognizes that English and other Western languages are valuable in their own right, she laments that Western forces have nearly eradicated Potawatomi, and along with it, the instinctual, linguistic understanding of the world as a living place to be enjoyed and respected (5-6, 8). The English language, Kimmerer argues, is a thing-oriented language, a system focused on classifying more than understanding (6). While there is certainly utility and even beauty in this, our culture as a whole has suffered because English has subjugated indigenous languages (6-8).The AIRFA did not completely end this subjugation. Simply undoing systematic oppression does not undo the legacy of silence—the "missionary wraiths" looming over Kimmerer's learning efforts (8). However, this law did represent an important first step in making the US more receptive to Potawatomi and other, non-dominant ways of understanding the world.

< Caption: Modern technology, such as voice translators, are aiding in the revival of endangered Native languages (Prairie Band Potawatomie Nation).

Works Cited:

Citizen Potawatomi Nation. “Language classes begin today at Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center.” 4 Feb. 2013, https://www.potawatomi.org/blog/2013/02/04/language-classes-begin-today…;

Kimmerer, Robin Wall. “Learning the Grammar of Animacy.” The Leopold Outlook, 2012, https://xenoflesh.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/robin-wall-k…;

Native American Rights Fund. "’We Also Have A Religion’ The American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the Religious Freedom Project of the Native American Rights Fund.” 1979, narf.org/nill/documents/nlr/nlr5-1.pdf.

Prairie Band Potawatomie Nation. "Language." https://www.pbpindiantribe.com/language.&nbsp;

Spears, Nancy Marie. “Tribal Efforts to Preserve Languages Get Boost from COVID Relief Funds.” Cronkite News, 31 Mar. 2021, cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2021/03/31/tribal-efforts-to-preserve-languages-get-boost-from-covid-relief-funds/.