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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4155

To provide for the management of Federal lands in a manner that does

not undermine or frustrate traditional Native American religions or

religious practices.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 24, 1994

Mr. RICHARDSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To provide for the management of Federal lands in a manner

that does not undermine or frustrate traditional Native

American religions or religious practices.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Indian

5 Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) unlike any other established religion, many

9 traditional Native American religions are site-spe-
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1 cific in that the Native American religions hold cer2 tain lands or natural formations to be sacred;

3 (2) such sacred sites are an integral and vital

4 part of the Native American religions and the reli5 gious practices associated with such religions;

6 (3) many of these sacred sites are found on

7 lands which were formerly part of the aboriginal ter8 ritory of the Indians but which now are held by the

9 Federal Government; and

10 (4) lack of sensitivity or understanding of tradi11 tional Native American religions on the part of Fed12 eral agencies vested with the management of Federal

13 lands has resulted in the lack of a coherent policy

14 for the management of sacred sites found on Federal

15 lands and has also resulted in the infringement upon

16 the rights of Native Americans to religious freedom.

17 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT OF FEDERAL LANDS SO AS TO NOT

18 UNDERMINE NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS

19 PRACTICES.

20 Public Law 95–341 (42 U.S.C. 1996), popularly

21 known as the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, is

22 amended by adding at the end thereof the following new

23 section:

24 ‘‘SEC. 3. (a)(1) Except as provided by subsection (b),

25 no Federal lands described in paragraph (2) may be man-
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1 aged in a manner that undermines and frustrates a tradi2 tional Native American religion or religious practice.

3 ‘‘(2) The Federal lands referred to in paragraph (1)

4 are those lands that—

5 ‘‘(A) have historically been considered sacred

6 and indispensable by a traditional Native American

7 religion, and

8 ‘‘(B) are necessary to the conduct of a Native

9 American religious practice.

10 ‘‘(b) Subsection (a)(1) shall not apply to a manage11 ment decision that is necessary to protect a compelling

12 governmental interest. In making such a management de13 cision, the Federal agency shall attempt to accommodate

14 the various competing interests and shall, to the greatest

15 extent feasible, select the course of action that is the least

16 intrusive on traditional Native American religions or

17 religious practices.

18 ‘‘(c) An Indian tribe or a member of an Indian tribe

19 may, upon showing of actual harm suffered by such tribe

20 or member, bring an action in the appropriate United

21 States district court against any person who is violating,

22 or who has violated, the prohibition contained in this sec23 tion. In any such action, the court may enjoin such viola24 tion or issue such orders as may be necessary to enforce
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1 such prohibition or to require that action be taken to rem2 edy such violation, or any combination of the foregoing.

3 ‘‘(d) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as

4 requiring any Federal agency to totally deny public access

5 to Federal lands.

6 ‘‘(e) As used in this section—

7 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Federal lands’ has the same

8 meaning as provided by section 2(5) of the Native

9 American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

10 (25 U.S.C. 3001(5).

11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Indian tribe’ means any Indian

12 tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or com13 munity, including any Alaska Native village or re14 gional or village corporation as defined in or estab15 lished pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle16 ment Act (85 Stat. 688) (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.),

17 which is recognized as eligible for the special pro18 grams and services provided by the United States to

19 Indians because of their status as Indians.

20 ‘‘(3) The term ‘tribal lands’ includes Indian res21 ervations; public domain Indian allotments; former

22 Indian reservations in Oklahoma; land held by incor23 porated Native groups, regional corporations, and

24 village corporations under the provisions of the Alas25 ka Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et
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1 seq.); and dependent Indian communities within the

2 borders of the United States, whether within the

3 original or subsequently acquired territory thereof

4 and whether within or without the limits of a

5 State.’’.

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