Native American Archives - Universal Life Church Monastery Blog

Are Native American Religious Rights Being Ignored?

July 17th, 2025

As the Supreme Court champions religious liberty, Native Americans say they’ve been left out. Can a new legal argument save Oak Flat, the Apache faith’s most sacred site, from destruction?

Political & Religious Controversy 71 Comments

Removal of "Apache Christ" Painting Devastates Indigenous Catholics

August 1st, 2024

Catholic Apaches in New Mexico were shocked when a painting depicting Jesus as a Mescalero medicine man was removed from their church. They say it's another example of being forced to choose between faith and culture.

Political & Religious Controversy 94 Comments

Apache Students Expelled Over Traditional Dance Deemed "Satanism"

June 28th, 2024

A trio of Native American girls say they were punished by their private Christian school for participating in a Sunrise Dance, a traditional rite of passage for Apache girls - which they say the school called demonic.

Political & Religious Controversy 143 Comments

Sighting of "Miraculous" White Bison Fulfills Sacred Native American Omen

June 19th, 2024

A white bison calf photographed in Yellowstone National Park is being called a sacred omen by many Native American cultures, including the Lakota people, and being compared to the resurrection of Jesus for Christians.

Progressive Spirituality 50 Comments

Apaches Fight Sale of Religious Site to Australian Mining Company

March 8th, 2024

The federal government has been trying for ten years to sell Oak Flat, a sacred religious site for Apaches, to an Australian mining company. Now, Apache activists are vowing to take the fight to the Supreme Court.

Political & Religious Controversy 77 Comments

"Desecration": Navajo Nation Criticizes NASA for Moon Burial

January 5th, 2024

Navajo leaders are asking NASA to stop an upcoming lunar launch which will deliver a payload of human remains, arguing that, because the moon is sacred in many Indigenous faiths, it is descration of a holy site.

Political & Religious Controversy 170 Comments

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