Many Nations under Many Gods Todd Allin Morman sku-847324737

Many Nations under Many Gods by Todd Allin Morman is an Indigenous Peoples Law Books title, sku-847324737. More than five hundred Indian nations, each with its own culture, religion, language and history, live on lands over which the United States claims sovereignty by right of the Doctrine of Discovery.

Indian nations and federal Indian law rarely figure in decisions by the country's governing class, as recent disputes over national monuments on tribal sites show. Morman gives historical and cultural context for nations seeking to protect sacred and cultural sites on federal public lands.

He examines consultation required by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Indian Religious Freedom Act when a proposed federal agency action affects land significant to Indigenous peoples. Case studies cover Hopi efforts to protect the San Francisco Peaks in Coconino National Forest from further ski resort encroachment; Washoe efforts to protect Cave Rock near Lake Tahoe from rock climbers; the Forest Service's plan for the Blackfeet site Badger-Two Medicine; and religious freedom cases involving the Makahs, Quechans, Western Apaches and Standing Rock Sioux.

The cases show both the strengths and the risks of consultation, and why the history of these places matters to their protection.