Anxious about protecting its $200 million telescope
complex, the University of Arizona recently required a “prayer
permit” for Native Americans who want to visit the summit of Mount
Graham.
San Carlos Apaches and other native
peoples who hold sacred the high peaks of the Pinaleno Mountains,
120 miles southeast of Phoenix, say the permits attack their
religious freedom. And in the first test of the new permit policy,
they were allowed to pray without interference near the summit of
the 10,700-foot mountain.
Wendsler Noise, head of
Apaches for Cultural Preservation, led more than a dozen Indians to
the top of the mountain Aug. 15, to pray and protest the
university’s telescopes, which they contend interfere with their
spiritual rites.
“I don’t think I should have a
permit. We are the original inhabitants of this land. We are not
going to vandalize their telescopes. They know that for all these
(hundreds) of years, the Apaches have gone there to pray.”
Noise was arrested last year for trespassing
when he ventured near the telescopes. After the former tribal
council member was acquitted in county court, he said he hoped that
the University of Arizona would liberalize its visitation
policies.
Instead, the university began requiring
permits. “We made a policy to make it clear to the public – or in
this case, Indian people – that if they want to come in, we
encourage that, but that we would make permits available to them,”
said Michael Cusanovich, a university vice president. “It’s not
meant to be restrictive. It’s meant to be inclusive.”
In the end, the university deferred any permit
requirements to the Forest Service. Wanting to avoid a
confrontation, the Forest Service allowed the Native Americans to
observe their prayers in peace.
*Steve
Yozwiak
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Could I see your permit to pray?.
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