We Have a Religion: The 1920’s Pueblo Indian Dance Controversy and American Religious Freedom

(The University of North Carolina Press) This study demonstrates how dominant concepts of religion and religious freedom have continued to marginalize indigenous traditions within the United States. In legal battles over sacred lands, peyote use, and hunting practices, the U.S. government has acted as if Indian traditions were not truly religious and not eligible for First Amendment protections, argues the author.  Wenger shows that cultural notions about what constitutes “religion” are crucial to public debates over religious freedom.  Wenger is an assistant professor of religious studies at Arizona State University in Tempe.