Letters: Cape Wind as a United Nations Issue

The Aquinnah and Mashpee Wampanoag tribes say the project will destroy the religious practice of greeting the morning sun, and could harm ancient tribal burial grounds of Horseshoe Shoals. It should be brought to the attention of the United Nations that the Wampanoags say their spiritual greetings of the sun require unobstructed views and say turbines could disturb the ancestral burying grounds.

The North American Indians have rights secured under Indian treaties and agreements with the United States. They have the right to ask for the divine blessing of the creator.The Indians were the first people. They have a right to be heard. Lets tell the world the genocide of millions of their people, the theft of their lands, and the relentless assault on their culture.

The Longest Walk, one of the American Indian Movement's famous marches, took place during the year of 1978. The purpose was to gather enough support to stop the proposed legislation and abolish Native American treaties with the United States government after eleven new legislative bills were introduced by the 95th United States Congress. These treaties were supposed to protect the remaining pieces of Native sovereignty.

"The Longest Walk" marched into Washington D.C. with several hundreds of supporters marching alongside them, including Senator Ted Kennedy. The Longest Walk during 1978 brought attention to Indigenous Sacred Sites of all American Indians.

No one man from the the position of Secretary of the Interior or any other public agency has the power to change the American Indian Religious Act. AIRFA, is a United States federal law and a joint resolution of Congress that was passed in 1978. It was created to protect and preserve the traditional religious rights and cultural practices of American Indians.

These rights include access of sacred sites, freedom to worship through ceremonial and traditional rights and use and possession of objects considered sacred. The Act required policies of all governmental agencies to eliminate interference with the free exercise of Native religion, based on the First Amendment.

Frank Haggerty
Mattapoisett, Massachusetts