Contact:	Brad Cullen, (505) 277-5041 Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
April 25, 2002 FOURTH LECTURE IN VISIONS OF AMERICAN WEST SERIES ON TAP AT UNM The interdisciplinary lecture series, “Visions for the American West,” organized by the Department of Geography at the University of New Mexico, will present its fourth and final lecture in the series for the spring semester. Christopher H. Peters will present, “The Sacred Earth: Native American Perceptions of Landscape and Policy Prescriptions for Sacred Lands,” Friday, May 3, in Dane Smith Hall, room 123, at 7 p.m. Peters is a spokesperson for sacred lands preservation and is the executive director of the Seventh Generation Fund, a foundation of, by, and for American Indians dedicated to promoting and maintaining the uniqueness of native peoples and their nations through issue advocacy, small grants, technical assistance, management training, and leadership development. Peters will discuss how American Indians perceive all land as sacred and how sites used for religious observances have been destroyed by government agencies and private developers. In response, a Sacred Lands Protection Coalition is now being organized to bring Native Americans seeking to protect sacred landscapes together with environmental groups and religious bodies to work with tribes and other national Indian advocacy organizations. “Native American people, the first Americans, are not protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution,” said Peters. “Places that we hold sacred are being destroyed at an accelerated rate and native peoples have no legal recourse to stop such destruction.” The hour-long lecture is free and open to the public. # # #

The University of New Mexico
Public Affairs Department
Hodgin Hall, 2nd floor
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0011
Telephone: (505) 277-5813
Fax: (505) 277-1981