A former Oakland City Councilmember says he was forcibly arrested in the city’s Planning and Zoning department on Thursday after an argument with staff stemming from a long dispute over having a sweat lodge on his property for his Native American spiritual practices.
Wilson Riles Jr., 73, served on the Oakland City Council from 1979-1992. He said that as he was leaving the city office on Thursday morning he was confronted by police officers who threw him to the ground and handcuffed him without giving him any indication that they intended to arrest him.
An Oakland police spokesperson said the department would not provide any additional details about Riles’ arrest until Monday. Police logs indicated he was arrested on suspicion of battery of a police officer.
Riles was released from Santa Rita Jail late Thursday night after posting $20,000 bail, he said.
Riles said in an interview:
“I am incensed, it’s not the relationship the city government ought to have with the residents.”
“I am frustrated and very concerned and ashamed of what’s happening in this city that I love.”
The arrest was the culmination of a long dispute that Riles has had with staff at the city’s planning department over the use of a sweat lodge to conduct Native American ceremonies in his backyard on 39th Avenue.
A neighbor had complained about the temporary structures that he and friends and family were using, where they would pour water on hot rocks to create a steam room.
Riles said that the neighbor complained to multiple city agencies about the activity and while the fire department took no issue with it, the planning department did.
He submitted extensive plans for the temporary structures, but staff at the planning department denied his application. When he appealed the decision to the planning commission, the commissioners unanimously voted in his favor.
Yet the complaints and the obstruction from the city’s staff continued, Riles said.
Riles said:
“This is a religious freedom question, it’s a cultural and ethnic question.”
“This is in many ways very similar to BBQ Becky at the lake or trying to shut down black churches in West Oakland. Folks are using the police and the directions of the city to try and close off things that they have no right to close off.”
He said:
“We have a right to practice our spiritual beliefs in our backyard that don’t disturb people any more than someone having a barbecue.”
Riles said that two weeks ago, planning staff arrived at his home and again indicated that they’d received complaints about the activity, which he considers harassment. Riles argued when he returned to the office on Thursday that his temporary structures were permitted under the city codes and demanded the inspector review the codes.
Instead, the inspector said he would call the police if Riles didn’t leave. Riles asked to see a supervisor and met with him, but as he was leaving, four or five police officers blocked his path.
He tried to walk by them but, he said, the officers twisted his arm behind him and tripped him, throwing him to the floor. He said the arrest left him bruised and sore.
Riles said he intends to file a complaint with the Oakland Police Commission.
Riles said:
“I am flabbergasted that the residents and workers in the city that I love are subject to this kind of treatment.”
“We have a long, long way to go in Oakland to improve how we are treated by our government and improve how we treat each other.”
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OUR CEREMONIES ARE NOT FOR SALE!
YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED NOW
American Indian religious rites and cultural expression under federal law have been encumbered with problems that are unique to all other minority groups in the United States. As late as 1921, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs advocated for a sweeping governmental policy of suppression of these traditions. Fast forward 100 years and despite a century of progress of supportive legislation for the protection of religious practices of other Americans, American Indians are still being treated with callous indifference and bias, or complete ignorance.
In 1978, after Congress approved it, President Jimmy Carter signed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA), in recognition of the terrible effects of decades of devastating government policies that inhibited, forced, or forbid the practice of Native American religion and religious rites. These rites include access to, and the use of sacred sites, structures, objects, and materials.
Recently, however, California Indians as well as long-time members of the Bay Area American Indian community, from various other tribes, have become aware of a lawsuit filed by former Oakland City Councilman Wilson Riles Jr against the city’s zoning council. The lawsuit stems from the city’s refusal to issue a permit to operate a sweat lodge on his property. In his suit, Riles argues that his religious rights are being denied to him based on the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) (42 U.S.C. § 19906). Although he is not a member of an Indian tribe, he claims he was given permission to build the lodge and conduct sweats by an Indian woman.
We say NO to Riles
In response, Bay Area Native community members have begun a campaign to inform the members of the City Council and the public of their opposition to Riles’ outrageous and spurious lawsuit. Riles, you see, has no ethical reason to have a Plains-style sweat lodge in his backyard because any claim of Indian identity he might make will be questionable.
Furthermore, no one person, Indian or not, can give approval for a non-Indian to use, modify, or lead others in Native spiritual rituals. Such approval is the privilege of tribes. Therefore, since Riles is not a member of a sovereign Indian tribe, his lawsuit must be rendered moot.
Neither the Oakland City Council, the Zoning Commission, or any other mainstream legislative body is qualified to approve or disapprove of appropriate ways of engaging in Native American spiritual practices. Nor are they qualified to say who should or should not be authorized to lead, discuss, or defend them. For a state, county, or city institution to grant such permission, would be a grievous violation of American Indian sovereign rights.
Our Religions are still endangered
American Indians today continue to encounter complex forces that serve to compromise their basic human right of religious and cultural self-expression. Their religions and cultures have long been seen as ‘exotic’ compared to Christian practices. Indian religious ceremonies and rituals are communal efforts undertaken for specific purposes in accordance with instructions handed down from one generation to the next. For this reason, Native spiritual practices are incomprehensible to most non-Indians, particularly when they are interpreted or misappropriated for various, inauthentic purposes.
Religion vs. Culture
The very idea of ‘religion’ and ‘culture’ as separate entities is an example of the inability of the dominant society to comprehend the spiritual beliefs, value systems, and lifeways of American Indian people, as our Native culture is contiguous with our religion. The only frameworks non-Indians who are outsiders to our communities have to evaluate Native religious practices then, are European-based values and practices.
Impertinence
Finally, Riles claims that he and his supporters are striving to create an “indigenous community center’ which makes this sweat lodge vitally important. Yet the East Bay already has the Intertribal Friendship House, the Native American Health Center, and the American Indian Child Resource Center. The Friendship House was established in 1955 as one of the first urban Indian Community Centers in the nation. Over the last 67 years, thousands of Indian families have passed through their doors, received services, made connections within the community, and participated in social events, as well as cultural and religious gatherings. It is the height of arrogance to assert that non-Indians could ever provide any better services for our people. Riles is treading dangerously on our sovereign and inherent right of religious freedom, and the City of Oakland may be his unwitting dupe.
We call for support
We the undersigned call on Riles to stop this hideous violation of our culture, and on the City of Oakland to help protect our religious freedom and to respect the letter of the AIRFA protections that our ancestors struggled so long and hard to receive.
American Indian Elders council:
Carole StandingElk (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate)
[email protected]
Shirley Guevara (Dunlap Band of Mono Indians)
[email protected]
Patti Jo King (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma)
[email protected]
Taweah Garcia (Dunlap Band of Mono Indians)
[email protected]
Michelle Maas (Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa)
[email protected]
Glenda (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa Chippewa Indians)
[email protected]
Stormy Ogden (Tribal citizen of the Kashia Pomo/Direct Descendent of the Tule River Yokuts)
[email protected]
Mona Stonefish (C.S. Ojichidaakwe)
[email protected]
We, Will, Continue to Fight!
Although Alameda County Superior Court has rescheduled the ‘Riles vs. City of Oakland Planning and Zoning Department’ case to a later date, the members of the American Indian Elders Coalition have not abandoned the fight. We shall continue to oppose Mr. Riles and Ms. St Onge, two non-Indians, in their fraudulent use of the Federal American Indian Religious Freedom Act to protect their “Arapaho” style sweat lodge in the city of Oakland. We must reiterate; The Act was created to preserve and protect Native religious rites and sacred ceremonies for American Indian people. Non-Indians have no legal or moral right to use Federal Indian Law for any reason and cannot be tolerated. Therefore, we will continue to pursue justice in this matter. We continue to ask you to sign our petition and join us in our struggle to protect our ceremonies from misappropriation and fraud.
American Indian Elders Coalition:
OUR CEREMONIES ARE NOT FOR SALE!
YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED NOW
American Indian religious rites and cultural expression under federal law have been encumbered with problems that are unique to all other minority groups in the United States. As late as 1921, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs advocated for a sweeping governmental policy of suppression of these traditions. Fast forward 100 years and despite a century of progress of supportive legislation for the protection of religious practices of other Americans, American Indians are still being treated with callous indifference and bias, or complete ignorance.
In 1978, after Congress approved it, President Jimmy Carter signed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA), in recognition of the terrible effects of decades of devastating government policies that inhibited, forced, or forbid the practice of Native American religion and religious rites. These rites include access to, and the use of sacred sites, structures, objects, and materials.
Recently, however, California Indians as well as long-time members of the Bay Area American Indian community, from various other tribes, have become aware of a lawsuit filed by former Oakland City Councilman Wilson Riles Jr against the city’s zoning council. The lawsuit stems from the city’s refusal to issue a permit to operate a sweat lodge on his property. In his suit, Riles argues that his religious rights are being denied to him based on the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) (42 U.S.C. § 19906). Although he is not a member of an Indian tribe, he claims he was given permission to build the lodge and conduct sweats by an Indian woman.
We say NO to Riles
In response, Bay Area Native community members have begun a campaign to inform the members of the City Council and the public of their opposition to Riles’ outrageous and spurious lawsuit. Riles, you see, has no ethical reason to have a Plains-style sweat lodge in his backyard because any claim of Indian identity he might make will be questionable.
Furthermore, no one person, Indian or not, can give approval for a non-Indian to use, modify, or lead others in Native spiritual rituals. Such approval is the privilege of tribes. Therefore, since Riles is not a member of a sovereign Indian tribe, his lawsuit must be rendered moot.
Neither the Oakland City Council, the Zoning Commission, or any other mainstream legislative body is qualified to approve or disapprove of appropriate ways of engaging in Native American spiritual practices. Nor are they qualified to say who should or should not be authorized to lead, discuss, or defend them. For a state, county, or city institution to grant such permission, would be a grievous violation of American Indian sovereign rights.
Our Religions are still endangered
American Indians today continue to encounter complex forces that serve to compromise their basic human right of religious and cultural self-expression. Their religions and cultures have long been seen as ‘exotic’ compared to Christian practices. Indian religious ceremonies and rituals are communal efforts undertaken for specific purposes in accordance with instructions handed down from one generation to the next. For this reason, Native spiritual practices are incomprehensible to most non-Indians, particularly when they are interpreted or misappropriated for various, inauthentic purposes.
Religion vs. Culture
The very idea of ‘religion’ and ‘culture’ as separate entities is an example of the inability of the dominant society to comprehend the spiritual beliefs, value systems, and lifeways of American Indian people, as our Native culture is contiguous with our religion. The only frameworks non-Indians who are outsiders to our communities have to evaluate Native religious practices then, are European-based values and practices.
Impertinence
Finally, Riles claims that he and his supporters are striving to create an “indigenous community center’ which makes this sweat lodge vitally important. Yet the East Bay already has the Intertribal Friendship House, the Native American Health Center, and the American Indian Child Resource Center. The Friendship House was established in 1955 as one of the first urban Indian Community Centers in the nation. Over the last 67 years, thousands of Indian families have passed through their doors, received services, made connections within the community, and participated in social events, as well as cultural and religious gatherings. It is the height of arrogance to assert that non-Indians could ever provide any better services for our people. Riles is treading dangerously on our sovereign and inherent right of religious freedom, and the City of Oakland may be his unwitting dupe.
We call for support
We the undersigned call on Riles to stop this hideous violation of our culture, and on the City of Oakland to help protect our religious freedom and to respect the letter of the AIRFA protections that our ancestors struggled so long and hard to receive.
American Indian Elders council:
Carole StandingElk (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate)
[email protected]
Shirley Guevara (Dunlap Band of Mono Indians)
[email protected]
Patti Jo King (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma)
[email protected]
Taweah Garcia (Dunlap Band of Mono Indians)
[email protected]
Michelle Maas (Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa)
[email protected]
Glenda (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa Chippewa Indians)
[email protected]
Stormy Ogden (Tribal citizen of the Kashia Pomo/Direct Descendent of the Tule River Yokuts)
[email protected]
Mona Stonefish (C.S. Ojichidaakwe)
[email protected]
We, Will, Continue to Fight!
Although Alameda County Superior Court has rescheduled the ‘Riles vs. City of Oakland Planning and Zoning Department’ case to a later date, the members of the American Indian Elders Coalition have not abandoned the fight. We shall continue to oppose Mr. Riles and Ms. St Onge, two non-Indians, in their fraudulent use of the Federal American Indian Religious Freedom Act to protect their “Arapaho” style sweat lodge in the city of Oakland. We must reiterate; The Act was created to preserve and protect Native religious rites and sacred ceremonies for American Indian people. Non-Indians have no legal or moral right to use Federal Indian Law for any reason and cannot be tolerated. Therefore, we will continue to pursue justice in this matter. We continue to ask you to sign our petition and join us in our struggle to protect our ceremonies from misappropriation and fraud.
American Indian Elders Coalition: