California Indian Freedom Act of 2026

The American Council supports AB1881, the California Indian Freedom Act of 2026, and urges every legislator to vote yes. For generations, California Indians have practiced living faiths tied to specific landscapes, sacred sites, and ceremonial traditions. The bill's own legislative findings acknowledge that existing California law does not require Indigenous consent to state and local actions that would burden Native American religious freedom, nor does it provide comprehensive protection for the free exercise of Native American religious and spiritual practices, sacred sites, or access to cultural landscapes. That gap is a moral failure this bill begins to correct.

The bill's core prohibition is clear and principled: a governmental agency may not substantially burden a California Indian or tribe's exercise of religious beliefs or spiritual practices on state lands unless the agency can demonstrate that the burden furthers a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of doing so. That is the same standard the law applies when protecting the religious liberty of any other Californian. California Indians deserve nothing less. The bill also requires governmental agencies to allow access to sacred sites on state lands for religious, ceremonial, or cultural activities, with a narrow exception only where public safety or resource protection makes access impossible.

Where state agency actions could physically destroy a sacred site, alter its essential characteristics, eliminate access or quiet use, or cause long-term environmental degradation affecting religious and spiritual practices, the bill requires the agency to seek and document free, prior, and informed consent from the affected tribe before proceeding. Consent must be confirmed in writing by the tribe's governing body. This is not a veto over government; it is a requirement that the government have a real conversation with the people whose holiest places are at stake. We regard that as both just and wise.

The bill also addresses something often overlooked: the experience of California Indians entering the State Capitol itself. It prohibits technological screening of ceremonial items such as regalia, headdresses, eagle feathers, traditional medicines, and gourd rattles at state government buildings, requiring instead that such items be permitted entry and inspected only by hand or other non-technological means if at all. The Department of General Services, the Capitol Protective Section, and the Joint Rules Committee are directed to uphold tribal religious freedom and ceremonial practices when tribes access the Capitol grounds and building. Dignity at the seat of government is not a privilege; it is a baseline.

Confidentiality protections ensure that sacred site information shared with a governmental agency in good faith cannot be exposed through public records requests, shielding communities from the harm that disclosure of sacred site locations can cause. Enforcement is meaningful: California Indians and tribes may assert violations as claims or defenses in any judicial or administrative proceeding, seek declaratory or injunctive relief, and recover attorney's fees and costs if they prevail. The American Council believes that a right without a remedy is no right at all. We call on every member of the Legislature to pass AB1881 and send it to the Governor.