In a case with broader religious-freedom implications, the federal government has agreed to repair an ancient Native American sacred site in Oregon, 15 years after its destruction.
“In 2008, the US Federal Highway Administration ignored tribal members’ pleas to protect the site and bulldozed it to add a turn lane to US Highway 26, even while admitting it could have added the turn lane without harming the site,” according to Becket, which represented members of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
As the Supreme Court prepared to take up the case, the federal government agreed to a settlement.