wfn.org | Houston Smith's Native American Focus at World's Religions Parliament

[George Conklin <gconklin@wfn.org>]

Nov. 1, 1999
Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
John Dart, 818 363 3984, jdartnews@aol.com
Mim Neal, 313 629 2990, mimneal@cpwr.org
http://www.cpwr.org

          CHICAGO, Nov. 1 --  Huston Smith, an authority on comparative
religions, will lead a six-day symposium during next month's Parliament of
the World's Religions in Cape Town, South Africa.  The author of the
classic "The World's Religions," that expounds primarily on the wisdom of
Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, will focus solely on Native
American beliefs and causes at the Dec. 1-8 meeting. With six Native
American spokespersons, Smith will explore aspects of "Native America and
Religious Freedom."
         Smith, now 80 and a professor emeritus at Syracuse University, last
taught at the University of California at Berkeley, recently "retiring for
the third time," he said. Television newsman Bill Moyers featured Smith's
perspectives in the PBS series, "The Wisdom of Faith," which first aired in
1996.
         The non-legislative Parliament of the World's Religions is expected
to draw some 6,000 religious leaders and practitioners for seminars,
performances and celebrations and commended examples of service. An
Assembly of leaders there will discuss ways that religious and secular
spheres of influence might pursue together a "just, peaceful and
sustainable world" as outlined in the Parliament's consensus document, "A
Call to Our Guiding Institutions."
         Smith said that Native American leaders are taking their stories to
the international gathering for both religious and ethical reasons.
"Tribal, oral peoples have religions which are fully deserving of the
world's attention," according to Smith.  The panels will explore how these
traditions have suffered from a non-comprehending government.
         Those joining Smith on the six panels will include:  Walter
Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), attorney and author,  Lenny Foster (Dine), coordinator
of the National Native American Prisoners Rights Advocates Coalition;
Charlotte Black Elk (Oglala Lakota), advocate of Native American access to
the Black Hills of South Dakota; Oren Lyons (Iroquois), chief of the
Onondaga Nation; Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabe), founder of the White Earth
Recovery Project; and Frank Dayish Jr. (Dine), former president of the
Native American Church.
         Smith co-edited with Reuben Snake "One Nation Under God," published
in 1996. The book explored in part the struggles of the Native American
Church, known for its peyote-ingesting religious rites, to protect the
legal rights of practitioners.
         "This is the only book I have written on a single religion," said
Smith, who lives in Berkeley, Calif.  "I gave two years to the project and
it has enriched me no end."
************************************************

Ms. Mim Neal
Public Relations Manager

Mr. John Dart
Media Consultant - CPWR / California
Tel. / Fax: 818-363-3984
E-mail: mailto:jdartnews@aol.com

CPWR Tel.: 312-629-2990
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