✦ Your Shield ✦
The law protects
what is sacred.
Your membership in SpiritKeepers Native American Church is not just spiritual — it is legal standing. Federal law recognizes the right of sincere religious practitioners to work with plant medicines in ceremony. This page explains exactly what that means and how it protects you.
Three pillars of federal protection
RFRA
Religious Freedom Restoration Act
42 U.S.C. § 2000bb
The government may not substantially burden a person's religious exercise unless it demonstrates a compelling governmental interest pursued through the least restrictive means. Our ceremonies are religious exercise. This is the primary shield.
AIRFA
American Indian Religious Freedom Act
42 U.S.C. § 1996
Declares it the policy of the United States to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right to practice traditional religion — including access to sacred sites and ceremonial objects. Explicitly covers peyote.
1st
First Amendment
U.S. Constitution
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The oldest and most fundamental protection. It is not a loophole — it is the founding document of this nation.
What Your Membership Establishes
Sincerity of beliefis the legal threshold.
Courts have consistently held that RFRA protection turns on two things: that the organization is a genuine religious body, and that the individual member sincerely holds the religious belief. Your membership in SKNAC documents both.
Your application, your approval, your membership card, and your ceremony records are all evidence of sincere religious practice — not recreational use, not self-medication, not a commercial transaction. These distinctions matter in a court of law.
Official documentation of your standing in a legally recognized religious organization.
A personalized letter citing your RFRA and AIRFA protections, suitable for presentation to law enforcement or legal counsel.
Relevant case law, church documentation, your rights in plain language, and contact information for religious liberty counsel.
Documentation that your sacramental use occurred within a religious ceremony — not recreationally.
Precedent
The courts have spoken — repeatedly.
Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal
The Supreme Court unanimously held that RFRA protects the sacramental use of ayahuasca by a religious organization. The government's compelling interest argument — that the Controlled Substances Act applies uniformly — was rejected. This is the foundation of plant-medicine religious protection.
Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah
Laws that target religious practice specifically — rather than regulating conduct generally — are unconstitutional. The government cannot single out sacramental practice for prohibition while permitting equivalent secular conduct.
Native American Church v. Navajo Tribal Council
Established that the Native American Church has a cognizable religious identity entitled to protection. Foundational to the legal standing of NAC-affiliated organizations.
United States v. Boyll
RFRA protects non-Native members of a Native American Church from prosecution for peyote possession when the use is sincere and religious in nature. Membership and sincerity of belief — not ethnicity — are the operative criteria.
⚑ If You Are Ever Questioned
You do not have to face that moment unprepared.
- 1
Remain calm. Do not consent to a search. You have the right to remain silent.
- 2
Present your SKNAC membership card and religious exemption letter. Calmly state that you are a member of a federally-recognized Native American Church engaging in protected religious practice.
- 3
Ask to contact your religious liberty attorney. We maintain relationships with counsel experienced in RFRA cases.
- 4
Do not argue the law in the moment. Document everything — names, badge numbers, location, time — and contact SKNAC immediately.
Walk protected. Walk in faith.
Membership is the foundation of your legal standing. Every document, every approval, every ceremony — it all matters. Come walk with us.
Begin Your Membership