“It’s a spectacular opportunity for cross-cultural associations that are peace-based, that are based in the holiness of this land,” says Steve Lozar, a council leader of the Salish Tribe in Montana.

A recent event at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC honored Native American spirituality and apologized to native peoples of the US for past wrongs.

In Canada, major Christian denominations are facing the possibility of bankruptcy because of multi-billion-dollar lawsuits by Indians. The charges grow out of past efforts by the churches and the government to integrate Indian children into Canadian society via mandatory schooling. The programs were widely accepted at the time, but Indians say they included physical, sexual and cultural abuse.