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SEQUENCE:18499543
CREATED:20080130T171200Z
DESCRIPTION:January 30, 2008\nContact\n \nCultural Defense for Use of Sacrament Put to 
 the Test in Case Involving Oaks Tree-Sit Leader\n \nOakland-On Thursday, 
 January 31, attorneys from Tony Serra’s Pier 5 law office will argue for 
 dismissal of charges of possession of mushrooms in the case of  Native 
 American leader/elder Zachary Running Wolf, a Blackfeet spiritual leader 
 who spearheaded the 14-month tree-sit at the Memorial Oak Grove (Ohlone 
 Burial ground) on UC Berkeley (UCB) campus, along with students and other 
 community activists.  A press conference at 8:30 a.m. with Bay Area Native 
 American leaders will follow a sage ceremony and precede the 9 a.m. court 
 hearing before Judge Sandra Beane in Oakland Superior Court at 661 
 Washington St., Oakland.\n \nRunning Wolf was charged last October with 
 possession of psilosybin mushrooms, a MISDEMEANOR AT THE OAK GROVE ON A 
 WARRANT\nHowever, argues attorney Omar Figueroa, it is known that medicine 
 men in some tribes use mushrooms helpful in inducing visions as a sacrament 
 to bring knowledge to the tribe, as is practiced with the ayawasca SP?? 
 mushroom amongst indigenous people in Brazil.  There is precedent for use 
 of peyote as a sacrament among native peoples of the southwest in the U.S. 
 (“Woody case” in California Supreme Court).  Figueroa and co-counsel 
 James Clark plan to bring expert witnesses including Gary Hill, 
 vice-president of the Native American Church. \n \nThe cultural defense 
 Running Wolf’s attorneys will argue invokes the constitutionally 
 protected right to practice one’s religion of choice, particularly when 
 it is historically recognized, and to use sacraments in that practice.\n 
 \nRunning Wolf continues to maintain a presence at the Oak Grove tree-sit, 
 where he has been targeted by police, racking up the most arrests of any 
 individual there—11 at this date. Others from the tree-sit will be in 
 Oakland court next week for their trials.\n\n\n::>
SUMMARY:Oakland: RunningWolf on Trial
LOCATION:661 Washington Street, Oakland, CA. at the Oakland police department.
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/30/18475833.php
DTSTART:20080131T163000Z
DTEND:20080131T171500Z
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