The US denied Native religions legal protection until 1978

Evidence

But the US government refused to grant the Native American Church religious freedom protections because in a predominantly Protestant nation, Native American practices had always been deemed superstition and heathenism, not religion. Accordingly, the BIA determined that peyote and the various dances impeded Indians’ civilizational progress. It was not until decades later, in 1978, that Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, giving Native American religions legal protections. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 217

Categorization

• DEFINE: Illustrates the operative definition of ‘religion’ in US law: only practices resembling Protestant Christianity counted as religion, not superstition.
• ADDENDUM: Directly extends the ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ theme of Protestant moral framing being imposed across cultural lines — here, via the denial of ‘religion’ status itself.
• XREF: connects to: State-enforced Christian schooling of Native children lasted into the late 1970s — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 426