ADRIAN MA, HOST:
The next story involves a court case that pits religious rights against public safety. In San Antonio, there's this grove of trees that sit by a river, and the city wants to remove these trees so it can repair the river wall. But for hundreds of years, Native Americans have used the site for spiritual ceremonies. As reporter Patrick Davis explains, they're suing to protect it.
PATRICK DAVIS, BYLINE: As the sun sets on San Antonio's sprawling Brackenridge Park, a small group gathers at a tight riverbend. The river is lined with live oak and cypress trees and attracts a lot of water birds - egrets, herons and double-crested cormorants.
GARY PEREZ: This site is just a part of many on the way down from as far away as Canada. People have been traveling through here for thousands of years.
DAVIS: That's Gary Perez, a member of the Native American Church, and the principal chief for the Pakahua/Coahuiltecan Peoples of Mexico and Texas. Perez has been holding spiritual ceremonies at this bend in the river for 25 years. He says it's the presence of the cormorants that helps make this a sacred place.
PEREZ: These birds carry our intentions or our prayers up to the heavens.
DAVIS: But San Antonio officials plan to remove the trees so they can begin repairs on historic buildings and retaining walls along the river. Shanon Shea Miller, director of historic preservation for the city, says protecting the bank from erosion will help the tree canopy in the long-term.
SHANON SHEA MILLER: By stabilizing this area, then we'll be able to not only save the trees that are able to remain, but stabilize the area for future tree growth, as well.
DAVIS: San Antonio cannot remove the trees if cormorants or other migratory birds are there. City workers have used fireworks and clapper boards to deter egrets and herons in recent months.
(SOUNDBITE OF FIREWORKS)
DAVIS: In a statement to NPR, assistant director of communications Brian Chasnoff said those measures will increase wildlife biodiversity, water quality and park access. But Perez's partner and fellow Native American church member Matilde Torres sees things differently.
MATILDE TORRES: And that's part of the problem.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yeah.
TORRES: That noise is part of the problem. When they don't understand and respect wildlife, that's the problem.
DAVIS: Like Perez, Torres is also a member of the Pakahua Peoples in Mexico and Texas. In 2023, they filed a suit against San Antonio, arguing that they have a religious right to meet at that riverbend and need the cormorants to hold sacred ceremonies there.
PEREZ: The spiritual ecology that our creator laid down on this earth is worth fighting for because it's a part of who we are. It's a part of our language, our songs, our identity.
DAVIS: In a few moments, Perez will lead a ceremony called Midnight Waters that is inspired by a creation story from the Coahuiltecan Native American groups that lived in south Texas.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Singing in non-English language).
DAVIS: The group forms a circle around a small fire. Torres and others sing, invoking a spirit that pervades all life. A man enters the circle and passes a bucket of water to the person leading the ceremony.
PEREZ: And he takes these cormorant feathers. He dips it in the bucket of water and gives somebody a special blessing with that, you know, to rejuvenate them, to bring them back to life.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Singing in non-English language).
DAVIS: As long as the cormorants remain at this riverbend, Perez, Torres and their community will be here, too.
TORRES: As long as these trees stand, it's going to be their home. But if these trees are gone, that's it.
DAVIS: Perez and Torres see the fight to protect those trees and the cormorants that nest in them as a sacred calling. And they said they're prepared to take that fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.
For NPR News, I'm Patrick Davis in San Antonio. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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