Mohawk blessing = prayer

Mohawks lose lawsuit over blessing in school

Judge says Native American address could be seen as religiousA federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit by a group of Mohawk Indians who contended their local school district discriminated against them when officials there took a traditional Native American blessing off their public address system.

Officials at the Salmon River school district near Akwesasne in northern New York didn't remove the Thanksgiving Address from the district's public address system because it was Mohawk, nor could they be faulted for thinking the blessing could be akin to a prayer, ruled U.S. Northern District Court Judge Thomas McAvoy.