Peyote roadA peyote set such as this is used by the medicine man during the peyote ritual.Peyote ceremony tipi
Historically, many denominations of mainstream Christianity made attempts to convert Native Americans to Christianity in the Western Hemisphere. These efforts were partially successful, because the religious practices, including those of the Native American Church, of many Native American tribes reflect Christian creeds. Although conversion to Christianity was a slow process, the tenets of the Native American Church were more readily accepted.[9]
Originally formed in the Oklahoma Territory, the Native American Church is monotheistic, believing in a supreme being, called the Great Spirit.[1] The tenets of the Native American Church regard peyote as a sacred and holy sacrament and use it as a means to communicate with the Great Spirit (God), also referred to as the Creator.[9]
Beliefs of the church
Disease and death are believed to be a result of an imbalance in the individual. Besides peyote, other sacred plants, prayer, and fasting are used to cure this imbalance. Use of peyote is never for recreational purposes and the hallucinogenic effects of the plant are considered spiritual visions. To most Native Americans, visions are a communion with the metaphysical. However, not every member experiences hallucinogenic effects during peyote rituals. The plant is meant to heal or fix social, personal, and communal problems. Members believe the plant is safe for children and pregnant women.[10]
Relationship to Christianity
Some American Natives dislike the beliefs of Christianity because of the history between natives and European Christian groups. Missionaries' attempts to alter or remove aspects of American Natives' heritage and culture has left many unable to reconcile with Christianity. On the other hand, some members are comfortable with a syncretic spiritual way that combines their Indigenous ways with some aspects of Christianity. The church included Protestant characteristics in its formation.[11]
Sects and differing traditions
There are multiple sects or traditions, or "ways" within the Native American Church. Two main ones are the Half-Moon way and the Cross-fire way. The Half-Moon way was introduced either in 1914 or 1924, by James Seymour, who was a part of the Winnebago tribe. There are multiple differences between the Cross-fire way and the Half-Moon way.[12] One of these differences is the use of a Bible on an altar, baptism is practiced, and a minister being present in the former, while the latter no Bible is used, no baptism is practiced, and ministers are not present.[12] Many Cross-fire adherents such as the Dakota Cross-fire and Winnebago Cross-fire members strongly opposes the use of tobacco and smoking in rituals and ceremonies.[13] This seems to stem from many Protestant sects at the time opposing it, instead of one sect influencing this tradition, such as the Jehovah Witnesses.[13] Historically, peyotists in the Winnebago and Wilson moon tribes preached in meetings, prophesied, and baptized.[13]
Menomini Peyotism
Historically, Peyotism among the Menominee people is unique. Prayers were said in Menomini, and ended with "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen" (this may be said in the Menomini version or in English), taken from the Trinitarian Baptismal Formula. Christian symbols were apparent in prayers, speeches, as well a paraphernalia. Catholicism was familiar, and many Catholic beliefs and practices were incorporated as a result of years of Catholic missionaries, however so, Protestantism has definitely had an influence.[14]
Differences in fireplaces
In the Native American Church, there are two main umbrella fireplaces (ceremonial peyote altars passed down generationally from family) that are conducted: the Half-Moon fireplace and the Cross-Fire fireplace.[15]
Half-Moon fireplace:
Uses a half-moon shaped sand altar, the color of sand and size used varying between tribes
Uses tobacco and corn-shucks during main sections of the service
Coal design patterns differ from tribe to tribe during the service
Staff is passed around the tipi during singing sections
Main four ceremonial songs sung
Cross-Fire fireplace:
Uses a horseshoe shaped sand altar, with a corresponding mound outside of the tipi parallel to the firepit – to represent the "grave of Jesus Christ"[15]
No tobacco used
Staff is placed upright in the ground and does not get passed around the ceremony during singing sections
Bible sections are recited and used according to the family's prayer for the particular service
Cross design within the coals to represent certain elements of Jesus Christ
Mainly Christian peyote songs sung, with the main four ceremonial songs appended to the Cross-fire
There are many variations of each fireplace, and they depends greatly on tribe and environment. There are also special fireplaces that do not exactly fit into the mold of either main style, so the above list is by no means authoritative.
National organizational structure
Within the United States, there are two main umbrella chapters of the Native American Church:
Native American Church of the United States – the original 1913 charter enabled in Oklahoma territory. All chapters with this designation have no blood quantum requirements to attend ceremonies and all races, generally, are welcome. Most tribes that adopted the NAC early have an original chapter enacted with this charter.[15]
Native American Church of North America – an offshoot that originates from the late 1960s, the NAC of North America only allows Native Americans with a blood quantum of 1/4 or more to attend. This is enforced by tribal police via checking Certificates of Degree of Indian or Alaska Native Blood (CDIBs) and NAC membership cards. While in the minority nationally, major community figures in the peyote world are actively involved and defend its decision to only allow Native Americans to attend.[15]
There are other tribal specific offshoots of both umbrella chapters, notably the Navajo, with major chapters in both states representing both the original charter and the NAC of North America.
Ceremony and roles
Followers of the Native American Church have differing ceremonies, celebrations, and ways of practicing their religion. For example, among the Lakota, the Cross Fire group uses the Bible for sermons, which are rejected by the Half Moon followers, though they each teach a similar Christian morality.[3] Ceremonies commonly last all night, beginning Saturday evening and ending early Sunday morning. Scripture reading, prayer, singing, and drumming are included.[1] In general, the Native American Church believes in one supreme God, the Great Spirit, and the Trinity (God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost) which is represented by the 3 leaders present in Half-Moon rituals.[16]
Ceremonies are generally held in a tipi and require a priest, pastor, or elder to conduct the service.[9] The conductor is referred to as the Roadman. The Roadman is assisted by a Fireman, whose task is to care for the holy fireplace, making sure that it burns consistently all night. The Roadman may use a prayer staff, a beaded and feathered gourd, a small drum, cedar, and his eagle feather as a means for conducting services. The Roadman's wife or other female relative prepares four sacramental foods and the "second breakfast" that are part of the church services. Her part takes place very early, between 4:30 and 5:00 in the morning. The four sacramental foods are water, shredded beef or "sweet meat", corn mush, and some variety of berry. To counterbalance the bitterness of the peyote consumed during the services, the sweet foods were added later. The second breakfast is like a typical American breakfast. It generally includes boiled eggs, toast, hash brown potatoes, coffee, and juice. This meal is served well after sunrise and just prior to the closing of the church services.
Church services are not regular Sunday occurrences but are held in accordance with special requests by a family for celebrating a birthday, or for a memorial or funeral service. Services begin at sundown on either a Friday or Saturday evening and end at sunrise. Thus, a participant "sits up" all night, giving up a full night's rest as part of a small sacrifice to the Holy Spirit and Jesus.
The church services culminate in a feast for the whole community the following day. Because peyote is a stimulant, all of the participating members are wide awake, so they, too, attend the feast.[citation needed] The need for sleep is generally felt in the late afternoon, particularly after the feast. Gifts are given to the Roadman and all his helpers by the sponsoring family at the feast to show deep appreciation for all his hard work.[9]
Common reasons for holding a service include the desire to cure illness, birthday celebrations, Christian holidays (such as Easter or Christmas), school graduations, and other significant life events.[17]
Music
Music during prayer services consists of the singer with his gourd rattle staff and the water-drummer with his water-drum. The singer sings four songs, concludes his set, and passes the staff, gourd and drum along to the next relative to sing.
There are only two musical instruments used in an authentic Native American Church prayer service:
Peyote gourd rattle – a gourd rattle made of wood (beaded and non-beaded), raw gourd shell, and sea stones used to sing peyote songs throughout the service. The wood is usually strong, hard-wood like Gabon ebony and Bodark to produce the appropriate tune for the rattle.
Water drum – a metal drum (usually cast-iron, brass or aluminum) filled with water and tied down with marbles/stones with an appropriate animal hide. When tied correctly, it produces a deep tone that can be manipulated with the thumb on the hide to change the sound as a relative is singing.[15]
Peyote songs of the Native American Church are in the peyote language.[ambiguous] This language makes up all peyote songs sung around all fireplaces, no matter what tribe or denomination nationally.[15] The language was introduced by the Carrizo and Coahuiltecan people of South Texas and is what people consider "straight" peyote songs.
That being said, many tribes incorporate their own language into peyote songs, which will assign that particular song to one particular tribe, instead of it being represented in an intertribal way as a "straight" song.
Artwork
Along with the founding of the Native American Church came new artwork and art techniques. European trade materials such as beads and metal were incorporated into artwork. Therefore, the category of "peyote art" includes traditional and contemporary styles. Many art pieces are ritual instruments or for ceremonial settings. These objects of art include gourd rattles made of hardwoods, glass beads, leather fringe, and dyed horsehair. Furthermore, most objects, if they are associated with the church, are produced by men. There are also feather fans that can be made from hawk, golden eagle, mascot or other birds' feathers. These fans are one of the most important objects related to the church because they represent the bird symbolism in the religion. Moreover, there are also drum sticks and ritual staffs that have carvings of tipis, birds, stars, sun patterns, and other symbols important to the church. However, there are also non-instrumental art pieces such as paintings and jewelry.[18]
Persecution and law
As the United States government became more involved in the control of drugs, the Native American Church faced possible legal issues regarding their use of peyote.[1] The Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, also called the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, was passed to provide legal protection for the Church's use of the plant.[9]
The controversy over peyote resulted in its legal classification as a controlled drug in the United States. However, as a result of US v. Boyll (1991) and other federal rulings, members of the Native American Church are allowed to transport, possess, and use peyote for religious purposes. While such use has been declared legal without regard to race or tribal status in all US states other than Idaho and Texas, which have outlawed use by non-natives, the purchase of peyote from licensed distributors can only be made via permit by enrolled tribal members, who also must intend to use it for religious purposes only.[9] These distributors, located in Texas near the Mexican border, sell wild peyote gathered in its native range by licensed collectors. Cultivation of peyote is legal under the same circumstances as possession, where the cultivator must be able to prove that plants are for use in Native American Church ceremonies, or depending on the state, for general religious ceremonies.
The Neo-American Church tried to claim LSD and marijuana as sacraments, seeking protection similar to that afforded to peyote use by the Native American Church. The courts ruled against them. The Peyote Way Church of God's failed federal lawsuit was rendered partially successful when Arizona expanded permitted use of peyote to general bona fide religious purposes, as well as spiritual intent.[19][circular reference]Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Oregon also allow for general religious use.
Influential people
Prominent figures in the church's development include Chevato, Jim Aton, John Wilson, and Jonathan Koshiway. These people, and many others, played important roles in the introduction and adoption of the Native American Church.[17]
Victor Griffin, known as the last chief of the Quapaw tribe, was noted for facilitating the incorporation of the Native American Church under Oklahoma law in 1911. He also helped spread the religion to some other related tribes in the region.
Led by James Mooney, a first generation of anthropologists brought their help to Peyotists, providing testimonies before legislative bodies, and later encouraged the movement's leaders to consolidate peyote use into an established religion whose practice would be protected by law.[20]
Crow religion is the indigenous religion of the Crow people, Native Americans of the Great Plains area of the United States.
Entheogens are psychedelic drugs—and sometimes certain other psychoactive substances—used for engendering spiritual development or otherwise in sacred contexts. They have been used in various ways, e.g., as part of established religious rituals or as aids for personal spiritual development. Anthropological study has established that entheogens are used for religious, magical, shamanic, or spiritual purposes in many parts of the world. Entheogens have traditionally been used to supplement many diverse practices geared towards achieving transcendence, including healing, divination, meditation, yoga, sensory deprivation, asceticism, prayer, trance, rituals, chanting, imitation of sounds, hymns like peyote songs, drumming, and ecstatic dance. The psychedelic experience is often compared to non-ordinary forms of consciousness such as those experienced in meditation, near-death experiences, and mystical experiences. Ego dissolution is often described as a key feature of the psychedelic experience.
Peyote songs are a form of Native American music, now most often performed as part of services in the Native American Church. They are typically accompanied by a rattle and water drum, and are used in a ceremonial aspect during the sacramental taking of peyote.
Quanah Parker was a war leader of the Kwahadi ("Antelope") band of the Comanche Nation. He was likely born into the Nokoni ("Wanderers") band of Tabby-nocca and grew up among the Kwahadis, the son of Kwahadi Comanche chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, an Anglo-American who had been abducted as an eight-year-old child and assimilated into the Nokoni tribe. Following the apprehension of several Kiowa chiefs in 1871, Quanah Parker emerged as a dominant figure in the Red River War, clashing repeatedly with Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie. With European-Americans hunting American bison, the Comanches' primary sustenance, into near extinction, Quanah Parker eventually surrendered and peaceably led the Kwahadi to the reservation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language.
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Pub. L. No. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb through 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-4, is a 1993 United States federal law that "ensures that interests in religious freedom are protected." The bill was introduced by Congressman Chuck Schumer (D–NY) on March 11, 1993. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Ted Kennedy (D-MA) the same day. A unanimous U.S. House and a nearly unanimous U.S. Senate—three senators voted against passage—passed the bill, and President Bill Clinton signed it into law.
The peyote stitch, also known as the gourd stitch, is an off-loom bead weaving technique. Peyote stitch may be worked with either an even or an odd number of beads per row. Both even and odd count peyote pieces can be woven as flat strips, in a flat round shape, or as a tube. Tubular peyote is used to make pouches or to decorate objects such as bottles or fan handles.
The Gourd Dance is a Kiowa dance and song tradition that has become popular at modern powwows in southwestern Oklahoma.
The eagle bone whistle is a religious object, used by some members of Native American spiritual societies in sacred ceremonies. They are made from bones of either the American bald eagle or the American golden eagle, and are considered powerful spiritual objects.
The American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Public Law No. 95–341, 92 Stat. 469, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1996, is a United States federal law, enacted by joint resolution of the Congress in 1978. Prior to the act, many aspects of Native American religions and sacred ceremonies had been prohibited by law.
Native American religions are the spiritual practices of the Native Americans in the United States. Ceremonial ways can vary widely and are based on the differing histories and beliefs of individual nations, tribes and bands. Early European explorers describe individual Native American tribes and even small bands as each having their own religious practices. Theology may be monotheistic, polytheistic, henotheistic, animistic, shamanistic, pantheistic or any combination thereof, among others. Traditional beliefs are usually passed down in the forms of oral histories, stories, allegories, and principles.
The peyote is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. Peyote is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl peyōtl, meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root peyōni, "to glisten". Peyote is native to Mexico and southwestern Texas. It is found primarily in the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Chihuahuan Desert and in the states of Nayarit, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosí among scrub. It flowers from March to May, and sometimes as late as September. The flowers are pink, with thigmotactic anthers.
Native American civil rights are the civil rights of Native Americans in the United States. Native Americans are citizens of their respective Native nations as well as of the United States, and those nations are characterized under United States law as "domestic dependent nations", a special relationship that creates a tension between rights retained via tribal sovereignty and rights that individual Natives have as U.S. citizens. This status creates tension today but was far more extreme before Native people were uniformly granted U.S. citizenship in 1924. Assorted laws and policies of the United States government, some tracing to the pre-Revolutionary colonial period, denied basic human rights—particularly in the areas of cultural expression and travel—to indigenous people.
"John Wilson the Revealer of Peyote" (c.1845–1901) was a Caddo medicine man who introduced the Peyote plant into a religion, became a major leader in the Ghost Dance, and introduced a new peyote ceremony with teachings of Christ. John Wilson's Caddo name was Nishkû'ntu, meaning "Moon Head."
Daniel C. Swan is an American cultural anthropologist and museum curator whose work has focused on documenting and interpreting the cultural history of the Americas. He has specialized particularly on the histories, social organizations, and cultures of Native North American peoples in Oklahoma, USA. His research on the history, significance, and artistic forms of the Native American Church has led to research and exhibition collaborations with artists and elders in a diversity of American Indian communities, both in Oklahoma and elsewhere in the Western United States. In addition to his work on American Indian topics, he has organized exhibitions and museum catalogs about cultural diversity in the American West and in the Western Hemisphere more broadly.
Huichol art broadly groups the most traditional and most recent innovations in the folk art and handcrafts produced by the Huichol people, who live in the states of Jalisco, Durango, Zacatecas and Nayarit in Mexico. The unifying factor of the work is the colorful decoration using symbols and designs which date back centuries. The most common and commercially successful products are "yarn paintings" and objects decorated with small commercially produced beads. Yarn paintings consist of commercial yarn pressed into boards coated with wax and resin and are derived from a ceremonial tablet called a neirika. The Huichol have a long history of beading, making the beads from clay, shells, corals, seeds and more and using them to make jewelry and to decorate bowls and other items. The "modern" beadwork usually consists of masks and wood sculptures covered in small, brightly colored commercial beads fastened with wax and resin.
Tall Chief was a hereditary chief of the Quapaw Tribe and a peyote roadman. He served in this position after his father, Lame Chief, died in 1874, until his own death in 1918 at around 78 years old.
Victor Griffin was the elected chief of Quapaw Tribe of Indians and a peyote roadman from Quapaw, Oklahoma. Griffin was commonly called either Victor or Vic, and rarely used his first name, William. He conferred with every U.S. president during his term as chief.
Big moon peyotism was introduced as a variant of the Peyote religion in the 1880s that incorporated Christian, Caddo, and Delaware religious symbols with the consumption of peyote intertwined from Caddo and Delaware rituals. The plant itself, peyote, had been used for spiritual practice by the Mescalero Apache in the 1880, and their use of it influenced other tribes like the Comanche and Kiowa. Peyotism inquires all of the same traits found in other religions such as a doctrine, a ritual, and ethics. The doctrine includes the belief of the actuality of power, incarnation, and spirits. It soon spread all over the Indian Territory while its native people were searching for spiritual help. Peyotism at this point, was a spiritual path that was soon to be taken in Indian Territory. Around 1890, the Caddo, Delaware and Quapaw tribes became the first practitioners of peyote. Black Wolf, a practitioner from the Caddo tribe, brought the religion of little moon peyotism to the Osage people. Black Wolf had intrigued enough of the tribe that his peyote prayers and rituals had truth and value, so the people sent him to heal a sick person in their tribe. His prayers and rituals could not save their life, so peyotism was not being spread for a while. After the native people's dry spell towards peyotism, it returned to the Osage tribe around 1898.
Peyote Way Church of God, Inc. v. Thornburgh was a court case decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in which the Peyote Way Church of God challenged an exemption in the Controlled Substances Act that permitted members of the Native American Church to use peyote in religious ceremonies while not giving the same exemption to members of other churches. The court ruled that the exemption was primarily a political rather than a religious one and that all of Peyote Way's claims were without merit.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Walthill, Wynema Morris. "Native American Church". Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
↑ Jones, Peter N. (2007). "The Native American Church, Peyote, and Health: Expanding Consciousness for Healing Purposes". Contemporary Justice Review. 10 (4): 411. doi:10.1080/10282580701677477. S2CID144229868.
↑ Slotkin, J.S (1952). Menomini peyotism: a study of individual variation in primary group with a homogeneous culture. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. pp.579–581.
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