                THE PEYOTE RELIGION AMONG THE AMERICAN INDIANS

                                 By Patty Yuen


                                 INTRODUCTION

    The  use  of  Peyote  has  long been referred to as a cult "...which we
    found springing into existence when old ways of life (of  the  American
    Indian)  are  being  destroyed  by  a powerful and technologically more
    advanced culture ..." thus also  classifying  it  as  a  revitalization
    movement.

    Today,  peyote  use  has  become  the most popular, and one of the most
    durable of all the religious movements created by American Indians as a
    result of the suffering  as  the  effects  of  domination  by  American
    society.  Peyote  use (in the United States) has thus evolved into what
    is more accurately described as a religion: a system of  symbols  which
    produces  powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations by
    formulating conceptions of a general order of existence.

    The rite as it came to the United States was aboriginal  in  character,
    and  had  no hint of influence of any other religion. Today, the Peyote
    religion can be characterized as the combination of beliefs tinged with
    Christianity and rituals which are distinctly Indian. The peyote cactus
    is central to the religion for its effects after ingestion and for  its
    symbolism.  For  them,  the cactus is the basis for their communication
    with God, and their cure  for  all  bodily  and  spiritual  ailments--a
    palladium, power and panacea.

    In  spite  of  opposition  from  traditional and Christian Indians, who
    oppose the cult fear and hate Peyote,  and  from  the  Indian  Service,
    doctors,  missionaries,  and traders, the religion has been passed from
    the land of the ancient  Aztec  empire  to  the  Mexican  Indians,  and
    beginning  in  1870's,  spread  to the United States, especially in the
    Plains, where nearly all groups use it. It is today one  of  the  major
    religions  of  most  Indians  of  the  United  States between the rocky
    Mountains and the  Mississippi,  from  the  territories  spanning  from
    Nevada  to  Wisconson,  and even up to Southern Canada and parts of the
    Great Basin. The appeal of peyote is based upon the visions it induces,
    and  its  "medicine  power,"  and  its  availability  in  doctoring  is
    culturally  based  upon  the  aboriginal  vision  quest of the American
    Indians and the ideological premises of this quest.



                                    PEYOTE

    The Plant

    Peyote, or Lophophora williamsii  is  a  small,  low-growing  spineless
    cactus,  and ranges in shape from a turnip to carrot-shape. It does not
    have branches or leaves, but has tufts of hair or fuzz which  are  said
    to  cause  sore  eyes  or  blindness.  The flesh and roots are eaten by
    peyotists. The rounded top surface, which alone appears above the  soil
    (and  which  cut  off and dried, popular method of preparation, becomes
    the peyote-button) makes it difficult to find. It grows mainly in areas
    of Texas and Mexico, and was first discovered in 1560. It contains nine
    narcotic alkaloids, the most important of  which  is  mescaline,  which
    produces  profound  sensory and psychic derangements, or hallucinations
    lasting about twenty-four hours. It is  this  property  of  the  peyote
    which led the native American Indian to value and use it religiously.

    It  is  interesting  to note that throughout the world, people use many
    substances to create special psychological states such as the  opiates,
    marijuana,  coca,  alcohol,  etc.   These  are  often  used  in magical
    contexts, for instance, for divination, to create a trance, visions, or
    dreams. But peyote is the only substance known which is used to  create
    a  special  psychological  state  in  service  of  religious ends. Cult
    members face persecution and imprisonment in order to  use  peyote  for
    religious  purposes.   Another interesting point is that given the wide
    range of the plant genera in Eastern and Western worlds, why is it that
    in America, the American Indians knew of some forty  local  species  of
    hallucinogens, while the rest of the world had scarcely half a dozen.

    Physiology of Peyote Intoxication

    Physiologically,  the  most  noted  characteristics  of  peyote  is its
    production of visual hallucinations or color visions, as  well  as  the
    derangements  of  olfactory, auditory, and touch senses. Typically, the
    first stage in the reaction to the ingestion of peyote is  exhilaration
    (which  may  result  in  the  allaying of hunger and thirst on the long
    pilgrimage to peyote land n order to obtain the drug, to  give  courage
    in war, and strength in dancing, and racing, etc.) which is produced by
    the   strychnine-like   alkaloids,   followed   by  the  second  stage,
    characterized by profound  depression,  nausea  and  wakefulness,  mild
    analgesia,  and  a  sensation  of  fullness  in  the stomach or loss of
    appetite.  If dosage continues, there  may  be  active  nauseam  and  a
    feeling  of  tightness in the chest, some muscular tetany (particularly
    evident in the jaw muscles), and finally, under the  influence  of  the
    morphine-like  alkaloids,heightened  sensitivity  to  nuances of sound,
    color form and texture. If dosage continues, b rilliant  color  visions
    are  produced with eyes open or closed. There are no ill after-effects,
    and peyote is not known to be habit-forming. It is in the latter  stage
    where   "running   amok,"  witchcraft-suspicion,  psychic  fear-states,
    euphoria and feeling of brotherhood, partial anesthesia, the "suffering
    to learn  something"  (characteristic  of  the  Plains  vision  quest),
    hallucinations  which teaches the worshiper sacred songs of peyote, and
    "learning" of painting and bead designs, symbolical birds and feathers,
    etc.


    Reasons for the Use of Peyote in Ritual Practice

    "For American Indians from the  most  ancient  times,  this  experience
    (induced  by  peyote)  of  `medicine  power' -- sought ...everywhere at
    least by shamans or medicine men..." -- motivated American  Indians  to
    explore  a  plant  that  resulted in such impressive experiences by the
    worshippers.  The question arises, why  are  these  characteristics  of
    peyote so important to a religion?  The visions are not critical to the
    peyotist, as one may have been led to believe; in fact they are rare or
    absent  in  a  large  percentage  of  cases, and even disvalued by many
    peyotists, although welcomed by many others.

    What I found to believe that makes peyote so religiously  important  is
    the  feeling  of personal significance of external and internal stimuli
    that  hallucinogenics,  in  particular  peyote,  creates  because   the
    physiological  reactions occur in the person, subjectively. Each person
    is experiencing his own similar, but distinct reaction,  and  examining
    his  own  thoughts,  which  cannot  be  exactly  the  same  as the next
    person's. "Personal significance heightens the religious experience  in
    the  peyote meeting because it supplies evident proof that something is
    being done to and for the human organism and it is felt as a power."

    This feeling of personal significance asks, "What does  this  mean  for
    me?"  For example, if the worshipper is ill, he will be able to ask his
    own  bodily  sensations  and  the  events  of  the   meeting   for   an
    understanding  of why he is ill and whether he is likely to get better.
    Or if he is anxious or depressed, or guilt-ridden, he can examine these
    feelings and the reasons for them and seek in his experience a clue  as
    to  whether he is forgiven, needs to worry, or can ever be happy. These
    are generally referred to as  revelations.  "Users  may  find  personal
    significance  in  the  events  of  the  peyote  meeting,  the  physical
    surroundings, their fellow  participants  and  in  their  behavior  and
    expressions,  visions, nausea, indigestion, headache or simply in their
    own ruminations."

    Peyote is a  religious  adjunct-and  aid  to  a  special  and  personal
    experience. Many other religions also have, for the same purposes, such
    adjuncts such as fasting, repetitive prayer, trance, self-torture, etc.
    These,  like  the  peyote  experience  are other-than-usual experiences
    which, in the context of religious ritual,  is  usually  identified  as
    having to do with the supernatural. The mind-moving effect of the plant
    was proof enough to them that it has supernatural mana or "power."


                           THE RITUAL USE OF PEYOTE

    Symbolism of the Ritual

    To  the users of peyote, the peyote is in itself, is a power that works
    from the outside. It is a teacher who can show a man the right  way  to
    live  and  answer  his  questions  by  giving him an experience to live
    through.


    Through the use of peyote in the ritual, one  is  able  to  communicate
    with  the  Creator,  or  in more syncretized tribes, God. The ritual is
    also regarded as a communion with  one's  fellow  worshippers.  Prayer,
    song,  drumming  and  the eating of peyote are all regarded as forms of
    communication with God, and the reactions brought on  by  the  drug  is
    regarded  as  communication from Him--through reflection, illumination,
    or visual  or  auditory  hallucinations.   The  communion  with  fellow
    peyotists  is  felt  through  the  joint eating of peyote, the singing,
    confessions, in the drinking of water together at midnight and dawn and
    in the ceremonial breakfast which closes the meeting.

    Purpose

    A peyote meeting is generally held for  a  purpose,  one  of  the  most
    common  reasons  is  for curing. Some other reasons for a meeting to be
    called can range from averting evil, promoting future good, or thanking
    God for past  blessings  to  celebrating  a  child's  birth,  a  death,
    obtaining  rain,  to  divine  and combat sorcery, to locate an enemy at
    war, finding lost objects, foretell the future, and to "see the face of
    Jesus" or the faces of dead relatives. Some tribes even  hold  meetings
    on New Years Eve, Christmas, and Easter. Doctoring the sick is, however
    the  commonest  reason  for  calling a meeting, but a quote from an old
    Indian states that, however, when a man wishes to have  a  meeting,  he
    ordinarily  finds little difficulty in discovering a reason for it, "In
    the early days they just had a good time for one night. It was not used
    as a curing ceremony then... at first they wanted to have good visions,
    that's what they were after. But then, recently, they began to  use  it
    as medicine for sick people."

    The Peyote Rite

    The  ceremonial use of peyote varies greatly from tribe to tribe, but a
    general, or "universal" outline of a peyote ritual will be sufficient.

    For those tribes who live beyond the habitat of peyote, they  may  have
    to  make  pilgrimages  in  order  to  obtain  peyote.  For many Mexican
    journeys, it is very ritualized, for  example,  they  must  walk,  some
    tribes  require  fasting  even if the journey may last for a month. But
    for the majority, this journey is not ritualized, although there  is  a
    modest ceremony at the site. For example, on finding the first plant, a
    Kiowa  pilgrim  sits west of it, rolls a cornshuck cigarette and prays,
    "I have found you, now open up, show me where the rest of  you  are;  I
    want to use you to pray for the health of my people." He sings and eats
    green  plants  while  harvesting them; only the tops are taken, so that
    the roots may regenerate buds for  the  next  pilgrimage.   In  Mexican
    tribes,  the  first  button they find is saved as a "father peyote" for
    meetings later, in the plains, it is the largest one.

    In preparation, many tribes  commonly  take  a  sweatbath,  while  some
    require  a washing of the hair in yucca suds. Fasting, perfuming of the
    body  with  mint,  sage,  or  other  scented  plants  are  also  common
    preparations in order to cleanse the body for the meeting. An universal
    peyotist  restriction  is  that  salt  may not be eaten on the day that
    peyote is eaten.  It is also considered hygenically  if  not  ethically
    unwise to use peyote in alcoholic drinks; indeed, many become peyotists
    in order to cure their alcoholic addictions.


    The  sponsor  selects the leader, or himself acts as one.  If a tipi is
    used, the sponsor's womenfolk erect the tipi, or enclosure, prepare and
    bring the food and water the next morning. The sponsor stands the  cost
    of  the  meeting, or others may help in funding the peyote if it has to
    be purchased. Communicants may bring their own supply of buttons.

    The leader also supplies the paraphernalia: typical requirements are  a
    staff,  gourd  rattle  or  rasp,  eagle-bone  whistle, and his personal
    "feathers" for doctoring. Each item has specific  symbolic  meaning  in
    representing the idealogy of their creation.

    The  road  chief  is  the  most important individual in a meeting. "The
    leader of each ceremony is the sole director of it.  He  may  base  his
    ceremony  partly on visions during previous ceremonies. In other cases,
    he follows ceremonies that he has participated in, changing  or  adding
    details  to  suit  his  personal  ideas. No two ceremonies conducted by
    different individuals are therefore  exactly  alike;  but  the  general
    course of all is similar." -- This variation in leadership is also seen
    as  a  function  of  leadership  -- he has full authority to change the
    ceremony in any way he wishes, and his permission  must  be  asked  and
    secured even in such little matters as leaving the meeting temporarily;
    even  the  fireman, his chief assistant must obtain his permission, and
    constantly consults with him throughout the ceremony for directions. --
    In fact, peyote leadership is a matter of prestige in a  tribe,  and  a
    major means of advancement among the fellow tribe, since each tribe has
    a limited number of rec ognized peyote leaders. For example, the Pawnee
    tribe  has  only  eight  recognized  leaders  in  a population of eight
    hundred.

    Participants gather at sundown and enter the  enclosure  anytime  after
    nightfall,  in  a clockwise manner. Entrance is generally informal. The
    road chief, who conducts the meeting may say  a  brief  prayer:  "I  am
    going  into  my place of worship. Be with us tonight."-- The road chief
    sits west of the fire, which has been started by  the  fire  chief  who
    sits  north  of  the door.  Two other officials are required: a drummer
    chief, who does most of the drumming; he sits south of the road  chief,
    and  the  cedar chief, who sprinkles dried cedar incense on the fire at
    several points of the ceremony is seated to his right. Almost  any  one
    can  learn  these  roles  after  a  little observation. A road chief is
    trained more elaborately by another road chief. In front of them  is  a
    raised  crescent  moon of earth, and the altar, where the father peyote
    is placed.  Father peyote should  be  the  focus  of  concentration  in
    praying,  singing, drumming, and smoking ritual cigarettes as it serves
    as a center for communication with God.

    Some individuals cherish and prize  their  father  peyotes.  Some  even
    become heirlooms. If one gives his away, or loses it, he may be subject
    to misfortunes.


    A  prayer,  and  smoking together is the first ceremony which announces
    the purpose of the meeting. The papers to roll the tobacco  is  usually
    made  of  corn husks. All pray privately, and then the incense ceremony
    follows. The cedar man will sprinkle cedar on the fire. The scent  will
    protect  them  from feeling weak or dizzy. Peyote is then passed around
    and eaten.  Peyote is  generally  eaten  in  the  raw  dried  state  as
    "buttons"  but,  when obtainable, in the green form also, which is said
    to e more potent. Peyote "tea," a dark-brown  infusion  of  soaked  and
    boiled  buttons  may also be provided.  This method is commonly used to
    administer peyote to the old and sick, who may be unable  to  chew  the
    buttons,  and  are  unable  to  pick the fuzz off, which is believed to
    cause blindness.

    Singing and drumming begin, continuing until midnight. There  are  four
    "peyote  songs"  which must be sung throughout the course of the night,
    usually  by  the  road  chief:  Hayatinayo  (Opening  Song),   Yahiyano
    (Midnight  Song),  Wakaho (Daylight Song), and Gayatina (Closing Song).
    During this time, the  paraphernalia,  staff,  drum,  tobacco,  peyote,
    etc.,  are  passed  around to the left, in a clockwise circuit, for all
    participants to handle.

    At about midnight, when the midnight song is sung, a bucket of water is
    brought in by a female, usually the wife of  the  road  chief,  who  is
    usually  referred  to  as  Peyote Woman, who, according to some tribe's
    legends discovered peyote. In the early days, women were prohibited  to
    attend  in  meetings,  and only old men used peyote, but forty or fifty
    years ago, women started coming in to be doctored and gradually came in
    for other reasons, though they could not use the ritual  paraphernalia;
    under  no circumstances may a menstruant woman enter.-- The restriction
    against women appears to apply only to groups  who  early  had  peyote,
    when  it  still  had a flavor of a warriors' society about it. It is in
    the mexican practices where women are able to fully participate, and in
    a few cases where a woman acts as road chief.

    The water is passed around after prayers by various  officiants.  After
    midnight  water,  singing  and drumming recommence, and peyote is again
    passed around.  Public confessions are common, lengthy prayers for  the
    purpose  the  meeting  is  held  begin and continue until dawn, where a
    morning water ceremony, like the midnight ceremony, is held, after  the
    four  songs  are completed. Again, it is brought in by a woman, whether
    she has participated in the meeting or not, and  is  followed  by  more
    singing  and  drumming,  and  prayers  for  the  purpose  and  for  the
    worshippers themselves.  This ceremony  is  the  morning  "baptism"  or
    "curing"  rite. Singing and drumming again, and then the meeting closes
    with a ceremonial breakfast of parched corn, boneless meat, fruit,  and
    water.   A  lot  of  joking,  and  discussion of the night's events and
    experiences occur. And at sometime between ten in the morning  and  one
    in the afternoon, a large meal is served.



    Beliefs and Values of the Power of Peyote

    Peyotists  believe in the existence of power, spirits, and incarnations
    of power.  "...[Power] is  an  immaterial  and  invisible  supernatural
    force..."  which  man  needs  in  order  to  be successful and healthy;
    without it he becomes unsuccessful and ill...God, who is  equated  with
    the Great Spirit, or the Creator, is the ultimate source of power. This
    power  is  personified  as  the Peyote spirit. Peyote "was given to the
    Indians by God because he  took  pity  on  them  for  being  a  subject
    people--poor,   weak,  helpless  and  ignorant...God  made  the  Peyote
    cactus..., and put some of his power into it," in  order  to  help  the
    Indians.  Therefore when one eats peyote, he absorbs the power inherent
    in it, which he can then utilize to cure and to  understand  the  world
    and one's place in it.

    The  amount  of  peyote  eaten usually is minimally, four buttons. Some
    have eaten 75 to 100 or more, but the average is a third or a fourth of
    this.  The reason for such large  quantities  being  that  there  is  a
    certain prestige in eating and retaining large amounts of peyote.-- But
    peyote  is  not  as predictable as one may think. An overdose may cause
    one to vomit, and this is regarded as a punishment of one's  sins,  but
    it  cleanses the body of its impurities in the process and purifies the
    blood.  The belief in peyote as  a  protection  against  witchcraft  is
    widespread.  Vomiting  of the peyote is attributed to witchcraft forced
    upon by a powerful shaman, for in Mexico and  the  Southwest,  war  and
    witching  are  often  done  while  under  the  influence  of peyote. "A
    favorite device of witches  to  weaken  the  leader  was  to  make  his
    assistants vomit the peyote."

    Non-Ritual Uses of Peyote

    In  many  instances, peyote is used to prophecize and to divine. Peyote
    is also carried in pouches as amulets as charms  against  all  injuries
    and  illnesses, and is also a powerful protection against witchcraft in
    foot races, which are common in Mexican tribes, held usually  at  night
    before  a meeting. Rivals are liable to throw bones and obstructions on
    the track and cause the Tarahumari runner to be bewitched and lose  the
    race.

    Peyote  is  also  used to topically cure wounds. A salve is made out of
    peyote and fat, and is put on to  snakebites,  arrow  wounds,  bruises,
    etc.   Therapeutic  uses  of  peyote  also  vary from relieving cramps,
    fainting spells, painful joints,  rheumatism,  head-aches,  fever,  and
    colds. In the Plains, a Wichita case of blindness of 15 years was cured
    by  the sole application of peyote infusion. One of the most remarkable
    instances is the curing of a Cheyenne woman of liver cancer, which  had
    been  declared  hopeless  at  a  white hospital, although a meeting was
    called for this purpose.

    Peyote is also used in war for courage, in order to not feel fatigue in
    long journeys, etc. Peyote in fact gave power  to  perform  shamanistic
    tricks in the old days.



                       PEYOTISM AS A NATIVISTIC MOVEMENT

    Revitalization  movement: "a deliberate, organized, conscious effort by
    members of society to construct a more satisfying culture" as a  result
    of  real  or  imagined  conditions  that create a demand for change.  A
    nativistic movement, such as peyotism, is a form  of  a  revitalization
    movement  that  is  defined  by  Linton  as,  "Any conscious, organized
    attempt on the part of a society's  members  to  revive  or  perpetuate
    selected aspects of its culture."

    Further  evidence  that  the  peyote  religion  is revitalistic is that
    several types  of  deprivation  that  are  prevalent  in  the  Indians'
    situation  is noted to be the causal link in which leads individuals to
    join such a religion, the cause of the rapid spread of Peyotism.  These
    are:

    (1)  - economic deprivation. In the American Indian's case, the lost of
    their possessions, such as livestock and land.

    (2) - organismic deprivation.  This  applies  to  the  feeling  of  the
    reduction  of  one's  worth among his fellows.  If "...one's membership
    category is seen as distinctly below standard, (The American Indian  is
    stills regarded with prejudice) this represents behavioral (organismic)
    deprivation" (Aberle).

    (3)  - ethical deprivation is the result of the loss of hierarchy which
    used to be  regarded  with  reverence  amongst  the  tribes.  With  the
    introduction  of  reservations  and  with Indians, involvement in white
    man's world, these traditions become less adhered to.

    (4) - psychic deprivation, which results in the search for new  meaning
    and values, and

    (5)  - social deprivation, which refers to the loss of power felt as an
    American Indian.  For instance, he is unable to control events  on/  of
    the  reservations  as  a  result of white man's laws, and the Bureau of
    Indian Affairs.


                                  CONCLUSION

    Peyotism seeks a more satisfying way of life for Indian individuals  in
    this  world,  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  that  confront Indians.
    Peyotism's only organized efforts at  institutional  change  are  those
    aimed  at  altering  the  legal status of the practice itself. Peyotism
    does not believe in changes of individual habit alone, but sees changes
    in belief, custom, behavior, and style of life  as  proceeding  from  a
    change  of  inner state. This is the stated goal of the Native American
    Church. In a sense, peyotism turns its face from the white  world,  but
    it  has  an  ethic  that  is  adaptive  for  the American Indian in his
    situation in America. Its stress on abstinence from  alcohol,  on  hard
    work, self-support, sexual morality and responsibility for one's family
    is adaptive for those groups partially integrated in our industrialized
    society.



    December 4, 1989

                                  WORKS CITED


    Aberle,  David  F.   The  Peyote  Religion.   Chicago  and  London: The
    University of Chicago Press, 1982.

    Artaud, Antonin.  The Peyote Dance.   New  York:  Farrar,  Strauss  and
    Giroux, Inc., 1976.

    Benitez,  Fernando.  In  The  Magic  Land of Peyote. Austin and London:
    University of Texas Press, 1911.

    LaBarre, Weston.  The Peyote Cult. Connecticut: The Shoe String  Press,
    1975.

    Lehmann,  Arthur  C.   and  Meyers,  James  E.   Magic, Witchcraft, and
    Religion. California: Mayfield Publishing Company,1989.

    Siskin, Edgar E. Washo Shamans and Peyotists. Utah: University of  Utah
    Press, 1983.


                                     NOTES

    1  Lehman,  Arthur  C,  and  Meyers,  James  E.  Magic, Witchcraft, and
    Religion (California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1989) p.126.
    2 Aberle,  David  F.  The  Peyote  Religion.(Chicago  and  London:  The
    University of Chicago Press, 1982).
    3 Aberle, p.34.
    4 Aberle.
    5 LaBarre, Weston. The Peyote  Cult.(Connecticut: The Shoestring Press,
    1975) p.xv.
    6 LaBarre, p.xv.
    7 LaBarre, p.xv.
    8 Aberle, p.8.
    9 Aberle
    10 Aberle, p.10.
    11 LaBarre, p.xv.
    12 Lehmann, p.126.
    13 Aberle, p.59.
    14 LaBarre, p.58.
    15 LaBarre, p.8.
    16 Siskin,  Edgar E. Washo  Shamans and Peyotists.(Utah:  University of
    Utah Press, 1983).
    17 LaBarre, p.43.
    18 Benitez, Fernando. In The Magic  Land of Peyote. (Austin and London:
    University of Texas Press, 1911).
    19 LaBarre, p.63.
    20 Artaud,  Antonin. The Peyote  Dance. (New York:  Farrar, Strauss and
    Giroux, Inc., 1976).
    21 Artaud.

    22 Benitez.
    23 LaBarre, p.60.
    24 LaBarre, p.26.
    25 LaBarre, p.65.
    26 LaBarre, p.42.
    27 Artaud.
    28 LaBarre, p.87.
    29 LaBarre, p.29.
    30 Aberle, p.338.
    31 Aberle, p.338.
    32 Aberle, p.334.
    33 Aberle, p.335.
