by James Wfe Mooney

Created on: January 15, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

Over the centuries the peyote religion was much misunderstood and maligned.
Today misconceptions are still rampant, and the same fear that drove the Mexican Inquisition and the restrictive laws in the early 20th century is prevalent today.
When Quanah Parker, a half-Comanche and half-white man became deathly ill in 1884, he was taken to a Tarhumara Curandera who cured him with peyote.

This was a life-changing experience for Parker, who was the chief of the Comanche nation. He wanted to spread peyote as a force to unify all tribes. Along with other Indians, he began the movement which would become the Native American Church.
In 1891 James Mooney, an ethnologist from the Smithsonian Institution, was sent to Oklahoma to study Indian culture. He participated in Kiowa peyote ceremonies and became convinced peyote could provide a way out of despondence, alcoholism and strife among Indians.

He was the one who proposed the name "Native American Church." His motive was to recognize the practice as a legitimate religion and partly for protection under the First and 14th Amendments of the Constitution.

In 1918 the Native American Church was incorporated in Oklahoma.
The NAC combined traditional Indian religious rituals with Christian principles. Peyote ceremonies were never intended to displace Christian religion, but to complement them.

The creed of the peyote religion encompasses four principles: Brotherly love, care of family, self-reliance and avoidance of alcohol. This is a family practice. It is a part of everyday life.

Peyote is referred to as a "medicine," but this is not merely a pharmaceutical term. There is the element of the divine in this sacred cactus that is not only used for childbirth and illnesses, but to cure emotional and spiritual ailments.
The peyote ceremony is conducted in different manners by different peoples. What can be found in one ceremony may not necessarily be present at another.

There are also different philosophies about who may or may not attend a peyote ceremony. Historically, white people were allowed to participate. Most Native American churches in America have a lenient policy about the racial makeup of practitioners; however there are some churches that refuse non-Indians.

The Native American churches across the United States and Canada are not linked together by a governing body. They are each independent churches with bylaws and policies particular to themselves.

Although the North American Native American Church presents itself as the governing body and attempts to impose their policies and bylaws on the other churches, it only represents the philosophy of about 25 percent of the Native American churches. Its policy of only allowing Indians is a recent policy and is not followed by the majority of NAC's.

The question of the illegality of peyote is a conundrum. There is no evidence of abuse as a recreational drug, nor is it habit-forming. The legal status of peyote appears to stem from its history as an instrument of Native American empowerment and healing.

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