- Also called:
- Peyotism, or Peyote Religion
- Date:
- c. 1885 - present
Native American Church
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What is the Native American Church?
The Native American Church is the most widespread indigenous religious movement among North American Indians and a notable form of Pan-Indianism. It began around 1885 among the Kiowa and Comanche tribes in Oklahoma and spread as far north as Canada. In 1918, the Native American Church was incorporated in Oklahoma.
The church blends Native American beliefs and Christianity, especially the sacramental use of peyote, a cactus containing mescaline that causes hallucinations. The ritual takes place in a tepee around an earthen altar and a sacred fire and includes prayer, singing, contemplation, and sacramental peyote consumption. Peyotism has faced persecution and legal battles, but it has largely maintained its right to worship. The Native American Church emphasizes brotherly love, family care, hard work, and avoidance of alcohol.
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Where and when did the Native American Church begin?
The Native American Church emerged as a distinct religion around 1885 among the Kiowa and Comanche of Oklahoma. It is considered the most widespread indigenous religious movement among North American Indians and an influential form of Pan-Indianism.
The religion's use of peyote, a cactus containing mescaline with hallucinogenic effects, comes from pre-Columbian Mexico. From Oklahoma, the practice spread north into Canada after 1891 and is now practiced among more than 50 tribes. The various forms of peyotist beliefs combine Indian and Christian elements in differing degrees.
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What do members of the Native American Church believe?
Members of the Native American Church (NAC) combine indigenous and Christian beliefs, centered on one supreme God, the Great Spirit, who communicates through various spirits. Many tribes personify peyote as the Peyote Spirit, equating it to Jesus or considering it a returned culture hero. Consumed during rituals, peyote facilitates communion with God and spirits, offering spiritual power, guidance, and healing. The NAC way of life, known as the Peyote Road, emphasizes brotherly love, family care, self-reliance through work, and abstaining from alcohol.
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What is peyote and why is it important in the Native American Church?
Peyote is a hallucinogenic cactus containing mescaline, used in traditional religious rituals by certain North American Indian peoples and the Native American Church. The Native American Church is the most widespread indigenous religious movement among North American Indians and one of the most influential forms of Pan-Indianism.
The church combines Indian and Christian elements, with peyote itself sometimes personified as Peyote Spirit. Participants believe that eating peyote during the ritual enables them to connect with God and spirits, receiving spiritual power, guidance, and healing. The Native American Church incorporates brotherly love, family care, self-support, and avoidance of alcohol.
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How are ceremonies conducted in the Native American Church?
The Native American Church combines indigenous and Christian elements. The ceremonies usually occur in a tepee around an earthen altar mound and a sacred fire. Led by a peyote "chief," the all-night ceremony includes prayer, singing, sacramental peyote consumption, and water rites, concluding with a communion breakfast on Sunday morning. The sacramental use of peyote induces supernatural visions and is believed to enable individuals to connect with God and spirits, receiving guidance and healing. The services are part of the Peyote Road, a way of life that promotes brotherly love, family care, self-support, and avoidance of alcohol.
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How has the Native American Church faced challenges or discrimination in the United States?
The Native American Church, which combines Native American beliefs and Christianity, particularly emphasizes the sacramental use of peyote. Despite its widespread presence, the Native American Church has faced persecution, including government bans in 1888 and later by 15 states.
Peyotists, advocating for religious freedom, sought legal protection through incorporation under state laws, starting in Oklahoma in 1914 and spreading to 11 more states by 1960. Support from anthropologists and others in the 1960s led to state supreme courts upholding their constitutional rights.
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Native American Church, most widespread indigenous religious movement among North American Indians and one of the most influential forms of Pan-Indianism. The term peyote derives from the Nahuatl name peyotl for a cactus. The tops of the plants contain mescaline, an alkaloid drug that has hallucinogenic effects. It was used in Mexico in pre-Columbian times to induce supernatural visions and as a medicine.
From the mid-19th century, use of peyote extended north into the Great Plains of the United States, and probably first developed into a distinct religion about 1885 among the Kiowa and Comanche of Oklahoma. After 1891 it spread rapidly as far north as Canada and is now practiced among more than 50 tribes. Statistics are uncertain, but reports suggest nearly a fifth of the Navajo in 1951 practiced the peyote religion (despite strong tribal council opposition) as did one-third of Oklahoma Indians in 1965. The Native American Church claimed some 225,000 adherents in 1977.
The various forms of peyotist beliefs combine Indian and Christian elements in differing degrees. Among the Teton, for example, the Cross Fire group uses the Bible and sermons, which are rejected by the Half Moon followers, who, however, teach a similar Christian morality. In general, peyotist doctrine consists of belief in one supreme God (the Great Spirit), who deals with men through various spirits, which include the traditional waterbird or thunderbird spirits that carry prayers to God. In many tribes peyote itself is personified as Peyote Spirit, considered to be either God’s equivalent for the Indians to his Jesus for the whites, or Jesus himself. In some tribes Jesus is regarded as an Indian culture hero returned, as an intercessor with God, or as a guardian spirit who has turned to the Indians after being killed by the whites. Peyote, eaten in the ritual context, enables the individual to commune with God and the spirits (including those of the departed) in contemplation and vision and so to receive from them spiritual power, guidance, reproof, and healing.
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The rite characteristically, but not always, takes place in a tepee around a crescent-shaped, earthen altar mound and a sacred fire. The all-night ceremony usually commences about 8 pm Saturday and is led by a peyote “chief.” The services include prayer, singing, sacramental eating of peyote, water rites, and contemplation; they conclude with a communion breakfast on Sunday morning. The way of life is called the Peyote Road and enjoins brotherly love, family care, self-support through steady work, and avoidance of alcohol.
Peyotism has been much persecuted. Although peyote was banned by government agents in 1888 and later by 15 states, Congress, backed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the churches, and some Indian groups, resisted repeated attempts from 1916 to 1937 to have its use prohibited. In self-defense, peyote groups sought incorporation under state laws—first in Oklahoma as the First-born Church of Jesus Christ in 1914, then as the Native American Church in 1918, and by 1960 in some further 11 states. In the 1960s appeals by peyotists in the name of constitutional freedom of religion were supported by anthropologists and others and upheld in several state supreme courts.