Native American Church

Crude preparations of mescaline (61) from peyote were first reported by the Spanish as they learned of its use from the natives of Mexico during the Spanish invasion of that country in the sixteenth century. The colorful history (44) of mescaline has drawn attention to its use as a hallucinogen and even today it is in use among natives of North and South America. Although in connection with dmg abuse complaints, mescaline is considered dangerous, it has been reported (45) that it is not a narcotic nor is it habituating. It was also suggested that its sacramental use in the Native American Church of the United States be permitted since it appears to provoke only visual hallucination while the subject retains clear consciousness and awareness. 

Mescaline and related alkaloids are found in varying amounts in cacti of the genera Lophophora, Gymnacalycium, Stensonia, Mammillaria, Ariocarpus, Opuntia, Trichocereus, Pelecyphora, and probably others. Members of the Native American Church do quite well with the dried cactus, but extraction of mescaline is desirable since the pure compound seems to produce fewer unpleasant side effects (e.g., nausea). For an excellent review on the occurrence and chemistry of the mescaline type compounds, see JPS 59,1699(1970) (cf. JPS 60,655(1971)). Various species of these cacti occur in southwestern U.S. as well as Central and South America and have been used by the Aztecs and others for millennia. For a good review of peyote see Lloydia 36,1-58(1973). 

Abuzzahab and Anderson 1971). Peyote use in the Native American Church has been anecdotally reported to alleviate alcoholism, for which there is a possible pharmacological basis (Blum et al. 1977). However, it is also feasible that the therapeutic effect is due to intense experiences elicited by the ceremony and the context of increased social involvement. 

Cactus Lophophora williamsii Top mescal button Mescaline Swallowed Hallucinogenic Native American Church Mexico, Texas... 

Peyote is a central element of the religious rituals of the Native American Church which is practiced by more than forty American Indian tribes in the U.S. and Canada, among them the Kiowa and Comanche. A 1918 law forbade the use of peyote for any reason but this law was declared unconstitutional in 1964 for the practitioners of the Native American... 

The first paper in this section, Osmond s "Peyote Night," is a reprint of an account of a peyote ceremony of the Native American Church. His participation in the sacrament and ritual changes him from an outside observer to an inside observer, and his observations develop an impassioned clarity. 

We corresponded in a desultory way with the Indians of the Red Pheasant Band, from among whose members most of the congregation of the Native American Church of Canada was drawn. The Church had been duly registered as a religious body and so was safe from direct persecution. But the supply of peyote, their ceremonial cactus, came from the United States, and this made them vulnerable to administrative pressure, as later events have shown. 

In one respect, however, we have failed, at least so far. We have not been able to help members of the Native American Church of Canada to obtain peyote, which is the sacrament of their faith. Its importation is banned by the federal... 

The peyote button, the top of a certain spineless cactus plant, has been and is now used by some members of nearly all the American Indian tribes in cultic ceremonies. The peyote religion goes back nearly a century in historical records and certainly is even more ancient. At present it is represented by the Native American Church, a loose collection of some two hundred thousand members, according to its claim. 

The ritual developed by the Native American Church illustrates the use of language to produce a positive set and setting for the ingestion of peyote. A ceremonial leader, the head chief, initiates the singing of songs and co-ordinates requests by individuals for special prayers. The ritual is so arranged and so co-ordinated to the needs of the communicants... 

Native American Church (NAC) is founded and formalizes the ritual use of peyote. Ultimately the United States government exempts the NAC from the ban on peyote if it is used as part of a bona fide religious ceremony. This point remains a center of legal controversy in states that want to limit its use or outlaw it completely. 

The allegation stems from an incident on May 21, 1999, when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized 30 gallons of a DMT-containing tea called hoasca from the office of the church president. UDV church members claim hoasca is an essential sacrament, like peyote is to the Native American church. At the time, no church members were arrested or charged with any crime. 

Experts suggest that the peyote ritual was embraced by the Native Americans because they saw it as a way to preserve their cultural heritage at a time when their way of life was slipping away. It was during this time that they were relocated to reservations. Tribal missionaries spread word of the beneficial effects of the peyote ritual on moral. In 1918, the Native American Church (NAC) was founded and further formalized the ritual use of peyote. It also set off a long history of debate over First Amendment rights and the use of a controlled substance by members of a church. In 1920, the church had more than 13,000 members comprising 30 tribes. By 2002, there were more than 250,000 members. 

In 1918, the Native American Church (NAC) was formed to provide a cohesion among Indian tribes as... 

Weston La Barre s The Peyote Cult—a book that became something of a bible among members of the Native American Church—was based on field work undertaken during the summers of 1935 and 1936. The Peyote Religion by J.S. Slotkin—the next major anthropological study—wasn t... 

Indian peyotists provide the main contemporary example of mescaline and peyote used as a means of psychic exploration. A quarter million practitioners have taken this potent psychedelic—often quite frequently, often for years, often in large amounts without significant physical, psychological or social problems. The exemption provided in the law for members of the Native American Church has in fact fostered a tradition of spiritual growth and communal interaction. 

The Church of the Tree of Life, centered in the San Francisco Bay area, tried for years to develop a ritual somewhere between that of the Native American Church and that followed by the Huichol Indians of Mexico. Some members felt that the Native American example was too constricted and focused they desired a non-denominational ritual encompassing greater possibilities for expression and introspection. ("The NAC, commented one, "hasn t produced the marvelous, artistic, creative explosion seen among the Huichols. ) Although the attempt to find a middle ground was pursued seriously, the results were unsatisfactory—or "somewhat hokey. ... 

Nausea and gagging occur sufficiently often in Native American Church practices that there is usually an official, aside from those already described, who is designated as the "shovel man. He is prepared with a tin can to deal with any such difficulties. 

Indians use peyote as much for the maintenance ot good health as for religious worship. Frank Takes Gun, often referred to as the national president of the Native American Church, comments ... 

Many ingenious techniques have been used to make peyote and San Pedro more palatable—to facilitate absorption of the psychoactive molecules without triggering the gag reflex. In most Native American Church rituals, the peyotists simply put a dried button in the mouth until it is soft enough to be chewed and swallowed. That takes some time. They pass around milk and may smoke. When peyote is ingested in this fashion, its cactus soapy, bitter taste is soon displaced substantially by a numbness. 

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