Native Sacrament PDF Download

Though much of Indian and Anglo relations have been characterized by white domination, an examination of the legal issues surrounding the Native American Church and the use of peyote present a hopeful picture for Indians in their modern day battle with the government. Through the U.S. legal system, Indians incorporated their organization and adeptly asserted their rights to freely practice their religion under the First Amendment. Since the time of initial Anglo contact, American Indians have reshaped their spiritual life as both sides exchanged, influenced, or eliminated various aspects of each culture. The peyote religion and the organization of The Native American Church (NAC) serves as an example of an institution that evolved out of Anglo, and specifically Christian, influence on Indian religious life. In the twentieth century, American Indians used the structure of the NAC to accommodate aspects of Christianity along with traditional Indian religious practices, which included the use of the peyote drug, in religious ceremonies. The NAC, though a cultural blend of Anglo and Indian religions, met with opposition by state and federal law due to the controversial use of peyote as a sacrament. An examination of the court cases and legal issues between the Native American Church and state and federal governments, with a focus on the 1960s to the 1990s, illustrates Indians uniting in a pan-Indian organization, growing in power, and achieving legal victories. Through participation in Indian activism, the Native American Church became a formidable force in the courtroom as Indians advocated for the rights promised to them as U.S. citizens, while at the same time fought to maintain their unique heritage. Ultimately, Indians and Anglos continued to communicate and exchange their culture as they did during initial contact. However, in the twentieth century the terms of communication shifted to the legal realm. Indians became the victors as they used the system that once subjugated them to their advantage to assert their religious rights to the ceremonial use of peyote.