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"The White man goes into his church
house and talks about Jesus. The Indian goes into his tepee, eats Peyote,
and talks to Jesus." -- Quanah Parker
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That's Quanah Parker, second from the left in the front row.
The year
is 1893. It is morning after a night-long ceremony of eating dried Peyote buttons.
Peyote is a spineless cactus that contains mescaline. It is a "sacred plant"
and the holy sacrament of the Native American Church.
In 1586, Bernardino de Sahagun also gave the first account of Peyote use in the New World: "There is another herb like the prickly pear cactus, named Peyotl, which can be found in the north. Those who eat or drink of it see terrifying or absurd visions; this inebriation lasts two or three days and then subsides. It is a delicacy often enjoyed by the Mexicans, for it is sustaining and spurs them to fight with no thought of fear, thirst, or hunger, and they say that it protects them from all danger." In 1890, the United States Army massacred 250 Lakota men, women and children at Wounded Knee in South Dakota. These Indians were peaceful "Ghost Dancers" who believed that Jesus Christ would return to earth as a Native American and rid America of the White invaders. After the massacre, the United States banned the Ghost Dance religion. In response, the western tribes turned to Peyotism and, in 1913, established a pan-tribal, Peyote church--the Native American Church. The Native American Church combines Native American religion with Christianity via the holy sacrament of Peyote. It was the first, legal Psychedelic Church in the New World! For information on Peyote, click the links below. |
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