Perhaps the best-known shamanic program in the U.S. is that of the Huichol Indians in California. The Dance of the Deer Foundation is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. It was founded to support the Huichol shamanic tradition. It sponsors seminars and pilgrimages throughout the world to emphasize the importance of shamanic practices of health, healing, and ceremonial events for personal well-being and for the continued survival of the environment. Each shaman must complete rigorous training, especially in the ability to achieve the state of ecstasy required for communion with the spirits.
Shamans work both with individual patients and with groups.
It is common practice for Native American shamans to conduct healing sessions at night, most often in places with some religious connection or significance. Shamanism is based on the belief that healing has a spiritual dimension that must be attended to before healing can begin. It is only the shaman who has the power to leave the real world through control of the mind, and communicate with good and evil spirits who live in other worlds, unknown to ordinary people. To enter a trance, the shaman may resort to hallucinogenic herbs and fasting. At the same time, he chants, dances, and drums.