The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-09-16
Frederic Haskin's Letter
Peyofe Prohibition.

had that experience. Afterva-5
there is reaction, as there upss
be from the use OF any such nov
erful nerve stimulant, but thosa
: who experimental with the drpo
do not seem to have suffered AM,
; prolonged or severe after-effects
The use of peyote is undoubte5Iv
growing and has been growing -.
I years. At first it was used orIr
] by few tribes of Indians. but now
: it seems to have spread to ne7rIv
all OF them. There is a sort Of "a
tional peyote society with local
J chapters, which is we'll Organizes
I for me purpose of distributing new
! ote buttons. II has doubtless helm.
ed to promote the feeling of solig.
arity. among all the different In
\ dian tribes which has been grow
ing of recent years. Few white
, people realize that Indians of din.
ferent tribes travel long distances
ii visit each other. AS one Indian
said:
We used to kill each other bDt
now we are good friends
The use of peyote is a religions
rite among the Indians, which
makes it all the harder to interfere
with. The peyote society meets at
regular intervals. The amount Of
the drug taken by each individual
is prescribed by the chief of tha
society. Then prayers are said and
songs are sung. The effect of the
plant is to heighten the mood of re-
1i1insyC Mot 90 =
agents will tell you that the relig-
ious ceremony is a mere pretext
for the use of the drug, but many
of the Indians seem convincingly
sincere in this as n all their Other
religious exercises.
Effect of Plant.
The question as to how much
harm the drug is doing the Indians
is one upon which you can gather
any amount of conflicting testi-
mony- Some will tell you that the
peyote Indian is a worthless fell
low, and that peyote is rapidly de-
bauching the whole race. Many
cases are cited of Indians that have
become shiftIess and poor as re-
suit of its-u use. On the other hand,
there are undoubtedly industrious
and prosperous Indians who have
been using it for years. One argu-
ment the Indian makes in behalf Of
his peyote is that the peyote user
seldom drinks alcohol Alcohol
will ruin an Indian more rapidly
than anything else. Peyote has
been used by some of the Indians
since time immemorial, but it has
never destroyed tribe. while :
whisky in a much shorter time has
worked greater havoc.
The probable truth is that peyote
stands among the Indians much as
alcohol does among the whites. It
ruins some of the weaker ones, but
many of them use it without con-
spicuous harm to themselves. II
peyote were taken away from them
they would merely take to other
to which they are less
accustomed. Here, as elsewhere,
the idea of achieving moral perfec-
ton by force is probably an illu-
sion.
At any rate. the Indian believes
that he has a right to his peyote-
a right inherited from his fore
and approved by his God.
The interesting thing is that be
to assert and protect that
right in the face of a nation of re-
formers who would like to take his
peyote away from him. Congress
has failed to pass a law against
peyote because the committee was
told that the Indians would not
tolerate interference with their re-
Iigious customs. The bureau Of
Indian affairs has refrained from
selling peyote and has confined its
against the drug to moral
suasion. The pOstofIic5 department I
has declared peyOte unavailable,
put the Indian still gets his peyote
regularly by mail The department
If agriculture has ordered all ship
nents of peyote held up at ports.
out plenty of peyOte comes in Just
he same. It costs the Indian
about 10 cents q button, and he is
seldom without it.