The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-01-02

House OF Representatives there slum-
bers bill which has designed to take
away from the American Indian GER
tain drug-plant, which he uses to bring
him dreams and make him forget his
troubles, as alcohol is used by white
men and opium by yellow ones, and
hashish in India and something or 9TH
er by almost every tribe of men on the
globe.
Bill Had Strong Support
The bill was strongly backed 1t
was given a place on the calendar
and large sum Of the peoples money
was spent in holding hearings upon it,
which were duly printed. bound and
filed along with the bill 1t never came
TO vote. The reason ii did not was,
in all probability, that it was made
clear to the committee that the Indi-
ans would not stand for it,
They would have resented to the
last ditch what they regarded as an in
fringement Of their personal liberty.
The Government does not hesitate to
take alcohol away from millions of
white men who believe they have a
right to use it, but it does hesitate to
try to take peyote away from a few
thousand Indians who believe they
have right to use it. 1t would seem
that the Indian here has a force of
conviction which the white man has
lost, and a little conversation with the
Indians on this subject confirms one
in that opinion. The white man, liv-
ing in tangled wilderness of laws,
has almost lost his sense of personal
liberty. 1t has been violated so often
il that he scarcely knows what it is. The
= Indian, who long lived q life of savage
{ freedom and who has never really be-
come part of civilization, really val
ues his liberty as he values his life,
and is ready to stake his life for his
freedom.
The use of peyote is an Indian Gus
tom. The Indians had peyote before
the white men came. God gave it to
them. What right has the white man
10 take 1t away? We will never give
it up!"
This was the reply of a "Peyote
Chief to question as to whether the
Indians would give up peyote if the
Government passed a law forbidding
it.
What Peyote Is
Peyoate is a plant related to the mes
cal of old Mexico and growing in that
and other southern countries 1t ap-
pears to be a sort of cactus. Its gruit
is in the form of little buttons" about
as big as a quarter. These contain
various drugs which produce a power
1ul effect on the nerves, something
like that of opium or cocaine, but diff
fering in some respects from that of
ut h L., =.
is taken by sleeping tho substance in
water and drinking the resultant bev-
erage. 1t has different effects on diff
ferent individuals, but its unique eff
feet is that it gives the one taking it
a feeling of extreme philanthropy He
feels that he is the brother of all men
and would do anything for their good
Several white men have experiment.
ed With the drug for scientific purpos-
es, and one of these, who testified be-
fore the committee, described his SEN
sations as following:
i seemed incapable of having a
base thought, but all were of a high
order. ] seemed to have forgotten
that there was any evil in the world,
Pail was pure and good"
There is usually no tendency to vio-
lence in one under the influence of
peyote. His need for sleep is abolish
cd and he stays awake, though mac
tive for "a hours at stretch. During
this time he is filled with emotions
of JOY and of love for all mankind
His sensibility to color is greatly
heightened, so that the world suddenly
strikes him as bright and beautiful
picture. At times he is said to see
visions. though the white men who
have tried the drug seem not to have
that experience. Afterward there is
a reaction as there must be from the
use of any such powerful nerve stimu-
lant, but those who experimental with
The drug do not seem to have suffered
any prolonged or severe after-effects
The use of peyote is undoubtedly
growing and has been growing for
years. At first it was used only BY a
Few tribes of Indians, but now it seems
10 nave spread to nearly all of them
There is sort of national peyote so
ciety with local chapters, which is
well organized for the purpose of dis
tr1buting peyote buttons. 1t has doubt.
less helped to promote the feeling OF
solidarity among all the different Ind
ian tribes which has been growing OF
recent years. Few white people real
ize that Indians of different tribes
travel long distances to visit each 9th.
er. AS one Indian said:
we used TO kill each other. but
now we are always good friends"
The use of peyote is q religious rite
among the Indians. which makes it all
he harder to interfere with. The be.
vote society meets at regular inter
walls The amount of the drug taken
by each Indian is prescribed by the
chief of the society. Then prayers
are said and songs are sung The eff.
feet of the plant is TO heighten the
mood of religious ectasy Most of the
Indian agents will tell you that the
religious ceremony is a mere pretext
for the use of the drug, but many oil
the Indians seem convincingly sincere
in this as in all of their other religious
exercises.
Effect of the 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 testimony
Some will tell you that the peyote Ind
ian is worthless fellow, and that pc
vote is rapidly debauching the whole
race. MANY cases are cited of Indians