Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-31
"PEYOTE EATERS"
RELIGION STUDIED
Cult, Spreading Amid Indians
of West, Is Watched by
Scientists.
BY THOMAS R. HENRY.

among the Indian tribes Of the Middle
West despite spirited modernist.
fundanientalist controversy which splits
1ts membership
This is the peyote cult now the SUBJ
ject of an intensive study financed by
the National Research Council and the
University OF Oklahoma 1t is being
conducted by DR., Maurice @. Smith OF
the latter institution, who is working on
q collection OF manuscripts in the Blu
reau of American Ethnology after sew
eral months of field work
There recently has been organized in
Oklahoma. Mr.. Smith says, the Native
American Church which seeks to gather
= in the scattered elements of the cult
stretching northward as far as Can
ada. At present Mr.. Smith says the
cult seems to be on the border line be-
tween Christianity and the primitive
nature religions of the various tribes,
but a determined effort is being made
TO bring order out of this confusion.
Bible Provides Dispute.
At present some of the Oklahoma
groups keep the Bible on the altar and
almost all use the name Of Christ in
their prayers, but the 'modernists"
wish to extend this so as to constitute
q distinct Christian sect while the
fundamentalists are fighting for the
retention OF the Indian traditions. De-
spite the controversy, active mission
airy work is in progress and highly
educated leadership is being developed
which promises to make the cult, in
the face of opposition from many
sources, q factor in the future of the
Indian race, according to Mr.. Smith.
The peyote cult he points out, is
quite ancient in origin and originally
was introduced into the United States
from Mexico. But, until recently. it
was confined to circumScribed groups
so that it made little progress. Then
came good roads and the purchase of
automobiles by the Indians, which re-
suited in breaking down the close tribal
lines. Before that Indians educated at
Carlisle became converts and in turn
converted classmates of other tribes.
Eat Peyote Button.
The religion is based on the curious
effects of eating the peyote button, or
dried top of a spineless cactus, which
produces curious physiological effects
resulting, presumably, in an exalted
feeling and in visions. This, Smith
points out, is the white mans inter-
probation based on experiments and
many of the Indians themselves deny
the visions" He deprecates conclu-
sions based on a few experiments as
comparable to a report on cigarette
smoking by person trying It for the
first time. The description of gagglng
and nausea would seem very strange
to a confirmed cigarette smoker who
feels no such effects.
The interests of both the National
Research Council and of the Univer-
sity of Oklahoma is that of studying
the evolution of a religion without
coming to any conclusions as to
whether it is good or bad. This af-
the development of a primitive religion.
Effects Are Observed.
The peyote cult has been vigorously
opposed In the past by the Indian Of
flee and by most Christian missionaries
although some scienticts and even
some missionaries, have inclined to
favor it. The need, says Smith, is for
objective study of just what happens
to determine whether the practice
really has bad physical or moral eff
feet This he is carrying on by case
studies of the cult members, and studies
of the general psychology Of peyote de-
voices. He also is investigating the
history of the cult and what actually
goes on at the all-night meetings.
The cult now extends, he says, as far
nOTLn as NOTJn DakOtd anu dS lar WEST
as Utah. II has not yet spread beyond
the Indian race. 1t is especially strong
among the Kiowas and Comanches Of
Oklahoma
In its very beginning the peyote cult
was studied by the late James Mooney
of the Bureau of American Ethnology,
who was a confidant of the peyote- using
Indians when most white men were
looked upon with suspicion. Mooney
NC1lnrfaH faf1 inn
much valuable scientific material, but
died before these could be assembled
into manuscript. Smith now is work.
ing over this material with the aid of
Mrs. Mooney.
Doctrine Is Confused.
Smith has found among the peyote
users somewhat confused theological
doctrine. All attribute to the drug a
mystical power. but some declare it is an
elixir of virtue" eating it being equiv
alent to taking into the personality
definite quantities Of goodness. On the
other hand, there are some who hold
that peyote is not goodness" in itself,
but has the quality Of bringing the user
closer to supernatural power, a doc
trine somewhat akin to the Christian
doctrine Of prayer
The ethic Of the peyote cult Smith
says, seems to be that common 10 the
major religions, stressing the virtues of
honesty, charity and temperance Up
TO the present it has constituted a
meeting ground between the Indian
gods and the Christian God, with the
balance tipping at times in both direc-
tons. Peyote users themselves, he says.
resent the implication that they are
drug addicts, declare that outsiders
jump TO conclusions on the physiological
effects OF the substance, and point to
remarkable reformations wrought in the
lives Of converts