US History

Griffin Widner

I Pledge

B—US History

10/28/14

Native American Religious Freedom

Followers of the “Native American Spirituality” do not regard their beliefs and practices as part of a religion. Their “religion” is very complex and hard to follow since there were many tribes and most of their principles were passed down verbally. Main practices in their religion include ceremonies, symbolism, and the use of medicine men and shaman that communicate with the gods.

In the 1870’s Native Americans believed it was time to establish their spiritual beliefs as a legitimate religion, therefor the Native American Church was founded. The Native American Church was actually a combination of Christianity and tradition Native American beliefs, but still practiced the same principles as the traditional Native American Spirituality. One such practice was the use of Peyote, which had been used by the Indian tribes for thousands of years as both a physical and spiritual medicine.

Peyote is a small, spineless cactus that grows naturally in some desert climates. The main ingredient in the plant is mescaline, a type of hallucinogen that humans can consume in order to “trip.” To consume peyote, one must cut the disc shaped buttons from the crown of the cactus and dry them. Once they are dried a person can either eat them or brew them into a traditional tea. However it is consumed, peyote produces a high that lasts around 12 hours and is said to be somewhat spiritual. Although the drug is very powerful, the side effects of it are still unknown. Recent studies suggest that it is not actually physically harmful to those who occasionally use it.

The use of Peyote for any reason was illegal just like most other substances until the mid 1990’s. The laws on peyote began to change after a monumental law case in Oregon. The case, Employment Division v Smith, was brought about after two Native American who worked as counselors in a private drug rehabilitation center were fired after getting caught using Peyote. The two men had previously used it in religious ceremonies, because they were members of the Native American Church. After being fired, they were also denied unemployment benefits because they had been fired upon the fact that the rehab facility viewed the use of peyote as misconduct. The case was taken to state court, in which the counselors lost the case. However, the Supreme Court vacated the ruling and sent the case back into Oregon courts. During the second state court trial, it was found that Oregon law didn’t allow consumption of drugs for religious purposes which was in violation of the free exercise clause, which protects a person’s absolute freedom of belief. After this case occurred in 1991, President Bill Clinton signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1993), the bill was quickly struck down by the Supreme Court. One year late, President Clinton signed a law that exempted the religious use of peyote from federal and state controlled substance laws. This now meant that the Native American Church could legally continue a thousand year old practice within the United States.

The whole idea of not allowing the Native Americans to use peyote in religious ceremonies is very ironic to me. It’s crazy to think that a country that was founded upon freedom, specifically freedom of religion, would try to stop a group of people from continuing their religious practices.