1918

Summary

In October 1918, a group of Native American peyotists established the Native American Church in response to a near national ban on peyote. This initiative was part of a broader political activism rooted in the history of peyotism in the U.S., which had developed significantly by the late 19th century. While their efforts faced challenges from anti-peyotists in the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the 1920s, they began to gain traction after John Collier took leadership in 1933.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Chastened by how close a national ban of peyote came to passing in early 1918, the following October a group of Native American peyotists gathered in El Reno, Oklahoma, in order to found the Native American Church. This chapter explores this remarkable moment of political activism, along with the histories of peyotism in the United States that led to this initiative. The deep history of peyotism north of the border remains somewhat unclear, though we can be certain that the individuals who came together in 1918 to found a church that could, in turn, enjoy constitutional protections were participants in practices that had consolidated in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Their efforts to create an institutionalized church that would be legible to the U.S. government did not immediately bear fruit, as anti-peyotists dominated the Bureau of Indians Affairs (BIA) through the 1920s, though these efforts did begin to see significant success after John Collier became chief of the BIA in 1933.