Peyote on the Prairies: Religion, Scientists, and Native-Newcomer Relations in Western Canada
Journal of Canadian Studies November 1, 2012 Erika Dyck, Tolly Bradford 11 citations
In October 1956, a peyote ceremony organized by the Native American Church took place at the Red Pheasant reserve in Saskatchewan, involving the psychedelic cactus peyote. By the 1950s, peyotism sparked debates about spirituality, medicine, and Native-newcomer relations. The federal government, embracing multiculturalism, tolerated the ceremony as a legitimate Indigenous ritual, while local authorities sought to criminalize it as abusive and dangerous. The essay examines how scientists, journalists, Native participants, police, and officials interpreted peyotism, suggesting that the ceremony tested the limits of the federal government's approach to treating Aboriginal Canadians as immigrants.