reason for drinking water at midnight is because Christ was born at midnight and because of the good tidings that he brought to the earth, for water is one of the best things in life and Christ is the saviour of mankind." A little later, the leader leaves the tipi and blows the flute to the four directions, "to announce the birth of Christ to all the world." At daybreak the flute is again used, this time to represent the trumpet which is to be blown on the Day of Judgment, when Christ will appear in his crown, which is represented by the otter-skin cap. The leader represents the first created man, his woman assistant the New Jerusalem. The corn eaten in the early morning represents the feast to take place at the Day of Judgment and the fruit stands for the fruit of the tree of life; the meat is the message of Christ and those who eat it are saved. Among the Winnebago, the mound, which Radin regards as originating in the mound of the buffalo dance, has become Mount Sinai; the staff, used in other tribal dances, is the shepherd's crook; the crossed lines have become the crucifix. In other instances the entrance of Christianity into the ceremony has done more than change the symbolism. The Iowa and Winnebago both use the Bible as a sacred object, placing it near the sacred peyote, and include in the service Bible reading, sermons, confessionals and prayers as well as songs with a Christian flavor. In fact, the Iowa ceremony as reported by Skinner bears some resemblance to a revival meeting. After the initial eating of the peyote and a round of singing, while incense is burned on the fire, the leader reads the Bible and preaches and then calls. upon the members to confess their sins and repent, in response to which the members rise and testify that they have given up such habits as drinking, smoking or chewing, ending each confession with the words, "And all this Jesus has done for me." There are then sermons from visiting leaders and the Bible is again read and the members urged to confess and repent. Indeed, so far has this imitating of the Christian Church gone, that in several places the peyote worshippers have organized and even 32 Radin, Peyote Cult of the Winnebago, p. 21. incorporated, after the manner of Christian Churches; thus in Oklahoma the peyote users are organized into the Native American Church. Many of the variations are due to the fragmentary way in which the ritual comes to a tribe, a little from one source, a little from another, with perhaps additions from an ingenious leader. Thus among the Pawnee,33 two young men visited, the Quapaw in 1890 and brought back to their own tribe some of the peyote which they attempted to use in a ceremony, although they knew little of the ritual. Later, a visiting Arapaho taught the Pawnee the ritual which his tribesmen used. A few years after this, a member while intoxicated with the drug, had revealed to him a new ritual and songs, Christian in character, since in his visions he saw and talked with Christ. Under the leadership of this man certain minor changes were made in the form of the rattle and the drum, but in general the tipi arrangement and the order of ceremony of the Arapaho were retained. The Winnebago ceremony34 also represents a series of influences. John Rave visited among the peyote users of Oklahoma, ate the peyote and was impressed with its curative power as well as the visions. Upon his return he induced his wife and near friends to use peyote for medicinal purposes. Gradually a ceremony only partially based on the Oklahoma type was put into use, but without any Christian elements. The use of the Bible and Christianized peyote songs and the reinterpretation of old customs as Christian symbols were introduced by Albert Hensley, who brought the new ideas from Oklahoma. Instead of a direct line of influence from tribe to tribe the picture presented is that of a network of lines, crossing and meeting again and again, carrying the same general ideas but permitting much individual variation in the matter of details. The study of the peyote ceremonies as used in Mexico and on the plains indicates perhaps one limitation to the diffusion of a ritualistic complex. In Mexico the peyote ceremony is part of a larger culture complex. The peyote myth is coordinated 33 Murie, Pawnee Indian Societies, pp. 636-38. with other tribal myths and the ceremony is one of a series, 35 and upon its performance rests the success of the tribe in many undertakings having to do with procuring food. The Plains culture complex was radically different from that of Mexico and it was apparently not possible for one ceremony from the Mexican complex to be lifted in its entirety over into the Plains culture. Hence when the peyote plant reached the Plains tribes, it came without the ceremonial ritual and another ritual was developed about it, based on the native Plains culture complex but not an integral part of it. The peyote ceremony has even stood somewhat in opposition to the native culture, especially after Christian elements were added. It is much more in a state of flux than the older ceremonies and changes in ritual and symbolism easily occur. From the new peyote center which developed in Oklahoma, a certain complex of ritualistic elements has gone forth and been adopted even by tribes not of plains culture. These associated elements are the selection of night as the time for the ceremony, the use of the tipi, the crescent shaped altar of earth, the exhibition of a sacred peyote, singing songs in rotation to the drum and rattle, usually in groups of four songs, eating the peyote, the midnight water-drinking ceremony, the daily songs followed by light food and the feast later in the day. Certain minor features such as the method of preparing the peyote, use of symbolic lines, sacred mounds, and extra paraphernalia and the exact number of officials, vary from tribe to tribe, from leader to leader. The use of the Bible and the Christian interpretation of ancient symbols represents a second accretion, and usually entails no serious change in the ritual. The prayers once made to the Indian spirits are redirected to the Christian God. The Bible is 5 This integration is shown very clearly for the Huichol Indians. Deer and corn are their principal food stuffs and water is of extreme importance for their agriculture. In their myths the first peyote sprang from the tracks of a deer, which afterwards became a big peyote plant; the corn in turn originated from the peyote. Each year the peyote must be secured for a ceremony, which can occur only after a certain number of deer have been killed and the fields cleared and made ready for the harvest of the coming year. If the peyote were not brought the god of fire would be offended and there would be no rain for the corn, nor would they be able to catch deer. Lumholtz, Symbolism of the Huichol Indians, pp. 17-18, 22-23. added and Bible reading introduced. The talks become sermons. The songs are patterned after Christian hymns. The peyote cult as it now exists in many of the Plains tribes represents the union of three elements-the symbolism of peyote as found in Mexico, the adaptation of the Plains ritualistic complex, and the Christian interpretation. IV The story of peyote is not complete without a brief statement of the effect, psychological rather than physical, which peyote has on the Indian. The vision-giving power of peyote has already been mentioned but may be discussed with more detail. Lumholtz does not emphasize the visions in his accounts of the Tarahumare and Huichol, probably because these tribes obtain the fresh peyote which has a more stimulating effect than the dried peyote used by the more northern tribes and which has therefore caused the dance to be the central feature of the ceremony rather than the quiet meditation and visions. But wherever the dried peyote is used, the vision predominates. Sahagun, who wrote of the Aztec in the sixteenth century, says that "black mushrooms" (dried peyote) were eaten at the feasts, after which some danced, some sang, and others sank into meditation. "Some had visions that they were dying and shed tears; others imagined that some wild beast was devouring them; others that they were capturing prisoners in warfare; others that they were rich; others that they had many slaves. . . . After the intoxication of the mushrooms had passed off they conversed with one another about the visions which they had seen. 7736 All over the plains where the dried peyote is used, the Indians delight in the peyote visions and respond to their thrill, even when the dreams are terrifying in character. The visions reported from tribe to tribe seem to imply that a certain amount of unconscious control may be exerted over the type of vision, dependent upon the picture which the Indian expects to see. The 36 Quoted by Safford, Narcotic Plants and Stimulants of the Ancient Americans, pp. 404-05. following description is of the more grotesque, uncontrolled type of vision which came to a man on the first occasion upon which he ate peyote. "After I had taken twelve beans of peyote I saw a mountain with roads leading to the top and people dressed in white going up these roads. I got very dizzy, and I began to see all kinds of colors, and arrows began to fly all around me. . . .I began to hear voices, just like they were all over the ceiling, and I looked around in the other room and thought I heard women singing in there; but the women were not allowed to sing in the meetings usually, and so this was kind of strange. After eating thirty-six of these peyote I got just like drunk. . . .I began to see a big bunch of snakes crawling all around in front of me, and it was a feeling like as if I was cold came over me. The treasurer of the Sacred Peyote Society was sitting near me, and I asked him if he heard young kittens. It sounded as if they were right close to me; and then I sat still for a long time and I saw a big black cat coming toward me, and I felt him just like a tiger walking up on my legs toward me; and when I felt his claws I jumped back and kind of made a sound as if I was afraid."37 But seasoned peyote eaters who belong to the organized group and know how to control their visions have no such terrifying experiences. Gilmore relates one vision seen by an Omaha Indian which he seemingly correctly interprets as the result of expectant imagination and recent experience. "He was an ordinary reservation Indian, who had had some schooling and had been in Washington and other eastern cities. On this occasion the opening reading from the Bible had been a story of the Hebrew prophet taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. The Indian fell into a trancelike state and afterwards described his vision. He related that Jesus had come for him in an automobile and had taken him up to heaven, where he had seen God in His glory in a splendid city; and with God he had seen many of the great men of all time, more than he could remember."'38 In understanding the establishment of this control over the visions which comes with constant use of the peyote, the experience of Rave39 who introduced peyote to the Winnebago is significant. The first time he ate peyote he was frightened at the sensations produced; he felt as though "a live thing" had entered 37 Daiker, Liquor and Peyote a Menace to the Indian, pp. 66-67, quoting affidavit from a peyote user. 38 Gilmore, Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River Region, pp. 105-06. 39 Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, pp. 390-91. |