1

Table of Contents INTRODUCTION p. 3

——Z a h i r—— 1) HISTORIC-GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS p. 8

2) STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS: PROPPIAN VEIN p. 14

3) STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS: LEVI-STRAUSSIAN VEIN p. 18

4) ETIC INTERPRETATION p. 20

CONCLUSION: PART I p. 22

——B a t i n——

1) ESOTERIC-EXOTERIC FACTOR p. 24

2) THE RITUAL ROLE OF THE WATER WOMAN p. 25

3) PHENOMENON OF THE WOMAN’S VOICE p. 30

4) THE MEANING OF (PEYOTE/WATER) WOMAN p. 34

CONCLUSION: PART II p. 37

APPENDIX I: THE NARRATIVE OF PEYOTE WOMAN (17 versions) p. 39 APPENDIX II: CONVERSATIONS WITH FIVE CROW INDIAN N.A.C. MEMBERS p. 53 WORKS CITED p. 69

2

3

Interpreting the Narrative of Peyote Woman: History and Moral Agency in the Origin Narrative of the Peyote Way

—————— For B a a a p a a m m a a x p a a w i a s h *

(*Baaapaammaaxpaawiash: i.e., Crow for "Peyote Woman"; literal trans., "Holy Plant Woman") ——————

An Indian woman found the peyote, way down south, near Old Mexico. She saw the peyote plant

in a dream. When she woke up she went to the place and found it. She ate the peyote, and gave it

to the other Indians to eat. After they eaten, the peyote told the Indians how to run a peyote

meeting, told them what things to use, and how to do it. — Parsons (1936: 64)

This woman went to Texas to find peyote. When she got tired, she laid down in the field and went

to sleep. She dreamed of God, who told her she was sleeping in the shape of a cross with her arms

stretched over the peyote plants. He told her to gather the peyote and take it to her tribe. That's

how peyote came to the Kiowa. — Siskin (1983: 187)

…one woman was left from the tribe. She walked over the Desert—there was no food nor water:

she was almost starved. Then a voice was heard from the sky. It was Jesus, and said: "Look down

at this thing (pointing to Father Peyote, a large peyote disc) and you will get food and drink." She

walked over a hill and on the other side she found water—it was her food from the skies, and the

voice said this, peyote, was her food. — Bromberg & Tranter (1943: 524)

A woman is lost in the desert. She is in labor, starving and afraid. "Something" tells her to eat

peyote. Then she delivers a child easily. Her hunger is gone and her breasts are full of milk. Her

strength and sense of direction return. She carries her new baby and basket of peyote back to the

people. — Mount (1987: 14)

There was a woman long ago who had an only child who became lost on the prairies. It was a

very hard time of famine in the tribe. The woman looked everywhere for assistance to find her

child. When there is no help and you are at the end then the spirits sometimes come. The woman

had walked back and forth on a little knoll or mountain as she made a path looking for her child.

She heard a spirit voice say, "Look under your foot." This was in the middle of the path. Under

her foot was the peyote symbol. She ate it. Out of it life starts all over again. The woman walked

back and forth on the knoll or ridge and made a road and found the herb in the middle of it. This

was Father Peyote. — William & Leslie (?: 2)

4

INTRODUCTION

This work is not intended to be a holistic study of the Peyote Way. Instead, its aim

is to address the depth and breadth of a single feature. In short, the primary concern of

this project is to analyze the origin narrative of the Peyote Way: i.e., the Narrative of

Peyote Woman (see proceeding block quotes). Robert N. Bellah, a sociologist of religion

at UC Berkeley, defined religion as "a set of symbolic forms and acts which relate man to

the ultimate conditions of his existence" (Lessa & Vogt 1965: 74). This narrative, in both

its form and act, in both its narrative structure and actual utterance, in both text and

context, is key to both the origin and persistence of the Peyote Way.

The Peyote Way, or the Native American Church (NAC)—a pan-Indian religion

with 250,000+ members from more than 50 tribes in the U.S. and Canada (Utter 1993:

90)—has been studied by many scholars from many scholarly perspectives. The approach

taken in this paper will be twofold. First, I intend to take seriously the historical value

inherent in the Narrative of Peyote Woman. Indeed, I will take the Narrative of Peyote

Woman seriously as conveying history. Note: to examine the evidence—i.e., the 17

versions or texts—that I examined in order to write section one of this paper, please see

Appendix I (indeed, the reader may want to peruse Appendix I before reading section one

of this paper). And second, I intend to take seriously what NAC members themselves say

about what their origin narrative means to them. In short, I will take seriously native

hermeneutics. Note: to examine the ethnographic interviews that provide the backbone

for the second section of my paper, please see Appendix II (indeed, the reader may want

to peruse Appendix II before reading section two of this paper)

Norman O. Brown, in his essay "The Apocalypse of Islam" (1991), unpacks two

key terms involved with Koranic exegesis: zahir and batin. According to Brown, Islamic

5

terminology provides a handy distinction between zahir, "what actually happened" (the

external-visible-patent, or outer meaning), and batin, "what is really going on" (the

internal-invisible-latent, or inner meaning). Put another way: Islamic terminology well

provides Muslims with a distinction between materialist and spiritual readings of the

Koran, between readings vis-à-vis the eye of historical materialism and readings vis-à-vis

the inward, clairvoyant eye, the second sight. In other words, a difference between literal

meaning and something beyond (Brown p. 80-81). These distinctions in meaning do not

conflict or contradict one another; rather, they are simply levels of meaning: batin

necessarily arising from zahir, zahir necessarily providing the foundation for batin.

Although it may seem strange that the organizing principles I am choosing to

frame this study of an American Indian narrative come from Muslim theology, I believe

that these differences in meaning, and the Islamic terms which make these distinctions

useful in scholarly discourse, could well be employed with great utility by those whose

scholarship addresses the religious narratives of Native American peoples. Moreover,

because these distinctions in meaning do not conflict or contradict one another, being

levels of meaning, not rival meanings, I believe that Native American scholars

themselves could find the terms useful. Indeed, these terms seem especially applicable for

exploring oral narratives because, as I will demonstrate later in this paper, oral

narratives—including tales like the Narrative of Peyote Woman—are not so much

metaphoric as they are metamorphic (more on this later).

Adhering to the Islamic distinction between levels of meaning, between literal

meaning and something beyond, I will divide this paper into two main sections: zahir

("what actually happened") and batin ("what is really going on"). With concern the first

6

section, I will employ two methodologies from the discipline of folkloristics and one

methodology from structural anthropology to analyze the structure (a term I am using

quite broadly in this paper) of the Narrative of Peyote Woman. With concern to the

structural analysis of the narrative, I will divide section one into three parts: traits

("elements"), morphology ("canonical pattern"), and binary opposition ("deep structure").

First, by employing the historic-geographic method, the so-called "Finish Method," I

intend to ascertain the key traits in order to establish what the ur-form of the narrative

might have been; the ur-form very likely being a "memorate" or the personal experience

narrative of the historical Peyote Woman. Second, I intend to delineate the sequential

compositional structure of the narrative in order to ascertain its morphology. And third, I

will explore the paradigm of binary oppositions underlying the narrative in order to

ascertain its deep structure.

Why am I conducting a three-tier structural analysis of the Narrative of Peyote

Woman? I believe that the structure of a narrative is key to its historicity, to "what

actually happened." I believe that the narrative itself, though always exhibiting multiple

existence and variation, is nonetheless a kind of memory. By taking seriously such

structural evidence as "elements" and "canonical pattern" (that is, the traits and

morphology of a narrative), one can get very close to what an historical materialist would

call history. In fact, methods of analysis that are related to, but not identical with,

methods employed in this paper, have been very helpful in illuminating such "problems

of history" as the historical Jesus (Funk, Hoover, and The Jesus Seminar 1993).

With regard to the second section of this paper, batin ("what is really going on"), I

will take seriously two native methodologies for interpreting the Narrative of Peyote

7

Woman. First, I will take seriously the ritual role of Water Woman. Second, I will take

seriously the so-called "paranormal" phenomenon of a woman's voice heard singing

during the peyote ceremony. Both the ritual role of the Water Woman and the

phenomenon of the woman's voice heard singing are native or "emic" (as opposed to

"etic") ways of understanding—as well as interpreting—the Narrative of Peyote Woman.

Alan Dundes, in his essay "Metafolklore and Oral Literary Criticism" (1975),

proposed that the folklorist should not only collect the items that constitute folklore ("oral

literature") but that one should also collect the meaning or meanings that the folk

themselves hold about their folklore ("oral literary criticism"). With concern to both the

ritual role of Water Woman and the phenomenon of the woman's voice, as native ways of

understanding—as well as interpreting—the Narrative of Peyote Woman, as native

hermeneutics, I will make use of five ethnographic interviews I conducted while on the

Crow Indian reservation (see Appendix II). Taking seriously what Crow Indian NAC

members told me about the relationship between the Narrative of Peyote Woman to both

the ritual role of Water Woman and the phenomenon of the woman’s voice, and

combining it with what I have found in the ethnographic literature, I will endeavor to

present what NAC members themselves say about "what is really going on" in—as well

as with—the Narrative of Peyote Woman.1

Note: Admittedly, the reader may find the narratives themselves more interesting than my structural analysis of them; hence, one may want to peruse the texts before proceeding. See APPENDIX I: THE NARRATIVE OF PEYOTE WOMAN. Moreover, section two of this paper is far more interesting than section one, and can be read first, if desired.

1 Throughout this paper I privilege the term Peyote Way over both Peyote Cult and Peyote Religion. Every single Crow Indian member of the NAC whom I spoke to referred to their "cult" or "religion" as a way. In fact, in the Crow language Peyote Way is Baaaniile: Way of the Sun (ecliptic) or Way of Life. Not only is this native terminology more accurate (as I will suggest in the second half of this paper, batin), but it is just that, i.e., native. Whenever possible, native nomenclature should find its way into Native American Studies.

8

——Z a h i r—— 1) HISTORIC-GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS

Since I will begin this paper with an historic-geographic analysis of the Narrative

Peyote Woman, minimal knowledge of the historico-cultural development of the

narrative in question is a necessity. The Peyote Way—a.k.a., the Peyote Cult (somewhat

negative), the Peyote Religion (somewhat positive)—is a religious complex that evolved

in Native North America. The fundamental feature of the Peyote Way, and hence its

name, is the ingesting of the cactus plant peyote (Lophophora williamsii). Peyote is a

sacred plant that bestows visions to those who ingest it. Akin to the Christo-mystical

practice of the Eucharist, the ingesting of the peyote plant is a religious sacrament.

Archaeological evidence reveals peyote use among Native Americans as early as

1000 C.E. Indeed, near what is today Laredo, Texas, the plant grew wild and was

gathered by the aboriginal inhabitants (Vecsey 1991: 150). Stewart reports the use of

peyote in Mexico to be pre-Colombian, and that after the Conquest of Mexico, Spanish

Catholicism—despite inquisitional prohibitions—had great difficulty eliminating peyote

use among its New World "converts" (Stewart 1987: 17-30).

Peyote use, at least how it is practiced in the Untied States and Canada today, had

its origin in Mexico but underwent much cultural change when it came north (Stewart

1987: 30-42). Throughout the nineteenth century, Comanche and Kiowa raiders, among

other Native American raiders, encountered peyote use and carried it back to their

respective peoples north of the Mexican border (Vecsey 1991: 150). Texas, and what

would later be called Oklahoma, became the so-called "breeding ground" (the hotbed or

think tank) for the Peyote Way. In fact, it was in Oklahoma where the Native American

Church (NAC) was organized and incorporated (Utter 1993: 91-92).

9

By the twentieth century, the Peyote Way spread from Oklahoma, via

"missionaries, boarding schools, and other intertribal contacts," through Utah, to

Wisconsin, and eventually to Canada (Vecsey 1991: 150). To some degree, everywhere

Native Americans moved—"including metropolitan areas on the East and West coasts"—

the Peyote Way spread (Vecsey 1991: 152).

Although Native American use of peyote is ancient, the Peyote Way—at least in

its North American manifestation—is something of a new religion. Yes, in ancient Meso-

America peyote was used; yes, in Mexico today, some Mexican Indians utilize the plant

for religious purposes (e.g., the Huichol); but its use by ancient and contemporary

Mexican Indians is unlike its use by members of the Native American Church. The

Peyote Way may have a Mexican origin (or at least a Southwest origin linked to Mexico),

but its evolution in North American is something of a radical divergence.

Before I begin my historic-geographic analysis, it is best that I say something

about methodology. In the study of folklore, the so-called Finnish or historic-geographic

method is employed in order to ascertain what the "archetype" or ur-form of a narrative

might have been. The goal is nothing less then to discover the history of a tale. In order to

do this, two things must be done. First, as many versions as possible must be located,

assembled, and arranged in some convenient form of organization (chronological and

geographical grouping are the norm). Second, by empirical inspection of the corpus of

texts, the tales are broken into principal "traits" or "elements" (Dundes 1965: 414). With

regard to the study of Native American folklore, none other than Stith Thompson himself

(one of the world's greatest folklorists) employed the historic-geographic method in his

very important study of "The Star Husband Tale" (Dundes 1965: 416-474).

10

Before I unpack, catalogue, and enumerate the "traits" or "elements" that

comprise the Narrative of Peyote Woman, I feel that I should assure the reader that this is

not an exercise in blasphemy. Indeed, to varying degrees, most members of the Peyote

Way—through discussion and swapping stories—engage in very similar (though rarely as

calculated, rarely as dry) considerations, and hence studies, of what makes up the

Narrative of Peyote Woman. Every single member of the NAC I spoke to not only

acknowledged that the origin narrative had multiple existence and variation (that there are

multiple versions and variants, multiple texts), but that this was necessarily so. Not only

does the plural nature of the narrative not call into question its validity, but, conversely,

its plural nature only expands its validity; hence, allowing for, as well as encouraging,

validities (plural). According to Vine Deloria (1994: 98-113), the moral agency

embedded in Native American historical accounts, and embedded in Native American

narratives generally, is far more important than establishing precise—and hence

competing—details. NAC members agree that the Narrative of Peyote Woman is not only

larger than the sum of its parts, but that the sum of its parts is always expanding, and

necessarily so (more on this in the second section of this paper).

Note: To best make sense of the enumerated “traits” below, the reader may want to peruse APPENDIX I: THE NARRATIVE OF PEYOTE WOMAN (17 versions) before continuing.

Traits: A) Initial Situation: A 1) Conflict [war, raiding, fighting, etc.]—See Text #3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17 A 2) Hunting—See Text #5, 14, 15 A 3) Become Lost [conflict implied(?)]—See Text #4, 6, 7 A 4) No Conflict [conflict implied(?)]—See Text #1, 2 B) Condition of Main Actors Following Initial Situation: B 1) Distress [physical, emotional, spiritual, or any combination of the three] Note: Nearly All Texts Contain the Trait of Distress [sickness, hunger, grief, etc.] B 2) Become Lost [after initial situation]—See Text #8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16

11

C) Main Actor: C 1) Woman Alone—See Text #1, 2, 3, 17 C 2) Woman Who Gives Birth—See Text #4, 5 C 3) Woman With Boy—See Text #11, 12 C 4) Woman and Her Daughter—See Text #8, 9, 10 C 5) Woman and an Unspecified Child—See Text #6, 7 C 6) Woman Accompanying Twelve Warriors—See Text #13 C 7) Sister Searching For One Lost Brother—See Text #14, 15 C 8) Sister Searching For Two Lost Brothers—See Text #16 D) Tribe of Main Actor: D 1) Lipan Apache—See Text #8, 12 D 2) Kiowa—See Text #2 D 3) Comanche—See Text #10, 11, 15 D 4) Yaqui—See Text #5 D 5) Small Leg Indians—See Text #9 D 6) Not Specified—See Text #1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 14, 16, 17 E) Trait of "Mysterious" Voice: E 1) Voice—See Text #3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 17 F) Trait of Dream [or Vision]: F 1) Dream [or Vision]—See Text #1, 2, 8, 12, 16 G) "Supernatural" Agent Who Gives Peyote Plant to Main Actor: G 1) Peyote Plant Gives Up Self to Main Actor [plant speaks]—See Text #10, 14, 15 G 2) Peyote Plant Takes the Form of an Indian Medicine Man/Chief—See Text #11 G 3) Peyote Spirit—See Text #16 G 4) Unknown Being Who Looks Like an Indian Man—See Text #14 G 5) Spirit [Peyote?]—See Text #4, 5, 7, 8, 12 G 6) Coyote—See Text #13 G 7) Jesus—See Text #3 G 8) God/Almighty—See Text #2, 17 H) Person Who Establishes Peyote Religion: H 1) Woman—See Text #1-10, 13, 17 H 2) Old Woman—See Text #11 H 3) A Girl—See Text #14, 15, 16 H 4) A Boy—See Text #12 I believe the evidence shows that the majority of versions have an initial situation

of conflict (A1), proceeded by distress (B1) and becoming lost (B2), with the Main Actor

being usually a woman who is often with a child (C1-6). Tribal affiliation is usually not

12

specified (D7), and voices (E1) and/or dreams (F1) are almost always involved. The most

common "supernatural" agent to lead the Main Actor to peyote is the peyote plant itself

(G1-3); and it is a woman—sometimes called "Peyote Woman"—who usually establishes

the Peyote Way for her people at the closure of the narrative.

Some narratives record the Kiowas as being the first to have the peyote plant.

They are sometimes credited with the invention of the Peyote Way (Beck & Walters

1977: 240). Text #2 concurs with this. Other narratives record that it was the Comanches

who first discovered peyote (Petrullo 1934: 34). Text #10, 11, and 15 concur with this.

Two other versions that make reference to an actual tribe (and it must be noted that half

of the versions do not) state that it was the Lipan Apache who first discovered peyote.

Text #8 and 12 concur with this.

After studying all of the various texts, and after reading all of the major works

written on the Peyote Way, not to mention considering the many conversions I had with

Crow Indian members of the NAC, I believe that it was most likely an Apache group (of

which group it is difficult to say, most likely the Lipan Apache) who first discovered the

use of peyote in North American. Indeed, the standard chronological outline of the

diffusion of the Peyote Way, from Weston La Barre's famous work on the subject, The

Peyote Cult (1970: fig. 5), concurs with my historic-geographic analysis. In short, the

Kiowas and the Comanches learned it from the Apaches, then brought it north. Although

it was the Apaches who first used peyote, it was the Kiowas and the Comanches who are

responsible for the large-scale diffusion of the Peyote Way (Swan 1999: 3-7).

With concern to the Narrative of Peyote Woman, I conclude my historic-

geographic analysis by proposing that the ur-text—arguably, originally the "memorate"

13

or the personal experience narrative of the historical Peyote Woman—most probably

resembled Text #8. In fact, Text #8 not only includes every "trait" (and it is the only

version that does so) but it actually records the tribal affiliation of the historical Peyote

Woman as being Lipan Apache. This text may not only honor the memory of that first

woman, it may very well record much of her actual memory. Text #8 runs thus:

Once when the Lipan Apaches were fighting the Mexicans, a woman and her daughter,

who was about ten years old, got completely separated from the rest of the war party and they

found themselves all alone. When they got to the point where they were nearly dying from hunger

and thirst after several days, they laid down and went to sleep.

As the woman slept, she heard a voice, and the voice spoke to her and it said, "Hey, hey.

Wake up." She looked around. There was nobody there, but the voice went on, "Where your head

is lying, look there. There is a plant. Take that plant and eat it."

So, in the morning she looked and, sure enough, there was that plant. She had no knife, so

she pulled it up, ate it, and her daughter ate it. It was full of juice, and those people, who were

almost dead, say that the plant saved their lives. So, it seemed that some power told that

woman—somehow she knew which way to go. She had been going around before and now she

went straight, and they walked some four days and slept each night. They kept eating this plant,

Peyote, and on the fourth day they came to the camp and found their own people.

So, the first thing, of course, they had a big dinner, and then she said "I want you to do

something. Now, put up a tepee." You know what a tepee is. "Go in and sweep it out good

inside." She said, "Make a crescent out of sand, about so high, like the moon. Right in the middle

of that crescent put one Peyote like it was growing out of the ground. Take a drum and rattle so

you can have some music. Take a cane about this high so you can lean on it. These four things—

rattle, drum, staff and Peyote, and then the fire. We need those things." That is what she said.

So, all night long they ate Peyote and they sang and drummed and, in the morning, this

woman said, "Now, in the morning, when the sun came up, I stopped eating Peyote, so that is

what we are supposed to do." And this was morning, so she brought in a breakfast for them to eat.

She said, "Now I am going to tell you what happened to me," and then she told the story of what I

have been telling you, and she went on and said, "I am a woman. You are men. How is the time

for you to use that and find out things for yourself. The more you use it the more you will find

out." She said, "We will find out things from Peyote at night just like seeing things in the

daytime."

14

While I believe it is impossible to "reconstruct" the original text (although I do

believe we can get pretty close to it), I nonetheless believe it is invaluable to conduct an

historic-geographic analysis before attempting any other structural folkloristic inquiry.

Hence, having analyzed the Narrative of Peyote Woman from the historic-geographic

approach, I will now entertain two structural approaches to the narrative, from both the

Proppian and Levi-Straussian schools, respectively.

2) STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS: PROPPIAN VEIN

Vladimir Propp, although writing exclusively on Russian Marchen (fairy tales),

inaugurated a fascinating structural approach to the study of narrative. In his now classic

work (first published in 1928), The Morphology of the Folktale, he introduced what he

called the "morphology" of a tale. By "morphology" Propp meant "a description of the

tale according to its component parts and the relationship of these components to each

other and to the whole" (1990: 19). By isolating and analyzing each "morphological unit"

(which he termed a "function"), he was able to ascertain that the sequence of these

"functions" were fixed. In fact, there were only 31. He found that although not every

"function" was always present in every tale, that, nonetheless, those that did occur did so

in a predictable order. Alan Dundes, in order to eliminate the confusion surrounding

Propp's term "function" ("function" having very different meanings from field to field),

adopts and advances some terminology (and theory) from Kenneth L. Pike, and suggests

for the sake of clarity that folklorists adapt these terms when entertaining Proppian

studies of a narrative. Hence, "functions"—the units of plot narrative structure—should

be referred to as "motifemes" (Dundes 1965: 208). I have followed suit.

15

Just as traits are analogous to physical marbles, motifemes are analogous to the

rules that govern the game of marbles. Traits have to do with feature (marbles come in a

variety of sizes and colors) and motifemes have to do with function (rules of the game).

Think of the primary trait—the Main Actor (Peyote Woman)—as a physical marble (a

marble whose size and color have myriad manifestations) being propelled through the

movements of the game (the motifemes). In the Proppian vein, I shall delineate the

constituent motifemes that make up the linear progression of the Narrative Peyote

Woman. Adhering to the Proppian notion of morphology, I shall show that the Narrative

of Peyote Woman contains a "canonical pattern." But what is this "canonical pattern" and

how shall I uncover it? Propp states that "[t]he most often repeated and most striking

forms represent a particular canonical pattern" (1990: 88). Thus, I shall utilize the traits in

order to discover the motifemes.

Trait A, in all of its manifestations, is boiled down to one thing: Initial Situation.

It does not matter what the specific "initial situation" is (conflict, hunting, etc.), for

structurally—dare I say, functionally—all are equivalent. This is Motifeme 1. Trait B, in

all of its manifestations, is also boiled down to one thing: Condition. It does not matter

what the specific "condition" is (distress, becoming lost, etc.), for structurally all are

equivalent. This is Motifeme 2. Adhering to the Proppian notion of the dramatis

personae, Trait C, D, and H (identity and nomenclature of the principle players of the

narrative) cannot be rendered into motifemes. What is important structurally—again,

functionally—is not the actors but the actions. Trait E ("Mysterious" Voice) is boiled

down to one thing: Summoning. This is Motifeme 3. Trait F—dream or vision—is more

difficult to boil down. While I am hesitant to include Trait F in my morphological treatise

16

(in fact, it is absent in many versions), I nonetheless feel that it is—or at least often is—

one of the standard segments of the narrative formula. I will collapse Trait E and F into

the same motifeme (for they seen to be the opposite sides of the same coin). For lack of a

better designation, I shall call it "power" ("power" of, or granted by, peyote). This is also

Motifeme 3. Trait G, "supernatural agent" (the one who imparts the Peyote Way), is the

classic donor figure (or sometimes the helper figure) of Propp's scheme. I shall call this

"instruction." This is Motifeme 4. The last motifeme, taken from the action of Trait H

(person who brings back the Peyote Way), I shall designate "establishment": "establish-

ment" of the Peyote Way. This is Motifeme 5.

For the purpose of this paper, I have delineated the constituent motifemes that I

believe make up the linear progression of the Narrative of Peyote Woman. They run thus:

Initial Situation (M1), Condition (M2), Summoning and/or Power (M3), Instruction

(M4), and Establishment (M5). Although not every motifeme appears in every version of

the Narrative of Peyote Woman (and not always in this exact order), I nonetheless feel

that these are the basic units of the narrative plot structure for the narrative of Peyote

Woman. Text #11 will serve as an example.

[M1/Initial Situation]. About seventy-five years ago the Comanche Indians were at war with some Mexican Indian tribes. Once after having successfully raided their enemies, they were pursued so closely that they were forced to leave behind one of their women who had been sick for a long time, and had become so exhausted that she asked to be left behind. Providing her with shelter, food, medicine, and leaving with her a little boy to take care of her needs, they continued their flight westward. It was their intention to return for her as soon as they could evade their pursuers. They knew that the other Indians, their enemies, would not harm the old woman and the little boy, for it is a custom of the Indians not to kill any woman or child left behind under such conditions. However, the little boy left behind with the old woman was anxious to follow his people. So, when darkness fell, he ran away from the sick woman, and following the tracks of the

17

horses, tried to catch up with the band. The boy followed the trail until he was too tired to go any further, and he fell asleep under the trees somewhere. [M2/Condition] As soon as the woman missed him, she became troubled, fearing that the little boy might lose his way or fall by the wayside before he reached his people. She became so worried on his account that, sick as she was, she managed to rise, and follow the little boy. Weak from sickness and age, she sought him, praying and pleading with the Great Spirit to spare him. She told the Great Spirit, even the Creator, that she herself would be willing to die if the child were spared. But, after going a short distance, her strength left her and she fell unconscious to the ground. [M3/Summoning] While she was in this pitiful state an unknown being came to her. He appeared to be an Indian, dressed in the manner of the great chiefs of her own people. Speaking in her own language, he said to her: "You are sick, old woman, and yet you are more worried about the child than you are about yourself." Pointing to the west, he continued: "Tomorrow, when the sun is this high," raising his arm, "the boy will reach the camp of his people safely; but unless you have help and do as I tell you, you will not live long." "I want you to look at me"; and when she had done so, he added, "When I have gone, you will find an herb where I am standing. It will be within your reach, and if you will eat this herb, you will discover the greatest medicine in this world for the Indians. After you have eaten it, the Great Spirit, even the Creator, will teach you the songs, the rules and regulation of a new Indian religion. I repeat, when I am gone, pull up the plant that will appear where I now stand, and eat as many as you can. This will restore your strength and health." [M4/Instruction] Now, while she was looking and listening to this being who appeared to be an Indian, dressed in full regalia according to the custom and dress of her tribe, the man began to vanish, lowering himself gently into the ground. While waiting for him to appear again, she saw in the spot where he had been a number of strange plants. Around them there was light. Thinking about the unknown being's instructions to her, she knew that these were the plants that she was to eat in order to regain her health. She ate as many as she could and immediately felt her strength returning to her. After a while the herb took the form of a chief and medicine man, and began to talk. The herb was Peyote, and the chief was also Peyote himself. Showing her the plant of the tipi which all worshippers were to have when they ate the herb, he told her: "I want you to look within this place of worship. You will find a half moon molded out of the earth, which represents the altar. Back of it, as near as possible to the center, there will be a fireplace. To build the fire, use the very best wood, selected and specially prepared for this purpose, though it can be of any kind."

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[M5/Establishment] Then Peyote taught her the four original songs which have to be sung in the meeting: the opening song of the meeting, the midnight water-call song, the morning water-call song, and the closing song. Peyote also instructed her in all of the other rules of the meeting. This is the way Peyote was revealed to the Indians.

I believe these motifemes arose as part of a mnemonic strategy in order to better

recall—and better retell—an historical event. I conclude my Proppian analysis by

proposing that the motifemes arose not only as a means to honor the memory of that first

woman, but as a means to record much of her actual memory. While the narrative

necessarily has multiple existence and variation, all versions of the origin story adhere to

the basic "canonical pattern" which, arguably, originally came from the "memorate" or

the personal experience narrative of the historical Peyote Woman.

3) STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS: LEVI-STRAUSSIAN VEIN

Claude Levi-Strauss, the world famous social anthropologist, is the originator and

principal advocate of a particular school of "structuralist" thought. With regard to the

study of narrative, in this school of thought the goal is to reveal the paradigm of binary

oppositions underlying a given narrative. With regard to Native American narrative folk-

lore, see Levi-Strauss' brilliant exegesis of a Tsimshian narrative, "The Story of Asdiwal"

(Dundes 1984: 295-314).

Just as an historic-geographic inquiry is often a prerequisite to a sound Proppian

inquiry (traits aid in ascertaining the motifemes), so too a Proppian inquiry is often a

prerequisite to a sound Levi-Straussian inquiry (motifemes aid in ascertaining the

"model"). As Proppian structuralism is "syntagmatic," Levi-Straussian structuralism is

"paradigmatic." To employ an analogy from linguistics, Proppian is to parole as Levi-

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Straussian is to langue. Put simply: the Proppian approach is employed to ascertain the

chronological, the sequential, the lineal or formal "structure" of a narrative; the Levi-

Straussian approach is employed to ascertain the "pattern" which underlies the narrative.

Proppian is to "strata" (serial) as Levi-Straussian is to "substratum" (foundational).

How does this paradigmatic approach work out in the study of narratives?

Allegedly, an a priori binary principle of opposition underlies all narratives (as well as all

of human thought). Polar opposition is the foundation. With concern to the Narrative of

Peyote Woman, what paradigm constitutes the diametrical matrix that underlies the tale?

Examples of specific bi-polar opposition in the texts: Lost Found (see Text #4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 15, 16) Hungry Nourished (see Text #3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15) For the purpose of this paper, the principal paradigm that constitutes the

diametrical matrix that underlies all versions of the Narrative of Peyote Woman is

Lack/Gain. This Lack/Gain model becomes prima facie when one synopsizes, when one

generalizes, all of the texts. Generally, the texts commence with initial life-threatening

and/or—to look at it religiously—spirit-threatening situations. The narrative moves from

hungry to nourished and from lost to found. What makes all this possible? What is the

source of both physical recovery and spiritual redemption?: peyote. Peyote serves as both

life-renewing and spirit-renewing medicine.

The general bi-polar opposition in all versions of the narrative: Lack (Peyote) Gain (Peyote) Text #5 will serve as an example of the Lack(Peyote)/Gain(Peyote) paradigm: Many years ago, my people were traveling from place to place. They went here and they went there, stopping only for a night anywhere, and going on again. They were hunting the way…people used to. At last one woman was very tired. She was pregnant, and she lay on the ground to rest. When she awoke, her little son had been born.

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The woman was frightened. The village had gone on and left her. She and her new born were all alone in the world. She didn't know what to do. She struggled to her feet and started on in the direction she though her people had taken. Soon the woman grew hungry. Her child was crying for food, but until she could eat and drink herself, she could not feed the baby. She sat down beside the trail and cried with fright and desperation. Then the woman heard a voice speak to her. "Look beside you," it said. "Pick the plant that you will find growing at your left hand. It is food and drink for all the people. Take it with you, and when you find your people give it to them. Tell them to take it with prayer, and it will heal all their ills and sorrows." The woman looked down, and there she saw a little…cactus growing…[S]he ate the cactus…[and] felt herself growing stronger and stronger, her breasts filling with milk for her baby, and all her courage returning. When she had nursed the child, she gathered all she could carry of the green peyote cactus, and followed the trail of the village again. By nightfall, she had caught up with them. Lack (Peyote) Gain (Peyote) Tired Strong Fright Courage Alone Together Hungry Fed Desperation Restoration Although never an end onto itself, analysis in the Levi-Straussian vein, i.e.,

discovering the principal bi-polar opposition operating in the text, does yield insight into

the meaning of the narrative. Indeed, why is the general opposition of the Narrative of

Peyote Woman one of Lack/Gain?

4) ETIC INTERPRETATION

Not being an ethicist, the ethical dimension of the Narrative of Peyote Woman

initially escaped me. It was from reading Christopher Vecsey's chapter, "An American

Indian Monomyth: Narratives of Peyote's Origins," from his larger work, Imagine

Ourselves Richly: Mythic Narratives of North American Literature (1991: 150-205), that

I gained insight into this very important aspect of the Peyote Way. With concern to my

ethical interpretation, I will draw heavily from Vecsey's work.

I believe the formula of the Narrative of Peyote Woman (recall the morphology

delineated earlier) yields the ethos of the Peyote Way. Viewed formulaically, the

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narrative runs: separation (from group), discovery (of peyote), return (to group), and

establishment (of Peyote Way). Moreover, viewed paradigmatically, the actions of the

narrative moves the Main Actor from separation (individual) to return (group), and from

discovery (peyote) to establishment (Peyote Way). Thus, an etic exegesis of the narrative

reveals the ethics of the Peyote Way: i.e., the ethics of community. Put simply: the

Narrative of Peyote Woman is not simply or solely a story of personal salvation, it is a

story of group or communal salvation. The Narrative of Peyote Woman serves as an

exemplar of the community ethic to members of the Native American Church. It is the

community, not the individual, which is of ultimate religious import.

The ethics of community are consistent in all versions of the narrative.

"Separation of the individual from the community is equated with starvation, thirst, being

lost in a desert without means of support; to be separated from the group is to die"

(Vecsey 1991: 183). Moreover, Trait B (condition of distress) is present in all versions of

the narrative. No Main Actor is ever free from distress, a distress fueled by the notion that

death is imminent if separated from the group.

In many versions, loyalty to the group, very often immediate kin, is stressed by

way of the Main Actor searching for, and then mourning the loss of, a loved one.

Examples of this can be seen in Text #14, 15, and 16 (sister searching for lost brother or

brothers). In all of these versions, the sister sets out to find her kin but soon losses herself

to grief because she fears her kin are dead. Indeed, the sister's grief is so profound that

she cares not to live herself if it means living without her kin. Text #14 stated that: "She

wandered about for many days without discovering any trace of her brother, and finally

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all hope left her. Grieving, she said to herself: 'He is gone. Now I don't care where I go. I

don't care what becomes of me'."

If separation = death, then reunion = life. Indeed, "the mythic message—that

separation from the community equals death, and reunion spells life—seems to define

[the Peyote Way] as a religion of the community, held together by a community ethic"

(Vecsey 1991: 184). Although the message of the community ethic may come by way of

the Narrative of Peyote Woman, the practice of the community ethic comes by way of

the peyote plant. Akin to the Christian practice of the Eucharist (i.e., Communion),

community—both human and divine—is reified by way of ingesting the sacral substance.

Thus, in message (Text #14):

"…Now, eat [this peyote]…Think about being happy in this world. Don't worry about your brother. He is safe." She ate [the peyote]…and she saw her brother again. He said to her, "I am safe. Don't worry about me." Then he disappeared. Then Peyote spoke to her again, instructing her how…[peyote] was to be used.

Thus, in practice (Radin 1950: 258):

[M]y heart was filled with murderous thoughts. I wanted to kill my brother and sister…[S]ome evil spirit possessed me. I was suffering from a disease. I even desired to kill myself…Then I ate this medicine (peyote) and everything changed. The brother and sister whom I wanted to kill, to them I now became deeply attached. I wanted them to live. This, the medicine had accomplished for me. Put another way: while (peyote) text edifies, (peyote) substance reifies. In both message

and practice the peyote plant serves as the tool to construct, or reconstruct, community.

CONCLUSION: PART I

So, what was accomplished in section one, zahir? The purpose of my three-tier

structural analysis was twofold: 1) by isolating the "traits" or "elements," and by delineat-

ing the "morphology" or "canonical pattern," my aim was to evince the memory of an

historical event, an event often labeled "the Narrative of Peyote Woman"; and 2) by

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exploring the paradigm of binary oppositions underlying the narrative, in order to

ascertain its deep structure, my aim was to hazard an etic interpretation. In this case, I

believe that an ethics of community was evidenced via an exegesis of deep structural

analysis. The reader can decide whether my etic interpretation warrants any merit.

With concern to the Narrative of Peyote Woman as memory, as memory of "what

actually happened," a concept from the discipline of folkloristics is very useful. John

Myres, in his presidential address of 1926, gave a fine talk on "Folk-Memory." His talk

was on a thesis he developed concerning folk-memory, concerning the power of folk-

memory (specifically in Polynesian and Icelandic societies). According to Myres, in

preliterate societies "family history, communal history, and regional history [are] matters

of practical concern and common knowledge" (Myres 1926: 28). I believe that similar

things can be said about the Peyote Way. While not the focus of this paper, the trident of

Euro-American hegemony—Christianity, the English Language, and Imperialism (war,

Indian removal, boarding schools, etc.)—transformed the Narrative of Peyote Woman

from a specific communal and regional historical event into a pan-Indian historical event

(see Vecsey 1991: 188-192).

But enough of external-visible-patent or outer meaning; enough of zahir. Let us

move past the historical materialist reading of the narrative and address its internal-

invisible-latent or inner meaning. Let us take seriously native hermeneutics. Let us move,

finally, onto batin. Indeed, let us move not only past historical materialism, past literal

meaning, but let us move onto spiritual meaning: let us move beyond.

Note: To maximize the analytical possibilities I lay out in section two of this paper, the reader may want to peruse APPENDIX II: CONVERSATIONS WITH FIVE CROW INDIAN N.A.C. MEMBERS before moving to section two of this paper, Batin, as this would likely best inform, as well as enrich, the reading.

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——B a t i n——

1) ESOTERIC-EXOTERIC FACTOR

Before discussing how native hermeneutics are practiced, it is important to discuss

where native hermeneutics are practiced. Wm. Hugh Jansen, in his essay "The Esoteric-

Exoteric Factor in Folklore" (1965), makes clear that the folklorist would be wise to take

into account "what one group thinks of itself and what it supposes others think of it," as

well as "what one group thinks of another and what it thinks that other group thinks it

thinks" (p. 46); i.e., what Jansen has termed the esoteric and exoteric, respectively. This

esoteric-exoteric factor is of great use when discussing the various senses of American

Indian historicity. If the esoteric aspect of this factor "stems from the group sense of

belonging and serves to defend and strengthen that sense," and if the exoteric part of this

factor is "a product of the same sense of belonging, for it may result from fear of,

mystification about, or resentment of the group to which one does not belong" (p. 46),

then the esoteric-exoteric factor would indeed be a factor that researchers should take into

account when discussing Native American philosophies of history.

Jansen proposes three classes of folklore material to which the esoteric-exoteric

factor would particularly apply (p. 47-48): 1) "Folklore generally prevalent about a

particular group" (with concern to American Indians, Keith Basso’s Portraits of The

'Whiteman' is an excellent example); 2) "Folklore prevalent in one particular group about

another particular group" (no doubt there is a huge corpus of Hopi blason populaire,

much of it historically charged, with concern to their traditional enemy, the Navajo, and

vice versa); and 3) "Folklore prevalent within one group and concerned only with that

group" (e.g., how "the Kiowas came one by one into the world through a hollow log" [N.

Scott Momaday p. 16]). Of these three classes of folklore material, the first class, because

25

it is about but not by any particular group, would be heavily exoteric. Conversely, the

third class of folklore material, because "it is known to one group and not concerned with

any other group" (p. 48), would be heavily esoteric.

Of course, much of what a folklorist like Jansen would call "folklore" a native

historian would call history. This concept of the esoteric-exoteric factor can be a

powerful tool in the exegesis of American Indian concepts of history. Comparing and

contrasting, for example, when, where, how, and the ever important why a native

historian tells history dealing solely with and solely for a particular native group

(esoteric), as opposed to telling a history dealing with Indian-White relations (exoteric),

is of great help when discussing the various functions and meanings of American Indian

historical consciousness.

Turning attention to the Narrative of Peyote Woman, how does the concept of the

esoteric-exoteric factor relate to the significance, to the meaning and meanings, of this

narrative? The Narrative of Peyote Woman is, par excellence, an example of Jansen’s

third class of folklore material: "Folklore prevalent within one group and concerned only

with that group." It is told by Indians, to Indians, and for Indians. With concern to native

hermeneutics, the "Indianness" of the narrative’s location, the "Indianness" of where the

narrative is told, is part of the narrative’s meaning. Put simply: this is an Indian narrative.

This should be kept in mind while reading the remainder of this paper.

2) THE RITUAL ROLE OF THE WATER WOMAN They call it the water woman because a mother brings the baby into the world, and a mother is the water woman because of having a new life on earth. — "S" I give you my love and respect and I want to help you by bringing water in in the morning. — "M" …the woman and the prayers of that woman bringing in the water is very important, very sacred. — "M-L"

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(Note: "S," "M," & "M-L" are pseudonyms corresponding to citizens of the Crow Nation who were kind enough to allow me to interview them. To examine the interviews in full, please see Appendix II). According to Marriott & Rachlin (1972b: 43), the role of the woman in the

southern plains peyote ceremony (as championed by the famous Quanah Parker) was

originally a subordinate one. The woman simply—and solely—brought water to the tipi

at midnight and at dawn. Over time, more and more emphasis was placed on the woman

who brought in the water; over time, a bona fide ceremonial position evolved and was

established, that of the Water Woman.

According to "T" (a Road Man and Crow Indian elder), the role of Water Woman

is not only key to the proper performance of the peyote ritual, it is key to the survival of

Peyote Way.

The original religion was founded by a woman. That's why there so much reverence for woman in there. Even though it was founded by a woman, some of those earlier ones didn't allow women in there. And for that reason, they said that one particular tribe—I think it's that same Carrizo—they lost that religion immediately, they said, to the Lipan Apache because they wouldn't let the founder in there. Lipan said we don't allow women in there. Mescalero allowed them to bring in water. "Hey," the said, "maybe the Lipan and Carrizos didn't use women. That's why they lost it." So Mescalero used women in there. …And that's the reason why Kiowa claims that those first two tribes lost that religion was because they didn't allow women in there.

According to Marriott & Rachlin (1972b: 43), traditionally the Water Woman

was often a young woman whom the Road Man (the individual responsible for leading

the peyote ceremony) wanted to honor. Often she was the daughter of a close friend to

the Road Man or she was a member of the donor’s family (the family who sponsored the

peyote ceremony). Very often she was a member of the Road Man’s own family

(daughter, wife, sister, etc). Whoever the Water Woman was, she was chosen with great

care because in "her hands she carried a bucket of water—the new day and the new life

which women bring" (1972b: 43).

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This is still true of the Water Woman. When, in the 1950’s, d’Azevedo inter-

viewed seven (male) Washo members of the Peyote Way, two members had this to say

about the importance of the Water Woman:

Most the time Watergirl is the Roadchief’s wife or somebody in his family. She got to be a good lady Member. She got plenty to do too. She’s in charge of bringing water at Midnight. Everybody depends on her for that. She got to pray and keep her mind good like sweet water. In the Morning she got to be ready to bring in the real Peyote Breakfast…only real Indian food like corn and meat and fruit. She pray over that. She pray for it to hold up the life of the people (d’Azevedo 1985: 6). The ladies is real important in the Church. You can’t have no Meeting without them. The men can’t go it alone. That lady’s got to pray on the Water, and the ladies fix the Breakfast. They can pray good too. If a man don’t have a woman on his side he’s in trouble. Sometimes the women help you when you is singing. That’s when you sing real good. The ladies in the Meeting start praying in a high voice along with your song. That’s real good when it happens. It makes the song travel out straight and clear. If you get helpers like that it means your song is going pretty good (d’Azevedo 1985: 16). That a woman, that a good woman, brings water to the tipi is as important as when

she brings water to the tipi. "M," a young Road Man I interviewed, told me that "[s]ome-

times before the woman brings this water in, there's a time in that ceremony right after

midnight towards morning when everybody's in their right mind, praying." Crow Indian

members of the Peyote Way utilize their astronomical truths to explain the significance of

the ritual role of the Water Woman. One female Crow Indian member of the NAC, "M-

L," put it thus:

That's the moment that everybody waits for. They work up to that point. I don't know if you've heard of this before, but right before the sun rises, when it's a little bit dark but the light's trying to—they say that's when the Creator is closest to the earth. …And he listens to that woman, and that's when the most powerful part of the meeting is. — "M-L" One Crow elder, "Kirk," had this to say:

When it’s morning, like somewhere between three-thirty, four o’clock in the springtime or summertime, about that time the Morning Star is usually out and they say the Creator is pretty close to Mother Earth—when darkness turns into daylight. This is considered the most sacred time of the day. The Road Man sings his morning water song and the woman brings in water and prays (McCleary 1997: 33).

28

Another Crow elder, "Carl," said this about how "the dark face time" explains why the

woman brings water when she does and offers a prayer to conclude the nightlong peyote

ceremony:

This Native American Church is not original Crow; it came from the south. But in many ways it fits what we know about the Crow way, and we put the two together. They say there’s a time of night no matter where you are, where just before the Morning Star comes, the moon has set, if there is a moon, and the stars are not as lustrous as other times, and it’s really, really dark. So that is when the Morning Star comes. It seems like a new light, the morning, the dawn. So somewhere in the moments before the Morning Star comes into view, they say that’s the darkest of the night. They call it dark face, iisanchihpashe. That means that even though you’re familiar with somebody and you meet them, you have to really look; it is so dark the commonness does not come through. They say at that moment the First Maker gets real close to the ground and listens so that when you make a pleading He’ll hear you. So, when you want to, when you want to be very profound, and you want to extend maximum effort in offering a prayer, that is the time to say it. So, that’s why we…have a woman offer prayer, because there’s no prayer as sincere and full of love as a mother’s prayer for her child. So when she offers prayer for her child and includes us, then First Maker will hear it through the best channel (McCleary 1997: 32-33). With regard to the Water Woman, two things are of major concern: 1) that whom-

ever is chosen to act out the ritual role of the Water Woman must be a good woman (she

needs to be a "good lady Member" who can "keep her mind good like sweet water"); and

2) her ritual role is not simply performed at a specific time (temporally) but at a

significant time (cosmologically). Why? Because the woman who acts out the ritual role

of the Water Woman is not simply acting out a specific female role but is acting out the

significance of the feminine principle. Indeed, a Lakota man identified both the Virgin

Mary and the White Buffalo Calf Woman with the Water Woman (Lame Deer 1972:

223). Why? Because the Water Woman is not simply a woman but is symbolic of Native

American ideas about Woman, Womankind, and Womanness (more on this later).

What does this have to do with the Narrative of Peyote Woman? If the ritual role

of the Water Woman is intended to honor that first woman who founded the Peyote Way,

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and if the role of Water Woman is modeled on the Narrative of Peyote Woman (which

many of the "texts" and many of my interviews confirm), then the role of Water Woman

is not only related to the origin narrative, but, even more important, the ritual role of the

Water Woman is a methodology—a native methodology—for analyzing and interpreting

the Narrative of Peyote Woman. The ritual role of the Water Woman is one example of

native hermeneutics.

When a woman is performing the role of Water Woman, a large part of her

performance is an analysis of the Narrative of Peyote Woman. If one knows the narrative,

and if one understands the narrative's relationship to the ritual role of the woman, then

one is not only remembering the story and reflecting on its meaning, one is entering

into—actually, bodily, by way of ritual—the very meaning of the narrative itself. The

Water Woman is not simply a mnemonic strategy or metaphoric representation to help

recall the Narrative of Peyote Woman, she is more than that, she is metamorphic, she is a

kind of re-manifestation, not so much of the actual or historical Peyote Woman but of the

meaning—of the moral agency—of Peyote Woman.

Akin to the historical Peyote Woman, whose trials and tribulations led her to

salvation via the Peyote Way, so too the participants of the peyote ceremony (an arduous

form of prayer) know they are saved, know they are "born again", when the ceremony

comes to a close. "J", a female former NAC member, said it quite well: "And if you go

into a meeting, after you've been there for 10 or 12 hours, you're so thirsty. You know

what it means to take a drink of water when you haven't had one for a long time." Indeed,

the meaning of the narrative of Peyote Woman is experienced when you take a drink of

water.

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3) PHENOMENON OF THE WOMAN’S VOICE This woman that found this peyote, she said, "I'll be there at times when it's powerful." …she's the one that's singing. It must be her. — "S" When a meeting's good, you can hear that woman. …you'll hear her when a meeting is really powerful. — "M-L" Thank God for the woman in here for raising this good music. — "T" …as a woman, I always felt really akin to singing because you could hear that other woman singing, and maybe that's Peyote Woman. — "J" Before I begin discussing the phenomenon of the woman’s voice heard singing

during the peyote ceremony, I must do one thing: I must demonstrate to the reader that

one must take this "phenomenon" seriously. The folklorist David J. Hufford, in his essay

"The Supernatural and the Sociology of Knowledge: Explaining Academic Belief"

(1983), demonstrates—quite convincingly—that the academic study of so-called "super-

natural belief" has been both misdirected and misleading. With concern to "supernatural

belief," Hufford makes this point:

But in all of this the most enormous effect on the study of supernatural belief has been paradigmatic in the Kuhnian sense. Modern academic ideology, centered on a narrow definition of science, and functioning more to protect and advance the power and perks of our culture’s intellectual elite than to advance knowledge, has set the following as the only legitimate general question that the academic study of belief can address: "Why do some people hold these false beliefs?" (1983: 24). Until Hufford's work, the vast majority of "studies" on so-called supernatural

belief championed one or more reductionist approaches, especially many so-called

"psychological" approaches. The assumption was that tradition necessarily preceded

experience (e.g., people see ghosts because there is a tradition of seeing ghosts).

"Tradition" (read "fantasy") necessarily preceded experience because the experience—

necessarily—could not be real or true ("real" and "true" being defined by the reductionist

researcher). According to Hufford, this assumption is too often erroneous and he has

31

spent much of his career studying how experience not only precedes tradition (and this is

very important when considering the Narrative of Peyote Woman) but how tradition is a

means to interpret—as well as analyze—experience. Indeed, if enough people have

enough similar experiences, then those people, through common consensus, will agree

upon a tradition, a necessarily interpretive and analytical tradition, in order to make sense

of their experiences.

Until Hufford, most researchers were not so much interested in understanding so-

called supernatural belief as they were in explaining it. The breakthrough made by

Hufford was in privileging experience. Hufford named his approach "experience-centered

theory" because:

Most academic theories have assumed that folk belief—especially beliefs about spirits—is false or at least unfounded, "non-rational" and "non-empirical." …the "bottom line" of my experience-centered theory is the proposition that much of folk belief about spirits is reasonable, that it is rationally developed from experience. …the reasoning involved in many such beliefs utilize methods of inference, based on observations, which are commonly accepted as valid (1995: 11). Such reasoning—based on experience—cannot be reduced to simple displays of neurotic

defenses or infantile thinking on the part of the "folk." Such reductionist approaches too

often tell more about the reductionist theory then about the experience being reduced.

With concern to Peyote Woman, how can a serious consideration of native

experience illuminate the narrative? Consider the following account of an Indian family

going to the "Peyote Gardens" in south Texas, the place where the historical Peyote

Woman most likely had her experience.

"In the morning, when we had all washed ourselves, Grandfather took out his old pipe and filled it. Then he blew smoke to the four world corners, and down to our Grandmother the earth, and up to the Above One in the sky. He prayed strong. He prayed real good. And he went on and on, praying and praying, and nobody wanted to say anything, but we were all getting hungry. "My daughter was about seven then, and she just plain gave out, the way kids do. Finally she stretched out on the ground, and sort of dozed off under one of the lavender bushes.

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"Then Grandpa stopped praying, and all at once I heard Jeanne say, 'Mama, what's this thing?' She was pointing to a little low green plant, close to the ground, right by her head. 'Why, I'm sitting on some,' she said, and jumped up, and there they were! Peyotes all over the place, like you never saw them grow. Grandpa said it was a big blessing, that a little girl had found them" (Marriott & Rachlin 1972b: 52). The experience of the little girl, as recognized by the grandfather, mirrors in many

respects the experience of the historical Peyote Woman. To a degree, as realized by the

grandfather, the little girl reenacts the Narrative of Peyote Woman. This is significant for

two reasons: 1) the actual experience of the little girl, because it mirrors the past

experience of that first woman, validates the historicity, the historical actuality (or at the

very least the historical probability), of the Narrative of Peyote Woman (it validates the

likelihood of an historical event); and 2) as discerned by the grandfather, the fact that it

was a little girl who found peyote—that is was a female—validates the religious

significance of femininity in the Peyote Way (an historical event, without a spiritual

connection, is largely meaningless).

Turning to the phenomenon of the woman’s voice heard singing during the peyote

ceremony, how can Hufford's "experience-centered theory" be put to use? The following

fact is significant: two non-Indian scholars, on two separate occasions, experienced the

phenomenon of the woman's voice while attending peyote ceremonies; and neither of

them knew of the "tradition" beforehand. In fact, Ake Hultkrantz (1997: 68 n. 11 & 70-

71), and Timothy P. McCleary (personal communication) both had the experience before

being told of the tradition. Hultkrantz's reflections on the experience are worth reading:

It is to me completely inconceivable how this experience could take place since at that time I was not familiar with La Barre's statement (1960, p. 50) of the Southern Plains belief that the Peyote woman could be heard singing when a supposed "female" peyote button was eaten, nor were there singing women present in the lodge, and as far as I know none of the present men had similar experiences. In short, the psychological frame of references for such extraordinary experiences was missing (1997: 68 n.11).

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Later on, hours following the morning meal, Hultkrantz asked the Road Man for an

explanation for his "audition". The Road Man answered: "If you hear a woman's voice in

the Peyote lodge, that means that somebody who is sick will get well again. That

woman's voice is the holy spirit" (p. 71).

"S" and "M-L," both long time practitioners of the Peyote Way, both veteran

Water Women, agree that one hears the voice of Peyote Woman when the meeting is

"powerful". No doubt "T" would agree:

Yes. It happened to me. …it got really powerful in there. I almost ate about a hundred that time, and I started singing. It was good music. And there was no woman in there. And everybody was starting to sing with us. It's just like a big powwow. And right in there, that woman was singing with us, and we didn't even think about it because we thought maybe—women usually do that in there, and we thought, "Thank God for the woman in here. They're singing along with us, making good music." When we stopped singing, we remembered there was no woman in there. — "T" [italics mine]

Interpreted experientially, the power was both real and true to "T" (otherwise he

could not have experienced it); and, unlike Hultkrantz, because "T" had recourse to native

hermeneutics, he knew not only that the experience—that the "power"—had actually

happened, but he also knew what was really going on, and why. Not only was it real, it

was also meaningful. The Crow Indian elder was so moved by his experience that "two

years later, some couple came up to me and said, 'We want to throw our baby away to

you.' …So when they did that, I named that little girl Peyote Singing Woman for that one

incident that happened to me."

I believe ideas from Hufford's experience-centered theory can—indeed, should—

find a home in Native American Studies. Taking experience seriously allows one to both

examine and appreciate the practice of believing for what it is: a way of knowing. A

belief ("folk," "supernatural," or otherwise) exists because if enough people experience

something, then they will agree that something does indeed exist. Belief is either an

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"attribute" or "property" but the evidence of an empirical—as well as a lived—process.

Hence, the insistence NAC members have in calling it the Peyote Way.

4) THE MEANING OF (PEYOTE/WATER) WOMAN

So I would say that what I know about Peyote Woman is Peyote Woman brings the church back. — "J"

Surprisingly, not much scholarly attention has been focused on Peyote Woman.

No monographs, no book length studies, mostly scattered references and some interesting

footnotes. While much has been written on both Quanah Parker and John Wilson (and

rightfully so), relatively little as been written on the female founder of the religion that

these two men dedicated their lives to. In fact, Quanah Parker himself, after falling

seriously ill and being healed with peyote by a curandera (a female Mexican-American

healer), was told the Narrative of Peyote Woman (see Text #5). Not only did the

curandera tell him the origin narrative of the religion that he would later take to heart and

champion until the end of his days, but she told him why:

"That is a wonderful story," Quanah said. "Yes," the curandera went on, "it is a wonderful story, and it is a true story. They called her Morning Star Woman because she brought the people a new day. Now we have a ceremony to remember her, and we eat the cactus as a sacrament…When you are better, I will take you to a ceremony, and you can learn everything. Then you can return to your own people, and teach them this way of living" (Marriott & Rachlin 1972a: 210). All things considered, this fact should be kept in mind: no Peyote Woman, no Peyote

Way.

One of the earliest references to Peyote Woman in scholarly discourse is from a

two-page report written for American Anthropologist (1892) by James Mooney titled "A

Kiowa Mescal Rattle." In it Mooney noted that Kiowa followers of the Peyote Way wore

crucifixes and identified the so-called "mescal goddess" with Christ:

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By the side…is the principle figure, the rude semblance of a woman, with a sort of crown or halo about her head, a fan in her left hand, and a star under her feet. This is the "Mescal Woman"…the presiding goddess of the ceremony. …[goes on to describe the so-called "Mescal Woman" in great detail]. It may be proper to state that many of the mescal eaters wear crucifixes, which they regard as sacred emblems of the rite, the cross representing the cross of scented leaves upon which the consecrated mescal rests during the ceremony, while the Christ is the mescal goddess (1892: 65). Although none of my Crow Indian consultants went as far as identifying Peyote

Woman with Christ, and perhaps the closest comparison in print may be the one where a

Road Man identifies the woman's singing voice with the Holy Spirit (Hultkrantz 1997:

71), Peyote Woman—though not always elevated to the status of either Christ or the

Holy Sprit—is nonetheless key to the Peyote Way.

With regard to the importance of the feminine principle in the Peyote Way, two

Crow Indian Road Men had this to say:

Water gives life as the Creator gives life. So the mother brings the water in. The woman bringing in the water in the peyote ceremony is a sacred moment, whether it be a mother or grandmother. She prays for her children, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. …So the woman's role at the peyote ceremony is important, highly respected… — "M" But the medicine, the way we used that peyote, was found by a woman. …the religion was founded by a woman, and she gave the instructions to these brothers and uncles and members of the tribe to use it the way that she saw in a dream. So we usually give the woman a segment of our ceremony early in the morning, when she brings the water in to pray for that water and for all the people in there and the purpose of that meeting. We allow her that opportunity to tell us the story again and teach us what to do in the ceremonies. — "T"

And, as two Crow Indian Water Women put it:

Everybody I've ever heard of that goes in the meeting, they'll always stress that, saying this is the most important part of this meeting. And you're supposed to show a lot of respect at that time for that woman, no matter who it is that brings that water in. So yeah, it's a very important role, I think, and it's an honor to be asked to sit in that position. — "M-L" So I would say that what I know about peyote woman is peyote woman brings the church back. …But insofar as its significance, I always really thought that it made a place far more important for a woman or for a partnership in worship than a lot of the male-based religions that you might find in other cultures or even in the native culture, because woman is so specifically integral to the whole worship. And you could never be thought of as being out of place because significantly, women have that extraordinary place. — "J"

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When I was having conversations with past and present Crow Indian members of

the NAC, I kept noticing one very interesting thing: oftentimes they would confuse

(perhaps a more accurate word would be fuse) the religious figure of Peyote Woman with

the ritual role of the Water Woman. Why did they do this? I believe (and more than one

Crow Indian agreed with me) that both Peyote Woman and Water Woman are

manifestations of the same spiritual substance: the feminine principle. Historically, the

ritual role of the Water Woman comes from the Narrative of Peyote Woman. Its origin

lies in the historical event recorded in the origin narrative. Ontologically, the religious

significance of the event that led to the Narrative of Peyote Woman (arguably, originally

a memorate) lies in the native interpretation of the historical event: native hermeneutics

transforms history into (or, perhaps more accurate, reveals history to be) an account of

salvation. Salvation for both Peyote Woman and for all who choose to follow her way,

the Peyote Way.

In the universe of native hermeneutics, the importance of native conceptions of

the feminine principle is not only not rare but is the norm. Arguably, the feminine

principle has an important place in all Native American religions. Even a cursory look at

Native American religions reveals that often times the feminine principle is not only

present, it is key. Besides the Peyote Way, many Native American religions have origin

narratives "staring" females: e.g., White Buffalo Calf Woman (the Pipe Religion),

Changing Woman (the Navajo Religion), Yellowtail Woman (the Dream Drum

Religion), etc. Perhaps the Native American Church is the most successful Native

American religion in North America because it is simply just that, a Native American

religion. Although the concepts have their place, scholars have for too long relied upon

37

notions of syncretism and acculturation (as if Native Americans only experienced these

"isms" and "tions" after Contact) in order to explain (but rarely to understand) the Peyote

Way. If the origin narrative of a religion does indeed reveal much about that religion

(which I hope that this paper succeeds in suggesting for the Peyote Way), then native

notions of the feminine principle—which seem to be key to many native origin

narratives—must be taken into account if one is to understand native explanations for

how their religions originate and why their religions persist.

CONCLUSION: PART II

So, what was accomplished in section two, batin? My goal was not only to

entertain native hermeneutics, it was to advocate its validity. First, by taking seriously

Jansen's notion of the "esoteric-exoteric" factor in folklore, by taking seriously the

audience, my aim was to suggest the Indianness of the narrative. Indeed, this narrative is

told by, told to, and told for Indians.

Second, by taking seriously the relationship between the Narrative of Peyote

Woman and ritual role of the Water Woman, my aim was to suggest that the woman's

role in the peyote ceremony is not only a mnemonic strategy or metaphoric representation

to help recall and retell the narrative (although that is a part of it), more than that, she is

metamorphic, she is a kind of re-manifestation, not so much of the actual or historical

Peyote Woman but of the meaning of—the moral agency of—Peyote Woman.

Whomever is chosen to perform her role must be a "good woman," otherwise the moral

agency will have no moral agent. Moreover, her ritual role is not simply performed at a

specific time (temporally), it is performed at a significant time (cosmologically).

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Third, and perhaps most important, by taking seriously Hufford's "experience-

centered theory", by taking seriously the relationship between the Narrative of Peyote

Woman and the phenomenon of the woman's voice, my aim was to suggest that this

phenomenon is real and true (real and true being defined by those who really and truly

experience it). Akin to the ritual role of the Water Woman, and perhaps even more so, the

woman's voice is metamorphic. Put another way: the woman's voice is a re-manifestation

of the moral agency of Peyote Woman. And perhaps, if only in voice, of the historical

Peyote Woman herself.

In the universe of native hermeneutics, all of this—the necessary Indianness of

the audience, the necessary goodness of the woman, the necessary significance of the

woman's temporal location in the ceremony, the necessary experiential truth of the

woman's voice heard singing—all of this is factored into the calculus of native

interpretative and analytical systems. Nothing is left out. Narrative, ritual, and experience

(though analytically distinct), necessarily overlap, inform, interpenetrate, and cross-

fertilize one another. Akin to the Narrative of Peyote Woman, with its multiple existence

and variation, with its necessarily expanding and plural nature, native hermeneutics is

also not only larger than the sum of its parts, but the sum of its parts is always, and

necessarily so, expanding.

Although I doubt that many Native Americans have ever heard of the term batin, I

also have no doubt that many Native Americans practice the kind of spiritual readings, in

both their narratives and in their lives, which the term batin expresses.

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APPENDIX I: THE NARRATIVE OF PEYOTE WOMAN

(17 versions)

Below are seventeen texts—seventeen versions—of the Narrative of Peyote

Woman that I found in print (plus one that I recorded from a female Crow Indian elder,

see Text #17). Although I am aware of, and largely agree with, the arguments of the

"contextualists" (Georges 1969), I nonetheless feel that any and all available texts should

be examined by the researcher. True, especially with regard to performance and

Performance Theory (Bauman 1986), texts largely lack context; but, when examined

from an historical perspective, texts can yield gold mines of information (including

meaning). As I suggested early in this paper, Text #8 most probably resembles the ur-

text, arguably the "memorate" or personal experience narrative, of the historical Peyote

Woman. All of the other versions, to lesser and greater degrees, branch off, arise or

diffuse from, or are at least informed by, Text #8 (or its likeness).2

Text #1 Etic Title: Woman Alone (I) Tribe: Taos Pueblo Source: Parsons (1936: 64) It was long ago, before white people came. Indians moved around, living wherever they

wanted to. Some moved as far south as San Anton. Some went to Old Mexico. An Indian woman

found the peyote, way down south, near Old Mexico. She saw the peyote plant in a dream. When

2 The reader should be aware that there is another narrative that is likewise key to the Peyote Way. While not the focus of this paper, this narrative concerns the diffusion of the Peyote Way (as opposed to its origin), and is very important. Most versions involve the leader of a raiding party (often identified as Comanche) hearing the sound of "mysterious" drumming. The leader tells his men that he will go alone to investigate. The enemy tribe, either clairvoyantly or by way of a dream, knows of his approach. The enemy tribe is often identified as being some kind of Apache (Carrizo, Mescalero, White Mountain Apache). The enemy tribe invites him to participate in the peyote ceremony; and, after he learns it, he brings the Peyote Way back to his people. To examine versions of this narrative in print, see Ball (1966: 28), La Barre (1970: 111), McAllester (1949: 14-18), Opler (1938: 272-273), and Wallace & Hoebel (1952: 333 & 334).

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she woke up she went to the place and found it. She ate the peyote, and gave it to the other

Indians to eat. After they eaten, the peyote told the Indians how to run a peyote meeting, told

them what things to use, and how to do it.

Text #2 Etic Title: Woman Alone (II) Tribe: Washo Narrator: Ramsey Walker Source: Siskin (1983: 187) This woman went to Texas to find peyote. When she got tired, she laid down in the field

and went to sleep. She dreamed of God, who told her she was sleeping in the shape of a cross

with her arms stretched over the peyote plants. He told her to gather the peyote and take it to her

tribe. That's how peyote came to the Kiowa.

Text #3 Etic Title: Woman Alone (III) Tribe: Paiute Narrator: Sammy D. Source: Bromberg & Tranter (1943: 524) A long time ago Indians were fighting: they killed each other and one woman was left

from the tribe. She walked over the Desert—there was no food nor water: she was almost starved.

Then a voice was heard from the sky. It was Jesus, and said: "Look down at this thing (pointing to

Father Peyote, a large peyote disc) and you will get food and drink." She walked over a hill and

on the other side she found water—it was her food from the skies, and the voice said this, peyote,

was her food.

Text #4 Etic Title: Woman Who Gives Birth (I) Tribe: Generic Source: Mount (1987: 14) A woman is lost in the desert. She is in labor, starving and afraid. "Something" tells her

to eat peyote. Then she delivers a child easily. Her hunger is gone and her breasts are full of milk.

Her strength and sense of direction return. She carries her new baby and basket of peyote back to

the people.

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Text #5 Etic Title: Woman Who Gives Birth (II) Tribe: Yaqui Narrator: A Yaqui Medicine Woman Source: Mount (1987: 16) Many years ago, my people were traveling from place to place. They went here and they

went there, stopping only for a night anywhere, and going on again. They were hunting the

way…people used to. At last one woman was very tired. She was pregnant, and she lay down to

rest. When she woke, her little son had been born.

The woman was frightened. The village had gone on and left her. She and her new baby

were all alone in the world. She didn't know what to do. She struggled to her feet and started on

in the direction she thought her people had taken.

Soon the woman grew hungry. Her child was crying for food, but until she could eat and

drink herself, she could not feed the baby. She sat down beside the trail and cried with fright and

desperation.

Then the woman heard a voice speak to her. "Look beside you," it said. "Pick the plant

that you will find growing at left hand. It is food and drink for all the people. Take it with you,

and when you find your people give it to them. Tell them to take it with prayer, and it will heal all

their ills and sorrows."

The woman looked down and there she saw a little round green cactus growing. She

picked one button and scrapped off the white downy fuzz that grew on it. Then she ate the cactus

and, although its taste was bitter, she felt herself growing stronger and stronger, her breasts filling

with milk for her baby and all her courage returning. When she had nursed the child, she gathered

all she could carry of the green peyote cactus, and followed the trail of the village again. By

nightfall, she caught up with them.

Text #6 Etic Title: Woman With Unspecified Child (I) Tribe: Not Specified Source: Conn (1982: 37) The traditional account tells of a woman and her child who were about to perish after

being lost for several days in harsh weather. Following the directions of a mysterious voice, the

woman picked a special herb which she and her child ate. Restored by it healing power and still

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obeying the voice, she returned to camp. A male relative to whom she confided this experience

subsequently established the peyote rite among the southern Plains tribes.

Text #7 Etic Title: Woman With Unspecified Child (II) Tribe: Kiowa Narrator: Monroe Tsa Ke Source: Denman, William & Leslie (?: 2) The peyote tepee faces east. The altar, which is built in the middle behind the fire, is

made of dirt in the shape of a mound or mountain. That comes about this way: There was a

woman long ago who had an only child who became lost on the prairies. It was a very hard time

of famine in the tribe. The woman looked everywhere for assistance to find her child. When there

is no help and you are at the end then the spirits sometimes come. The woman had walked back

and forth on a little knoll or mountain as she made a path looking for her child. She heard a spirit

voice say, "Look under your foot." This was in the middle of the path. Under her foot was the

peyote symbol. She ate it. Out of it life starts all over again. The woman walked back and forth on

the knoll or ridge and made a road and found the herb in the middle of it. This was Father Peyote.

Text #8 Etic Title: Women and Her Daughter (I) Tribe: Kiowa Apache. Narrator: Elderly Man Source: Dustin (1960: 7-8). Once when the Lipan Apaches were fighting the Mexicans, a woman and her daughter,

who was about ten years old, got completely separated from the rest of the war party and they

found themselves all alone. When they got to the point where they were nearly dying from hunger

and thirst after several days, they laid down and went to sleep.

As the woman slept, she heard a voice, and the voice spoke to her and it said, "Hey, hey.

Wake up." She looked around. There was nobody there, but the voice went on, "Where your head

is lying, look there. There is a plant. Take that plant and eat it."

So, in the mourning she looked and, sure enough, there was that plant. She had no knife,

so she pulled it up, ate it, and her daughter ate it. It was full of juice, and those people, who were

almost dead, say that the plant saved their lives. So, it seemed that some power told that

woman—somehow she knew which way to go. She had been going around before and now she

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went straight, and they walked some four days and slept each night. They kept eating this plant,

Peyote, and on the fourth day they came to the camp and found their own people.

So, the first thing, of course, they had a big dinner, and then she said "I want you to do

something. Now, put up a tepee." You know what a tepee is. "Go in and sweep it out good

inside." She said, "Make a crescent out of sand, about so high, like the moon. Right in the middle

of that crescent put one Peyote like it was growing out of the ground. Take a drum and rattle so

you can have some music. Take a cane about this high so you can lean on it. These four things—

rattle, drum, staff and Peyote, and then the fire. We need those things." That is what she said.

So, all night long they ate Peyote and they sang and drummed and, in the morning, this

woman said, "Now, in the morning, when the sun came up, I stopped eating Peyote, so that is

what we are supposed to do." And this was morning, so she brought in a breakfast for them to eat.

She said, "Now I am going to tell you what happened to me," and then she told the story of what I

have been telling you, and she went on and said, "I am a woman. You are men. How is the time

for you to use that and find out things for yourself. The more you use it the more you will find

out." She said, "We will find out things from Peyote at night just like seeing things in the

daytime."

Text #9 Etic Title: Women and Her Daughter (II) Tribe: Kiowa Apache. Narrator: Elderly Woman Source: Beals (1971: 43-45) A long time ago, the Kiowa Apaches got it from the Mescaleros. The Mescaleros got it

from the Small Leg Indians way before the United States was discovered. It came from a woman.

There were having a war. In those days when the people had a war, they would break

tents and run off in the mountains. All the people were scattered, and this lady and her daughter

got stranded. They hid in the woods and escaped the enemy, but they didn't have anything with

them when they took off.

They went to the mountains and finally got to the top of them. The woman never did

leave her daughter. She kept with her all the time. They killed rabbits and anything they could get

with a stick. They gathered weeds to eat too, but finally they just couldn't get anything else.

They started to walk. The little girl said, "I sure am thirsty Mama." They walked way

down the canyon. They found a little water there, and the woman made a kind of a sack. She

44

filled it with water, but they still didn't have anything to eat. They went up in the mountain again.

Pretty soon, the woman began to get weak. They laid down because she couldn't go any farther.

The little girl got up then and started to walk. She ran into this peyote while she was

walking. She looked at it and it got in her mind that if she ate it, she was going to be all right. She

ate a little one. It was like a radish, and it had a little water in it. Her mouth just watered, and she

kept on swallowing. She dug some up and ran back to her mother. Her mother was saying, "I

think that I'm going to die. If you see some people coming, you get with them no matter if they're

not our tribe." "No," said the daughter, "You won't die if you eat some of this." So the mother ate

some of the roots and laid down again. They went to sleep and slept all day.

On the next day, the little girl showed her mother where she got the roots. The mother

wasn't able to see them at first. Finally, she saw one. They were all around then, and she could see

a lot of them. They ate some of them and stayed there.

After a while the woman said, "Tomorrow, we're going to see our tribe. They're looking

for us. When you see a man coming from the north, you wave and make a signal at him." Then

the woman prayed to the peyote. The next day when the sun got up to about nine o'clock, they

were looking for the men.

…the men heard a woman praying. The men understood it and stood up. They hollered so

the woman would know them. "Hey, we're the same tribe. We've been looking for you," they

said. The woman heard it and crawled out with her daughter. Her girl heard it too and said,

"Mama, it might be somebody." "Over here!" the mother hollered.

…the two of them stood up and went over to the men. One of the men said, "It's me. I'm

going to take you home." The men had some kind of whistle with them, and they called the others

with it for them to come up there. Now they use that kind of whistle in a meeting. It's like an

eagle bone.

The people down at the bottom of the mountain heard the whistle and went up there.

When they got there, they sat around and asked questions.

The woman said, "This peyote, that's all that we had to eat." "What's that?" the men said.

"Is it good?" "Yeah, that's what kept us alive all these days," said the woman.

So they dug some up and took it. That's where peyote came from.

Text #10 Etic Title: Women and Her Daughter (III) Tribe: Prairie Potawatomi Source: Skinner (1924: 237-239)

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One of the divisions of the Comanche was raided by another tribe with whom they were

at war. They were on the South Canadian River and were dispersed and driven everywhere. A

woman and her daughter wandered away out on the plains where no one lived. They were

terrified and half starved, and they could find no water anywhere. They prayed for help, yet no

one appeared. The elder woman was getting weaker and weaker, and death was close to them.

At last, when completely exhausted, they went into a little hollow and lay down. The girl

got up again and searched for water, leaving her mother behind, almost in a stupor. As she lay

there half conscious, she heard a voice saying, "Sit up! Sit up!" and she did so, only to find

herself surrounded by peyote. "Take me," said the plant; "cut me, clean me, and eat me. I will

help you."

The old woman called her daughter who came back. They got out her knife, cut and

cleaned twelve slices of peyote, while the daughter cleaned six more for herself. They ate the

peyote and prayed for help. The juice in it seemed to help their thirst at once, and the old woman

began to feel able to walk again. The peyote told her where there was water, so they went there

and drank, then they cut a lot more of the herb, and traveled on until noon, when they came to a

broad well marked trail.

They followed the path, and at about two o'clock in the afternoon they came to a creek.

Here they drank, bathed, and ate more peyote, taking four slices each. They went on, and, as they

mounted the first hill, they saw some one approaching on horseback, and then many of them.

They hid and watched till dark, as they were afraid to show themselves. In the morning they went

on, and soon came to a place where a camp had just been moved from the cottonwoods along the

stream. At noon they came out on the prairie again and saw four lodges. While they were still

debating they saw a man, so they approached him, and it was the elder woman's uncle, fasting

and mourning for them, for they had been lost six days. They showed the old man what they had

discovered from the peyote, and he said that he had heard of it before, that some people ate it and

called it wonderful.

The lost women were given some soup to restore their strength, and two days later they

felt strong enough to mount horses and ride over to the nearest tribe of peyote eaters. The old

woman told her story to them, and asked their permission to learn their rites; their chiefs said to

her: "This thing will save us all with God if we eat it and do our best. Just eating it alone will save

no one. We are glad that you have come to us; it is God's will. We should all bear in mind that

this is no dream; you found it yourself."

They all made the old Comanche woman presents to make up for what the enemy had

destroyed, and she thanked them and started home. In this manner another western band of

46

Comanche got peyote. The old lady took her people down close to the Rio Grande and showed

them where it grew. So these Comanche began to use it, and they learned that it must be taken in

the right way, with a good heart, for it can save no one by itself.

Text #11 Etic Title: Old Woman With Little Boy Tribe: Delaware Narrator: James C. Webber Source: Petrullo (1934: 34-37) About seventy-five years ago the Comanche Indians were at war with some Mexican

Indian tribes. Once after having successfully raided their enemies, they were pursued so closely

that they were forced to leave behind one of their women who had been sick for a long time, and

had become so exhausted that she asked to be left behind. Providing her with shelter, food,

medicine, and leaving with her a little boy to take care of her needs, they continued their flight

westward. It was their intention to return for her as soon as they could evade their pursuers. They

knew that the other Indians, their enemies, would not harm the old woman and the little boy, for it

is a custom of the Indians not to kill any woman or child left behind under such conditions.

However, the little boy left behind with the old woman was anxious to follow his people. So,

when darkness fell, he ran away from the sick woman, and following the tracks of the horses,

tried to catch up with the band. The boy followed the trail until he was too tired to go any further,

and he fell asleep under the trees somewhere.

As soon as the woman missed him, she became troubled, fearing that the little boy might

lose his way or fall by the wayside before he reached his people. She became so worried on his

account that, sick as she was, she managed to rise, and follow the little boy. Weak from sickness

and age, she sought him, praying and pleading with the Great Spirit to spare him. She told the

Great Spirit, even the Creator, that she herself would be willing to die if the child were spared.

But, after going a short distance, her strength left her and she fell unconscious to the ground.

While she was in this pitiful state an unknown being came to her. He appeared to be an

Indian, dressed in the manner of the great chiefs of her own people. Speaking in her own

language, he said to her:

"You are sick, old woman, and yet you are more worried about the child than you are

about yourself."

Pointing to the west, he continued:

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"Tomorrow, when the sun is this high," raising his arm, "the boy will reach the camp of

his people safely; but unless you have help and do as I tell you, you will not live long."

"I want you to look at me"; and when she had done so, he added, "When I have gone, you

will find an herb where I am standing. It will be within your reach, and if you will eat this herb,

you will discover the greatest medicine in this world for the Indians. After you have eaten it, the

Great Spirit, even the Creator, will teach you the songs, the rules and regulation of a new Indian

religion. I repeat, when I am gone, pull up the plant that will appear where I now stand, and eat as

many as you can. This will restore your strength and health."

Now, while she was looking and listening to this being who appeared to be an Indian,

dressed in full regalia according to the custom and dress of her tribe, the man began to vanish,

lowering himself gently into the ground. While waiting for him to appear again, she saw in the

spot where he had been a number of strange plants. Around them there was light. Thinking about

the unknown being's instructions to her, she knew that these were the plants that she was to eat in

order to regain her health. She ate as many as she could and immediately felt her strength

returning to her. After a while the herb took the form of a chief and medicine man, and began to

talk. The herb was Peyote, and the chief was also Peyote himself. Showing her the plant of the

tipi which all worshippers were to have when they ate the herb, he told her:

"I want you to look within this place of worship. You will find a half moon molded out of

the earth, which represents the altar. Back of it, as near as possible to the center, there will be a

fireplace. To build the fire, use the very best wood, selected and specially prepared for this

purpose, though it can be of any kind."

Then Peyote taught her the four original songs which have to be sung in the meeting: the

opening song of the meeting, the midnight water-call song, the morning water-call song, and the

closing song. Peyote also instructed her in all of the other rules of the meeting.

This is the way Peyote was revealed to the Indians.

Text #12 Etic Title: Woman and Her Boy Tribe: Kiowa Apache. Narrator: Jim Whitewolf Source: Mount (1987: 17-18) There is a story from long ago about the origin of peyote. It goes back to the times the

Indians were fighting each other. On the other side of New Mexico a group of Indians were

camped, and they were attacked. …The mountains there were very high. The tribe that was

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attacked got scattered. There was just one woman and her boy left. They were Lipan Apaches. It

was very hot and dry there. All the water had dried up. They had no food or water and there was

none around them.

The woman told her boy, "I am tired and hungry and thirsty. We will rest here. You go

on. If you can't find anything, maybe you will die somewhere." It was early in the morning. The

boy went out in the mountains. She told him to look around to see if he could see anyone. He

walked around. Then something above spoke to him. It said, "I know you are hungry. Look down

ahead of you. You will see something green. Eat it." He saw a green plant and dug it up and

began to eat it. He looked around and saw many more. He ate some. Soon his hunger was gone,

as if he had eaten a lot of meat. He dug some more of the plants up and took them to his mother.

He told her of the voice that had spoken to him. She ate some of the plants, and felt as if she had

eaten a big meal of meat. Her hunger was gone.

In the middle of the afternoon it was very hot. She said, "I do not know who gave up this.

I am going to pray to him." She prayed for water and to find her people again. Later on, a cloud

began to darken the sky and it thundered. Rain fell and there was water running through the

mountains. They drank and rested there that night.

During the night the woman dreamed. Someone came to her and said, "look over there

and you will see a certain mountain." She looked and saw people moving along the hills. There

was a creek nearby. It was east of where she and her boy were lying. In the dream she was told to

go up on a high mountain in the morning and look out, and she would see her own people. She

was told to take peyote to her people and the way would be made for it.

In the morning they washed and ate some peyote. She told her son of her dream. They

went to the mountain, and looked out, as she had been told in her dream. She saw settling down

and camping. She knew from her dream that they would be Indians. She and her boy started

toward them. One man met them. He recognized them as the lost ones. They were glad to see

each other. When they reached the camp he told all the people about them.

Text #13 Etic Title: Woman Accompanying Twelve Warriors Tribe: Navajo Narrator: Ron Barton Source: Beck & Walters (1977: 242) My mother, she told me a story like a creation myth. Twelve warriors were getting ready

for war, far off. Then, men, when going to war, didn't take any women along with them. One

49

lady, she begged to go. The warriors refused, but the woman kept pleading persistently. She

promised she would cook for them, mend their clothes for them and take care of them because

she belonged to them. Finally the warriors agreed to let her go. The journey took a long time and

then finally they got there. The woman did everything she said she would do. At a certain time,

all the warriors were killed after they fought a long time. The woman, she cried. She shed tears

for them. She didn't have any purpose for being where she was so she started to go home. She

was taking her time, thinking about her loss. While she was taking the long journey back home,

Coyote met her and told her there was a prayer meeting going on and described it. He understood

her loss and wanted to help her, so he said to go over to the prayer meeting, to observe and to

listen. There was a tipi set up by a hill. As soon as she got there a man was waiting for her. He

said we have something to teach you, to take home to your people. When she went in and sat

down, she looked around and saw that her twelve warriors were in there (the tipi). All night, she

looked, she learned. To give her respect, the men asked her to bring in the water in the morning

and pray. When the peyote meeting was over her twelve warriors turned into Peyote buttons. She

was instructed to pick them up, to take them home and teach her people what she had witnessed

that night. That's the story my mother told me.

Text #14 Etic Title: Sister Searching For Lost Brother (I) Tribe: Delaware Narrator: Elk Hair Source: Petrullo (1934: 38-40) A long time ago a group of Indians went hunting, taking with them a young boy. Wanting

to prove that he too was a man, the boy left his companions to hunt alone. After a successful day

the hunting party went back to the camping ground, but the boy failed to return. At that time there

were many wild beasts in our land, and the people worried about the child. They searched for him

many days, but did not find him. At last his sister, his only relative, decided to search for the boy

herself. She decided to look for him in the west.

She wandered about for many days without discovering any trace of her brother, and

finally all hope left her. Grieving, she said to herself: "He is gone. Now I don't care where I go. I

don't care what becomes of me."

One morning she began the search early. She was weak from lack of food and water.

Coming to a lake, she lay down and prayed to God, saying, "I don't care what becomes of me

now, but I hope that God will let me see my brother once more before I die."

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She stretched herself out to die, her head to the east, her feet pointing to the west, her

stretched-out arms pointing to the south and north, saying to herself, "I don't care to live any

more. Since I can't find my brother, I will die."

All at once she began to reach down several inches in the mud and water with her fingers

and felt something cool. At the same time she saw a man standing before her who said to her:

"Here, what is the use of worrying? Look at me! Your people are safe. I am taking care of them.

Your brother is safe. He is still living. If you want to see your brother, look to the west."

She did so, and saw her brother a very long distance away. At the same time something

cool touched her hand again. The man disappeared. She looked at what she had in her hand which

spoke to her, saying: "It is I, Peyote. Now you can drink this water. You have had nothing to

drink or eat for a long time. Drink this water and you will feel well. Now, eat what you have in

your left hand. Sit down and think about yourself. Think about being happy in this world. Don't

worry about your brother. He is safe."

She ate what was in her left hand and she saw her brother again. He said to her, "I am

safe. Don't worry about me." He then disappeared. Then Peyote spoke to her again, instructing

her how the plant in her left hand was to be used.

"When you get back to your people, show them what you have in your left hand. It is my

power put here by God. Use it the way I teach you. Use it to keep well and to keep from worrying

in this world. Either drink it or eat it."

The girl went back to the village and told her people.

That is how the Indians discovered Peyote.

Text #15 Etic Title: Sister Searching For Lost Brother (II) Tribe: Delaware Source: Petrullo (1934: 40-41) There lived a Comanche man, his wife, and two children, a boy and a girl. They were

living in a desert region. One time the boy took his weapon and went away to hunt. When he had

been gone for two days with no sign of his return, his father became anxious and set out to find

him. He returned to the camp and gave up his son for lost. They were living in a country where

there was little food and were on the point of starvation. Then the girl was grieved over the loss of

her brother, and without further preparations she set out by herself to find him. There were no

signs to follow but she started forth, saying to herself that she would either find her lost brother or

give her life in the attempt. She resolved that when she started out she would not turn back. Then

51

for two nights she wandered without food or water, all the time becoming weaker and having to

stop more frequently to rest in the shade of the bushes. After the second day she grew so weak

that she could only move a short distance. She had found no traces of her brother. At last while

resting beneath a bush she realized that she could go no farther, and she thought she was about to

die of hunger and thirst. Then she heard a voice from the air telling her to look around behind her,

that something was there which would feed and strengthen her and quench her thirst. She did not

understand what it meant. But the voice spoke to her again and told her to look around. It was

Peyote who spoke to her but she could see no one. Then she obeyed and beheld near her a

growing Peyote plant. It was the first she had ever seen and she knew that it was what the voice

meant. It looked so fresh and full of moisture. Then she took it, chewed it up and swallowed it.

Immediately her strength returned and her mind became clear and she no longer felt the need of

food or water. Then the voice of Peyote spoke to her again and told her who he was. It also told

her to return to camp, as there was no need of going on because her brother was safe home again.

She obeyed and reached camp without suffering any more. There she found her brother safely

returned and she told them what had happened to her, and of the Peyote plant and of Peyote who

had spoken to her and saved her life. That is how the Comanche came to know of the power of

Peyote.

Text #16 Etic Title: Sister Looking For Two Lost Brothers Tribe: Kiowa Source: Beck & Walters (1977: 239-40) According to the story, two young men had gone upon a war expedition to the far south.

They did not return at the expected time, and after long waiting their sister, according to the

Indian custom, retired alone to the hills to bewail their death. Worn out with grief and weeping, as

night came on, she was unable to get back to the camp, and laid down where she was. In her

dreams, the peyote spirit came to her and said, "You wait for your brothers, they still live. In the

morning, look, and where your head now rests, you will find that which will restore them to you."

The spirit gave her further instruction and was gone. With daylight, she arose, and on looking

where she had slept found peyote, which she dug up and took back with her to camp. Here she

summoned the priests of the tribe, to whom she told her vision and delivered the instructions

which she had received from the spirit. Under her direction the sacred tipi was set up with its

crescent mound, the old men entered and said the prayers and sang the songs and ate the peyote—

which seems to have been miraculously multiplied—until daylight, when they saw in their visions

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a picture of the two young warriors, wandering on foot and hungry in the far off passes of the

Sierra Madre. A strong party was organized to penetrate the enemies country, and after many

days the young men were found and restored to their people. Since then, the Peyote is eaten by

the Indians with song and prayer that they may see visions and know inspiration, and the young

girl who first gave it is venerated as the "Peyote woman." Text #17 Etic Title: Woman Fleeing From Enemy Camp Tribe: Crow Narrator: "S" — Female Crow Indian Elder Source: Benjamin Perez/Taped Conversation (2000) Oh, the first story was that this one lady was captured from a different tribe and she ran

away from that tribe. She snuck away from the camp and she kept running. They were chasing

her. They found out she left the camp so they were chasing her. And she was so tired out, she fell

among the bushes, and then there was somebody talking to her who said, "If you take this

medicine, this will help you to get to your people." And they told her to pray. And when she did,

then she started leaving, and then she went to her camp. Just before she got to her camp, they said

that this medicine was telling her—it must have been Almighty or someone to tell her to use this,

how to use it. And they told her what to do with it and how to run the meeting. And the songs and

everything was given to her.

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APPENDIX II: CONVERSATIONS WITH FIVE CROW INDIAN N.A.C. MEMBERS (ca. 2000)

These interviews are the outcome of two weekends that I was fortunate enough to

spend in conversation with citizens of the Crow Indian Nation. Far from the safety of any

university library, these two weekends opened both my mind and my heart to the Peyote

Way. For the most part, these interviews are excerpts taken verbatim from tape-recorded

conversations I had with five Crow Indian individuals. Following Eillis' advice (1987), I

strove to keep "editing" to a minimum. Also, adhering to the University of California's

protocol for the protection of research subjects, my consultants will remain anonymous.

From Conversation with "J" Female Crow Indian Former NAC Member A: I'm 50 years old. I'm a Crow Indian, and I've lived here virtually all my adult life and

function within the traditional roles of a Crow Indian woman. And I spent probably eight years as

an active member of the Native American Church. It was a function of the marriage that I was in

at that time. The family that I married into was very active in the church. So I, along with my two

children, my husband, was very involved in meetings, just about weekly, for eight years. Some-

times twice a week but throughout the whole season here at Crow, in Canada and also in

Cheyenne. That would be kind of the scope of where I've been in meetings and over what period

of time.

Within the church, I found that it was very accepting of women. I found that there was

almost—virtually in every meeting I was ever in, there were at least one or two other women. I

don't know that I was ever in a meeting where I was the only woman in the meeting. A majority

of the meetings that I took part in, I would stay all night. I wouldn't just go in in the evening as

they introduced or in the morning to bring the water. I would be in it all night.

In that whole period of time, I brought in water many, many times. I have no idea how

many times. Many times. Occasionally, I offered the prayer for the meal. I cooked huge numbers

of feasts. I became very proficient at providing all of the resources that were needed to carry on a

meeting on the food side of it. Of course, I didn't manage the other things. So anyway, that kind

of gives you a sketch of my involvement in these number of years.

54

Actually, there's more to this too. When I was a young girl, our family, through my older

uncle, was involved in and around peyote meetings, and I'd actually go in as a child, except that

as a teenager—maybe I was 12—my aunt and uncle gave the meeting where I was the focus of it.

It was essentially a meeting in my behest. That is, I was a kid that fell down a lot. I had a run of

misfortune for about five or six months, and my aunt and uncle were really upset about that. So

they had a meeting for me, and my fortune turned on a dime right then and there. And that was

very, very fortuitous in my whole life, probably.

Q: For the Water Woman, is it understood that that scene is paying respect to Peyote

Woman, the woman who brought peyote originally?

A: I always understood that it was a connection to bringing life, and Peyote Woman is

always mentioned within the meeting. But as a Water Woman, I'm not sure. I studied it a lot. I

knew that's where it came from. You always hear what you hear within a meeting. I never thought

of myself as symbolizing Peyote Woman myself. I thought that I just was the messenger and the

bringer of water, and water is the bringer of life. It brings life. So I never really thought I was

replacing or symbolizing Peyote Woman.

At the time when I was doing this, I was a new mother. My children were really young,

and the whole idea of motherhood and the woman bearing the life was really brilliant in my

thinking. And so that probably was the most predominant thing in kind of the bringer-of-life idea

to me. And if you go into a meeting, after you've been there for 10 or 12 hours, you're so thirsty.

You know what it means to take a drink of water when you haven't had one for a long time. Well,

obviously, you have water at midnight, but there have been meetings where you don't get out

until noon. So you can wait a long time for a drink of water. So anyway, that's some of my

thinking along those lines.

Q: I've talked to other people, and they've said that during some of the meetings, they hear a

woman singing.

A: There's always a woman singing.

Q: I mean a woman that—sometimes there's only men in meeting, and if there are women,

the women aren't singing.

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A: That's true. There's always a woman singing. As a woman, I always felt really akin to

singing because you could hear that other woman singing, and maybe that's Peyote Woman. I

don't know. But I always heard a woman singing, even when I knew the woman hadn't sung. No

exceptions. And it's a phenomenon you hear. You know it. You hear it. That's all there is to it.

That's true. In my experience, it's true.

Q: Other women and men have told me the same thing. I've never heard of that before.

A: I heard a lot of things in the meetings that I could never explain, so I never tried to. I

heard a lot of whispering. I heard a lot of voices that I knew weren't really physically in there. But

I always heard a woman sing. No exceptions. The phenomenon is discussed by the members. We

knew about it. We talked about it. "Did you hear the woman singing?" And you could hear it.

Q: Do you remember the first time someone told you the story of Peyote Woman?

A: Actually, I'm pretty certain it was within the confines of peyote meeting. Because I never

studied it or asked questions about the church before I went into a meeting, other than studying it

from when you go to help them go into a meeting or serving the feast at a meeting. Before I

actually went into a meeting, in which I took it on faith, basically, I guess.

When I went into a meeting, they would talk about in there, the chief would talk about. A

lot of times, when they would begin the meeting, they'd talk about it, or at the midnight time

when they have a smoke, they would talk about it. So it was all within there. I didn't hear about it

other than that.

So I would say that what I know about Peyote Woman is Peyote Woman brings the

church back. I can remember hearing something about her involvement with medicine and so on

and so forth, but I'm sure that if you were to say, "Okay, ["J"], tell me that story," I probably

wouldn't be able to tell you that. But insofar as its significance, I always really thought that it

made a place far more important for a woman or for a partnership in worship than a lot of the

male-based religions that you might find in other cultures or even in the native culture, because

woman is so specifically integral to the whole worship. And you could never be thought of as

being out of place because significantly, women have that extraordinary place.

Q: Is the Water Woman usually a mother or a grandmother? Or are there single woman that

have never had children that can be a Water Woman?

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A: It would appear to me that it's almost always a mother, or a grandmother, a great-

grandmother. I guess it's just who people choose, but I don't think I've ever seen—I suppose there

could be single woman if she was respected, certainly, but I'm not sure I've ever seen someone

that would be like that.

The bringing of life is so completely coupled with motherhood, that probably that's why.

But it's people's choice. But I've never seen, like, a young daughter do it. I wouldn't think they'd

delegate something like that to a girl who would be especially that young. I think it probably is

associated with motherhood.

Q: That's what it seems to me. One person told me that when they hear the voice, they think

it's Peyote Woman singing. Then I asked where they thought Peyote Woman was, and they

thought she was in the drum. And I thought that in the drum, there's the water in the drum.

There's this real mother/water connection, symbolism, in the church. It seems really powerful.

A: Yeah. The connection between water and woman is inseparable, really. They actually

could be thought of as one and the same, probably. So it's very easy. I actually have made that

association, and it's been pointed out in meetings about the water in the drum. So that could easily

be. I don't know. I'm not sure I've actually thought of the voice of the woman coming from the

drum.

Q: Is there anything you think I should know about females in the church? I'm not sure

which questions to even ask. I know there's this void in scholarship on female native voices.

A: I think that there is a fellowship among the women that has its own body of knowledge

and so on that the men probably wouldn't know, and that has to do with all the preparations—the

things you do in the kitchen, the way you take care of the children all night.

By the way, one time I took care of 11 babies on a bed all night during a peyote meeting.

I had my own baby, and I decided I wouldn't go to the meeting because I wasn't sure my baby

could survive without me all night. So I inherited all these babies. I got pretty good at—we kind

of traded off at taking care of scads of babies because all the mamas wanted to go in and we just

kind of had this round robin where okay, this meeting so-and-so would watch all the babies and at

this meeting, so-and-so would watch all the babies. And if you've ever watched 11 babies under

three all night—actually, you don't get much sleep. Cooking all night, praying all night, even

57

though you're not in the meeting. You talk about that with the ladies. You talk about the purpose

of the meeting.

Q: Wow, 11 babies.

A: That was a lot. It was a big, king-size bed, and we just had pillows and blankets all over

it. I was just mentioning that to my daughter.

I went to a meeting in northern Alberta where there was no mention of Jesus Christ or the

Heavenly Father. They're not Christian there at all, and it was very interesting. It was very

different, in some regards; in others it was the same, absolutely the same. I guess, when you're

looking for sacred words, there were some of those things that were missing. They referred to

coyote.

Q: Did you use peyote when you had your children? I've talked to people, and they tell me

that it eases the pain in childbirth.

A: Yeah, I did. I used peyote when I had my boy. I hadn't thought about that in a long time,

but I did. I didn't exactly have the easiest birth, but I had a natural birth and it was fine.

And I brought my children into the meeting. I never left them out. When I could, I

actually just brought my children in, and as water woman, I had my one baby in a cradleboard,

and I had my toddler, and all three of us brought the water in. It was an extra-ordinary feat.

Also, I'd bring water in when it was 40 below, and that's a chopping experience, I'll tell

you. Well of course, the fireman would be willing to help, but sometimes you have to find the

bucket, you have to figure out how to get it unfrozen because at Rocky Boy—actually, one time

when I took the water it was 45 below. I had my boy in a cradleboard—he's now 20—and my

daughter was all bundled up in the most gigantic snowsuit you ever saw. And they wanted me to

dress traditionally, which I always would. I never did bring in the water in my street clothes. And

that was another reason why everybody wanted me to be a Water Girl up there and Water Woman

is because I would dress traditionally. And I was honored to do that. But if you got me, you got

my two kids because I couldn't bum them off on anybody. And they were good. They were fine.

So anyway, they had an experience very early on. They went everywhere with me. So I

never left them behind. If you get me, you got my whole bunch.

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From Conversation with "M" Male Crow Indian Active NAC Member (Road Man) NOTE: "M's" interview was a very poor recording. Where I could determine the gist of what he was saying, I have paraphrased it. These excerpts are not from a verbatim transcript. Also, his account of the origin of the Peyote Way is different from most of the others that I have found in print or heard in conversation3. Q: There are three things I'm focusing on. Last time I spoke to you, we talked about the story

of Peyote Woman, the role of the Water Woman, and I think you mentioned that some-times you

hear a woman singing. Those are the three things I want to talk about right now. You can talk

about anything you want, but I just wanted to double check on those and make sure that I don't

misunderstand you.

A: I mentioned at that time that the story is has many versions. The story my father told me

was that the Creator, in a dream, told these boys to find a certain plant, a crescent shape, and the

boys went looking for that plant. They found that plant and brought it back, and in the dream

again they were told that the Creator would show them how to use it and what it was for. So in

the dream they were told how to use the peyote for the ceremony. Back then it was probably a

different ceremony than today.

During the night, the boys dreamt. In the morning, the mother saw her boys putting on

the ceremony and felt good about it, saw them doing something to help themselves. She saw that

they were making her proud. She told the boys she wanted to help them. "I give you my love and

respect and I want to help you by bringing water in the morning." She told the boys the plant was

sacred, and everything the Creator makes on this earth is sacred. Everything has a spirit—plant,

animal, even the skies, the stars, the trees. And the water.

So she told the boys that she will bring in this sacred water, because the water is our life,

it's our mainstream. Water gives life as the Creator gives life. So the mother brings the water in.

The woman bringing in the water in the peyote ceremony is a sacred moment, whether it be a

mother or grandmother. She prays for her children, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

When a grandmother or mother prays, sometimes she sheds tears. Those tears are sacred, because

that's her moment, that's her time. When she cries, it's one of the most respected moments

3 Although most versions of the origin of the Peyote Way involve a female establishing the religion, there are a few accounts in print that involve a male. See Opler (1945: 211-212), Parsons (1936: 63-64), Petrullo (1934: 37-38), Radin (1971: 350-352), Ruby (1962: 30), Waters (1942: 83-85), and Underhill (1965: 266).

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because before she sits, she's in line directly to that medicine, the peyote, and the line is where the

line of the water, the fire, which is also the light of life. And from there the sacred plant. And

within that time is a sacred moment.

When the grandmother or mother sheds the tears, when those tears come down, those

tears falling on the ground, the Creator sees that. And through those tears, the prayer we say is

that her prayers, whatever she asks for or whatever she wants or her wishes are, are in those tears.

When the tears hit the ground, we say those prayers are here on this land now. Through her

prayers and what she asks for is that her children and grandchildren some day will continue this

way, this peyote ceremony or continue the way of prayer, prayer in the morning, daytime,

evening and nighttime, and also the peyote ceremony will continue.

As for this sacred land, she says this land is where she was born and raised. She says,

"This is my mother's land, my father's land, and this is where we are." She says, "I'm an old

person," or "I am an adult now on this land, and I have family here—husband, children,

grandchildren—and they too would continue this way," that continuation of tears and water, that

water of life cures sickness, that water will clear it out.

Sometimes before the woman brings this water in, there's a time in that ceremony right

after midnight towards morning when everybody's in their right mind, praying. The peyote

ceremony, there's a reason for it.

During that time between midnight and towards morning, sometimes everybody sings

sacred songs and feels happy. If everything goes right and everybody's in their right mind for the

purpose of the meeting, everybody sings and harmonizes, and pretty soon the peyote, the

medicine is working in there too, and sometimes they hear this woman's voice singing along,

harmonizing with the music. Sometimes even in the sound of the drum. Sometimes everybody

hears it and sometimes only one or two can hear it.

…I point to their grandmother or their mother that's sitting there and I say they're one of

the luckiest persons in the world. They're one of the luckiest people this morning. Their mother or

grandmother brought that water in for them. That's the most important thing in the world. She

comes first. Through her love, that's her way of showing her love to them and that she cares for

them. I tell them don't forget it. Remember this morning. I ask can they feel it. She sat in here

with us all night and this morning. This is one of the most sacred moments. Their mother and

grandmother brought that water in for them. They heard her pray. She shed her tears for them.

So the woman's role at the peyote ceremony is important, highly respected. They pray for

my kids.

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I've been fortunate to have been in a lot of ceremonials and see families working

together, sponsoring. Just before the sun comes up is a good feeling. I was asked to name this one

girl. She was about eight years old, nine years old. I was asked to name her and I named her at

sunrise. I've been very fortunate to share some thoughts. I named that girl at the time for the

morning. Today she's married. Her husband is working for a consulting firm. They live in

Colorado, Wyoming. They have two children. They're doing great. But I always pray when they

ask me to pray for something. I don't ask for very much. It is always for health and prosperity. I

need to continue this way in prayers.

From Conversation with "S" (and her husband, "H") Female Crow Indian Elder Active NAC Member Q: I was wondering about the story of the woman who first brought peyote.

S: Oh, the first story was that this one lady was captured from a different tribe and she ran

away from that tribe. She snuck away from the camp and she kept running. They were chasing

her. They found out she left the camp so they were chasing her. And she was so tired out, she fell

among the bushes, and then there was somebody talking to her who said, "If you take this

medicine, this will help you to get to your people." And they told her to pray. And when she did,

then she started leaving, and then she went to her camp. Just before she got to her camp, they

said that this medicine was telling her—it must have been Almighty or someone to tell her to use

this, how to use it. And they told her what to do with it and how to run the meeting. And the

songs and everything was given to her.

Then they told her how to use that medicine for the sick and for blessing of the families'

houses and stuff like that…They told this lady how to use that medicine, to use it the right way

and sing these four songs to open, and then eventually he said that this medicine was telling them

that it would give them the music to sing and that they'd sing it without knowing that it was a

song for that. The peyote songs were given, handed down from the medicine to what comes out.

And them generations, then it came on down and she said that she was a woman, that

she'd rather have a man run the meeting. So she learned how—what's that first tribe they formed?

Comanche? Or is—

H: Apache.

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S: Apache. They were the ones that learned how to use the medicine first on the whole

continent. And then it was hand-given to the other reservations to learn how to use the medicine.

Well, it all came down to how to use this medicine, was that in the morning they'd bring

the men. When this woman found that she'd done everything—she even prayed to the morning

star that came out—is when you bring in the water. And she had another lady—it must have been

one of her friends—to bring in the water—or her cousin, sister, whatever. Then that's what they

called the water woman, because of the morning star, when it comes up, it brings light. The sun

goes down. They call it grandfather. The Indians call it grandfather. And as it goes down to rest

and as it comes back, this morning star comes up first. That's life given. Maybe a baby was born

at that time. And that's how it was translated to me by my mother. I learned from her.

That's how they brought the Water Woman. They call it the Water Woman because a

mother brings the baby into the world, and a mother is the water woman because of having a new

life on earth. And they really respect this way.

Q: Did your mom ever say that the Water Woman was honoring the Peyote Woman? Or that

there was some kind of connection between the two?

S/H: [Conversation in Crow]

S: This woman that found this peyote, she said, "I'll be there at times when it's powerful."

So this woman that found that peyote is the one that was singing in the peyote meeting. They hear

her voice. But other than that, that's the only thing I know, other than the woman that brings in

the water. When you sing that water song, you could hear some-body else, a woman, singing.

That woman that had given the medicine to the—that first brought the medicine into the Indian,

she's the one that's singing. It must be her. I guess she said that when she had hand-given it down

to the men. So that's who they were hearing.

From Conversation with "T" (and his adult nephew) Male Crow Indian Elder (Road Man) Active NAC Member T: Indian people acknowledge that there was an Almighty being, just like the Jewish

religion. But this Almighty, the one who makes everything, one of the things he did was put

peyote on earth for Indian people to use in their religious normal lives. So there's a lot of

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assumptions and there's a lot of thinking about Indian people, Crows in particular, that this is

something put on earth for us to use.

Q: Peyote is medicine. I've talked to people who say that when women give birth, they often

give them peyote.

T: I do that sometimes. I get requests from some church members towards the end of their

pregnancy. They're about ready to give birth and they request peyote to help them along. I've

done that several times. They believe on it, and it works. They got good results 100 percent of the

time.

…Some doctors tell the woman ahead of time that it's going to be a difficult birth and

there might be a possibility of a C-section, and the woman kind of gets scared. So that's one of the

reasons they come forward. Not only spiritually but medically it helps them. My mother said it's

a way of life that God gave us. They gave the Catholics their Virgin Mary and the third spirit, the

Holy Spirit. God gave us peyote so we've got to use it to live right.

Q: People tell me that during the meetings, when they're singing, that there's a female voice

sometimes.

T: Yes. It happened to me. I used to be a not very good singer, but one time there was no

woman in there and I started singing. I was drumming for somebody, and it got really powerful in

there. I almost ate about a hundred that time, and I started singing. It was good music. And there

was no woman in there. And everybody was starting to sing with us. It's just like a big powwow.

And right in there, that woman was singing with us, and we didn't even think about it because we

thought maybe—women usually do that in there, and we thought, "Thank God for the woman in

here. They're singing along with us, making good music." When we stopped singing, we

remembered there was no woman in there.

So two years later, some couple came up to me and said, "We want to throw our baby

away to you." That's sort of a culture thing the Crows do. A newborn child is not doing well

physically, they throw them away and somebody adopts it and gives it back to the natural parents.

So when they did that, I named that little girl Peyote Singing Woman for that one incident that

happened to me.

But the medicine, the way we used that peyote, was found by a woman. North of the Rio

Grande, the way that religion is used is quite different from the one that's used in the South. The

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one in the South predates Christianity by 4,000 years, according to archeologists that were

digging around the in the caves around Mexico City. Some of those pottery contained peyote,

2,000 or 3,000 years old. But the way they used it is more of a dancing religion type of thing. The

Northern part of the religion was founded by a woman, and she gave the instructions to these

brothers and uncles and members of the tribe to use it the way that she saw in a dream. So we

usually give the woman a segment of our ceremony early in the morning, when she brings the

water in to pray for that water and for all the people in there and the purpose of that meeting. We

allow her that opportunity to tell us the story again and teach us what to do in the ceremonies.

When the medicine is really powerful, some people hear that. I didn't hear it myself

alone. All the others in there, when I was singing, said, "Thank God for the woman in here for

raising this good music." When we stopped singing, we remembered there was no woman in

there. So it is the founder of the northern tribe ceremonies, a woman. That's what the United

States Indians use across the Rio Grande.

Q: The voice you hear, is that the voice of the woman who founded the religion?

T: That's what we attribute it to. So that's how we attribute the founding of this religion by a

woman, given to her brothers and uncles. And the original people, according to Indian people

themselves, not archeologists or anthropologists, according to this one Kiowa, his name is

Charlie. People who wore sandals, those were the people that founded that religion first. They

started using that around Corpus Christi, they got the Lipan Apache tribe. There's about 20

different tribes. Lipan was living around the Rio Grande. The Carrizo Indians gave it to the

Lipan Apache, and since they're closely related, they use it with the Mescalero tribes.

But at that time, the Indians of Oklahoma were raiding Mexican rancheros down in

Mexico, and they integrated with all those tribes down there. The Kiowa people in 1840 were

using peyote with some of the tribes there, and this Kiowa Charlie said, "We didn't use it with the

Lipan. We didn't use it with Mescalero. We used it with the Carrizos, the people that wore

sandals." He brought the religion back. But at the same time, the Comanche were using it with the

Lipan, and the Kiowa Apaches were using with Lipan. Some of the Kiowa people, instead of

going to the other one, they went to Mescalero. So today when you ask a Comanche or a Kiowa

Apache which one of you started to use that Peyote Way, they don't know themselves. This

Kiowa Charlie said the first one is really Kiowa because they went to that Corpus Christi area and

used it.

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The original religion was founded by a woman. That's why there so much reverence for

woman in there. Even though it was founded by a woman, some of those earlier ones didn't allow

women in there. And for that reason, they said that one particular tribe—I think it's that same

Carrizo—they lost that religion immediately, they said, to the Lipan Apache because they

wouldn't let the founder in there. Lipan said we don't allow women in there. Mescalero allowed

them to bring in water. "Hey," the said, "maybe the Lipan and Carrizos didn't use women. That's

why they lost it." So Mescalero used women in there.

…And that's the reason why Kiowa claims that those first two tribes lost that religion was

because they didn't allow women in there. The Lipan Apaches, there was only two of them left by

1900. The Carrizos were wiped out by the Spaniards and some other tribes. Mescaleros, even

though it's a powerful medicine, today when you go to Mescalero Apache, not one of them uses

this medicine. They're still strong, but they found out they didn't use it right. So they gave what

they had to the Kiowas.

N: The woman that was said to have found the peyote was actually making a run away to get

back to her home. Along the way, she had not eaten for quite sometime. She lost all the liquid in

her body and all her strength. She just became weak. Her mind was probably going off too. Every

muscle just parched. And what was told was "Right close to your hand, partake of it and regain

your strength, your ability to"—it restored all that was lost in her body. …About as close as I can

describe that is all the way down to where even her own will was gone and she swallowed. And it

was known, and around that particular area, I do not know if it's the area, but they say that it's—

there's a place called Peyote, Texas. And so in that term, when she partook of it, she regained all

her strength.

From Conversation with "M-L" Female Crow Indian Active NAC Member Q: I was concerned about the story of the woman who brought peyote to the people. Do you

think that story is off limits to outsiders?

A: No, I think general information is fine, that sort of stuff. The true native, the people that

practice their ways, they're always willing to share for better understanding, but like I said, some

people turn things around and some people take that information and sell it and stuff, and that's

not what I—I think, if anything, they need to know the truth.

65

…Each tribe, and maybe within the tribes, they have different stories of how it came, but

it's basically the same. But they always try to tell you—some of the old people that go in,

sometimes they ask them to talk when we're drinking water and stuff and you try to go back over

about how things came about, especially when there's a lot of young people in there, to let them

know and understand and where it came from and how things work.

Q: Most of the people I've spoken to, they tell me that in the meetings, when they're singing,

sometimes they hear a woman singing. Have you ever heard of that?

A: There is.

Q: Some of them thought it was that woman who brought the peyote, and some of them

didn't even really think about—it was just something that always happened.

A: Yeah. When a meeting's good, you can hear that woman. Sometimes you can hear her in

the drum.

Q: Inside the drum?

A: Um-hm. There's this one man in Shoshone country. When he runs a meeting, that's when

I always notice that. Some people have different gifts that were given to them through that way,

and then if they respect that way and have done good with it, they give them gifts. So this man,

when he runs a meeting, I notice that I can hear that woman in the drum that sings with all the

singers. But sometimes you can hear her outside. You really actually can't tell where she's at. But

you'll hear her when a meeting is really powerful. She's there.

Q: Have you been the Water Woman?

A: Yeah. I've been in the meetings since, gosh, ever since I can remember. I was adopted by

an older couple, my great-aunt and her husband, and they've used that way for a long time. So I

basically grew up in that teepee, and they took me in ever since I was maybe a couple weeks old.

So they just took me in every time they'd go. So I basically grew up in there. We used to go to the

Cheyenne a lot.

66

The first time I brought water in was when I was—I think I was just starting first grade

and was going to school. They had a meeting for me, and at that time I said the Lord's Prayer, and

that was it. And then the next one was when I finished eighth grade. I had a lot of meetings before

that, you know, for me. I was kind of spoiled. I had all these older people—I was given to the

Cheyenne tribe. My mom and dad had—through the peyote way, you make relatives, brothers

and sisters, and so they were adopted to their family. And then our Crow traditions, when a kid is

sickly and gets sick a lot, they give him away to another family, usually somebody within the

family or clan aunts or clan uncles. Anyway, I was given to the Cheyenne and they were always

having meetings for me.

I have a friend there. He used to make fun of me. He says, "Every time she sneezed,

they'd have a meeting for her." We had birthday meetings. So I've been in quite a bit. When you

finish eighth grade and you graduate high school or in between times when there's sickness or if

you want something for—we look out for each other. You always want to have a meeting for

somebody like your brother or your sister if they're not having good luck of it, if they're having

problems with their health and stuff.

And then usually around here, they ask the person who is sponsoring that meeting, the

woman usually brings the water in. But if you request—like, sometimes a person running the

meeting, his mate will go ahead, or his sister, that sort of stuff. And I've been going quite a bit to

the Shoshones and the Arapahos, and they always have what they call a water woman

specifically, and I brought water for them over there too a couple times.

Q: Do you think they have the Water Woman to honor that first woman, or do you think

it's—

A: Well, it's a woman. A woman is very important because they're the giver of life, and also

water is a giver of life. So all through the meetings, the woman and the prayers of that woman

bringing in the water is very important, very sacred. That's the moment that everybody waits for.

They work up to that point. I don't know if you've heard this before, but right before the sun

rises, when it's a little bit dark but the light's trying to—they say that's when the Creator is closest

to the earth, and if you kind of notice, sometimes what's when people die or kids are born, is in

the dawn. And they say that's when the Creator comes and he's closest to the earth. And he listens

to that woman, and that's when the most powerful part of that meeting is.

Everybody I've ever heard of that goes in the meeting, they'll always stress that, saying

this is the most important part of this meeting. And you're supposed to show a lot of respect at

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that time for that woman, no matter who it is that brings that water in. So yeah, it's a very

important role, I think, and it's an honor to be asked to sit in that position.

Q: A lot of women that I've talked to who have children, they take peyote when they're about

to give birth or if there are complications.

A: There are quite a few that do that. It's to help them out. Usually, a relative will help them

out in that way when they're having problems. It seems that it really helps. You have to believe

too. A big part of that is your faith in that medicine. I call it medicine because that's really what it

is to me.

Q: Do you have any personal opinions about the story of the Water Woman or her role, or

just about how women are in the church generally?

A: Well, there's quite a few women that go in. Sometimes the man and wife go in together,

but then there's just some of us—I'm not married, and there's quite a few women who just go

because they enjoy it. They enjoy the fellowship and the singing, and they really honestly believe

it helps them with everything, especially health.

I know with my mother, she kept going till the very end. She was very sick. She had

diabetes really bad. And my grandmother did too. She always had meetings for her kids and

grandkids. There's a lot of women that go in. For a while there, there wasn't many women going

there, but I always try to encourage my relatives to take—when you go in, take your kids in,

because that's how they learn. And so sometimes when my nieces and nephews have meetings,

they take all the kids in and they just sleep in there. And the women take all their grandkids. So

it's good.

The Water Woman—like I said in our tribe, there's really kind of no restrictions on who

can be Water Woman. I know some other places do. …So when they had meetings for me, I

always had to bring in water and pray for myself and pray for everybody, and then whatever I

want, I had to express it myself. That way, you can always come back and say, "Well, this is what

I asked for and this is what I have to do." Because they always say that medicine, everything that

you ask for is right there and it's already done once it's already spoken with tobacco.

So that's what they always stress to us, and that woman that brings in water, she tries to

express in her way what the purpose of that meeting is for. Like, if it's for a grandchild's birthday,

they sit there and they ask for more birthdays and for health and that sort of stuff. And that way I

68

think we did our part. If it's going to happen, it will, and I've seen a lot of miracles, I guess you

would say, that happen in there. You make wishes in there—I 'm going to do this—and then you

do your part and it happens.

Q: Is the Water Woman usually a mother or a grandmother?

A: Not really. Like I said, young women go in there. Like I said, I don't have any kids of my

own, but I have all kinds of nieces and nephews. It's your clan where you have daughters and son.

So I guess you could say that everybody's a mother through that way.

…when they pass that water around at midnight and in the morning, they give older

people permission to talk, to tell you things, to tell stories or whatever they want to talk about, but

it has to be related to what they're doing. Sometimes they'll tell them, "We have young people

here. I want you to tell them a little bit about this way," in respect and that sort of stuff, and that's

how you learn too. And they never get mad at your or anything. They just share with you and it's

up to you to use that information.

Q: I'm just trying to get a feel for everything. I'm trying to be as less academic as I can,

because I think a lot of times there are certain questions that are asked and I think what's

important is to see what people think as opposed to answering my questions. The only question I

think I'd really ask is, is there anything that you think a non-peyotist should know, a typical

misunderstanding, especially by non-Indians but even some Indians?

A: …You feel that power. It makes you become one with the earth, because that was what I

understood to be one of the original intentions of using this. When the Creator took pity on that

woman, he said, "Take this plant and eat it and you become one with the earth," and that's what

we do. Because we respect the earth, and in there, that's where they pray for the earth.

Q: The story of that woman who brought the peyote, is that story only told in the meetings,

or have you heard this story told outside the meetings?

A: No. I've heard it outside. They have them in classes now. At first I was kind of leery, but

at least if there's a certain truth to it, if it's—like I said, each tribe has their own story, but it's

basically the same. I can't remember which one of the tribes said that this woman had lost her

sons. But then another tribe said it was her brother. But it all works out the same.

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