Note 11 — THE ETHNOLOGY OF PEYOTISM

In the Plains the “father peyote” is often carried as a fetish. Kroeber (Arapaho, 406) cites a typical case: “The pouches used to contain the peyote plant have room for only one of the disks, which is usually carried more or less as a personal amulet, in addition to being the center of worship during ceremonies. A circular area of bead-work covering the front of the pouch itself, is said to represent the appearance of a peyote-plant while being worshipped. In the center a cross of red beads represents the morning star. Around the edge of this circular bead-work are eight small triangular figures, which denote the vomitings deposited by the ring of worshippers around the inside of the tent in the course of the night. The yellow fringe around the pouch represents the sun’s rays.”

War Eagle, Delaware (Speck, Delaware Peyote Symbolism) told of a man gassed in the World War whom peyote cured after his case had been pronounced hopeless. Quanah Parker, the famous Comanche chief, used to carry a peyote on his chest as protection in battle. A Ponca story tells of J. W. and his wife returning home as a cyclone was coming up; when they finally arrived the house was destroyed, but in an undisturbed drawer they found four articles still intact: a “peyote chief,” a bag of peyotes, a Bible, and a peyote drumstick.