Native American Church (Peyote tradition)
Federally recognised Native American Church (incorporated 1918) practising sacramental peyote use. American Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978, amended 1994) protects peyote use.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — federally recognised Native American Church practising sacramental peyote; mainstream voluntary religious tradition.
Profile facts
In context
The Native American Church combines Indigenous Plains traditions with sacramental peyote use. American Indian Religious Freedom Act amendments (1994) protect peyote use for tribally enrolled members. Mainstream voluntary tradition.
Recovery resources
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) — LSE-founded UK research-based information service covering new religious movements.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
Evidence by BITE axis
- mainstream voluntary religious tradition
Timeline
- 1918Native American Church incorporated in Oklahoma
- 1994AIRFA amendments protect peyote use
Evidence matrix
Structured sources cross-linked to the claims they document. Tiered per the source hierarchy. For free-text citations see the Sources section below.
Sources
- Omer Stewart academic work search ↗
- The Native American Church, Peyote, and Health: Expanding Consciousness for Healing Purposes — Contemporary Justice Review (2007) — https://doi.org/10.1080%2F10282580701677477 open ↗
- Native American Church: The Half-Moon Way — https://www.jstor.org/stable/1409324 open ↗
- Native American Church: The Half-Moon Way — Wicazo Sa Review (1991) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1409324 open ↗
- Texas Peyote Culture — Cactus and Succulent Journal (2018) — https://doi.org/10.2985%2F015.090.0104 open ↗
- Psychedelics, the Law and Politics - UC Berkeley BCSP — https://psychedelics.berkeley.edu/law/ open ↗
- What is the Native American Church and why is peyote sacred to members? — https://apnews.com/article/native-americans-peyote-spirituality-religion-762bb0d2957e9e501c0c167b23752ce1 open ↗
- Recreational drugs and its impact on music literature and art — https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13102818.2008.10817530 open ↗
- Recreational Drugs and its Impact on Music Literature and Art — Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment (2008) — https://doi.org/10.1080%2F13102818.2008.10817530 open ↗
- The Cactus and the Anthropologist: The Evolution of Cultural Expertise on the Entheogenic Use of Peyote in the United States — https://doi.org/10.3390%2Flaws8020012 open ↗
- Christ and the Cactus: A Study of Peyotism among the Canadian Sioux — http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/jms089/Z-Unpublished%20Work/Shields-Christ%20%26%20Cactus.pdf open ↗
- Native American Church — https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/405965/Native-American-Church open ↗
- World Religions & Spirituality - Native American Church — http://www.wrs.vcu.edu/profiles/NativeAmericanChurch.htm open ↗
- University of Virginia Library — http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/nachurch.htm open ↗
- Native American Church — http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.rel.036 open ↗
- The Native American Church, Peyote, and Health: Expanding Consciousness for Healing Purposes — http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10282580701677477 open ↗
- The Native American Church, Peyote, and Health: Expanding Consciousness for Healing Purposes — Contemporary Justice Review (2007) — https://dx.doi.org/10.1080%2F10282580701677477 open ↗
- Native American Church. — https://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.rel.036.html open ↗
- Stichwort: Native American Church — http://www.britannica.com/topic/Native-American-Church open ↗
- PMID 14761703 — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14761703?dopt=Abstract open ↗
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: _InfoFacts: Hallucinogens – LSD, Peyote, Psilocybin, and PCP. — http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/hallucinogens.html open ↗
- http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/jms089/Z-Unpublished%20Work/Shields-Christ%20&%20Cactus.pdf — http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/jms089/Z-Unpublished%20Work/Shields-Christ%20&%20Cactus.pdf open ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Mainstream-comparator lighter.
- 2026-05-20Source-density flags derived from existing free-text sources[]: academic sources. Heuristic auto-flag; subsequent editorial pass will populate structuredSources[] with reliability tiers.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
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