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"I said to myself that for me to continue doing what I'm doing, I need to understand this drug," he said. "I needed to have an understanding with my family that I was doing the right thing. I wanted to understand its effects on health."

So Johnson went to visit an Indian he'd known his entire life named Leslie Full Bull. For a few months, Johnson lived on a reservation in South Dakota and got to see for himself the long-term impact of peyote. He came away believing that the plant was a positive thing for the community.

"I'm really involved with the Native American Church," he says. "I'm so involved with it that I believe that I'm one of the smartest people in the world about peyote. I've been to Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota...Name a state, name a tribe of Indians that use peyote, I've been there."

The real test, though, was a firsthand experience of peyote in a Native American ceremony—a meeting.

"I got so involved in these meetings that the only way for me to understand what this peyote does is to take it."

According to Jody Patterson, supervisor of controlled substances registration with the Texas Department of Public Safety, peyoteros have to follow the same rules regarding peyote as everyone else. If they aren't one-quarter Indian and a member of the Native American Church, it's illegal no matter if it was taken as part of a religious ceremony.

Johnson, who says he's "probably" part Indian—"most Mexicans are"—has been taking peyote for "many, many years" and sees the legal niceties somewhat differently. He says he takes peyote only after it has been blessed by a high priest. He expects that the Indians he sells to will do the same.

"I can only hope that you're using it the right way," Johnson says. "Now, if I know you're using it the wrong way, I can report you and you'll be arrested."

Martin Terry is a Harvard-trained botanist at Sul Ross State University in Alpine who may be the world's leading authority on peyote. He runs a small nonprofit called the Cactus Conservation Institute, which is dedicated to saving peyote from extinction.

"I've become increasingly passionate about the conservation of cacti in the past 10 years," he wrote in a recent e-mail. "I've personally witnessed species becoming scarce in places where I had previously found them to be abundant."

Terry is afraid that the natural habitat for peyote in South Texas is being ruined by ranchers and poachers. "The problem is defined by access to land," he says. "The peyoteros are Hispanic. They work through family connections. More and more of the land is being bought up by Anglo owners who don't derive any benefit from the peyoteros. They don't give a damn about the peyoteros."

For the first time in history, Terry says, there's active patrolling of ranch grounds. Ranchers have cut back brush to allow trucks to ride along their fence lines. Ranchers want to protect against peyoteros getting in and deer getting out.

The ranchers' hands-off policy represents a dilemma for Terry. On one hand, protection against peyoteros will conserve the cactus. On the other, it prevents Indians from getting access to their sacred plant.

"From the point of view of the plant, the only threat is overharvesting," he says. "The fences and personnel that protect ranch lands from would-be harvesters are the very opposite of a threat, as the protected populations of peyote inside those fences are the only healthy ones in South Texas." 

Still, Terry is sensitive to the peyoteros and their way of life. He considers Mauro Morales a personal friend. He wants to make sure that Indians have access to their cactus, but that's getting harder and harder.

"Everyone I talk to, they say peyote is getting more expensive," Terry says. "The buttons are getting smaller. It's now about 30 to 35 cents a button. Ten years ago it was a third of that."

As a botanist, Terry thinks he's found a solution—buying up land to protect the plant. But the price of land has skyrocketed.

"The only obstacle is the cost of buying a minimum of 2,000 acres of South Texas real estate," he says. "That means we're talking about something on the order of $2 million. For a relatively new 501(c)3 like the Cactus Conservation Institute, that's a fund-raising project of enormous magnitude." 

It's also a challenge raising money to save a plant that the federal government considers a dangerous, addictive drug. But the biggest obstacle for conservation might be the Indians themselves. Many Indians are opposed to cultivating peyote in greenhouses. Their opposition stems from a mystical belief in the cactus as divinely planted.

Alden Naranjo, a Ute who's been traveling to the peyote gardens from Colorado since the 1960s, isn't too worked up about the disappearance of his sacrament.

"Peyote predates Christianity by thousands of years," he says. "Native Americans have their spirituality based in this sacrament. It came north to us from Mexico. I don't think it will disappear. We've used it for thousands of years, and it's still here."

Naranjo, like Salvador Johnson, doesn't want to see peyote grown in greenhouses. He would rather see it imported from Mexico, where 90 percent of the continent's supply grows. For Native Americans like Naranjo, the current crisis in the peyote supply is just the latest story in a history of injustices.

"It's just the white man's greed," he says. "The white man wants more land, and that discourages peyoteros. It's getting harder for us, with stricter trespass laws."

It wasn't always like that in Texas, he says. "A lot of that land was open. Before the oil speculators, land was cheap. Then the white man with his European concept of ownership came in. There's just too many white men."

Write Your Comment show comments (6)

  1. I would like to express my support for the ranchers to continue to fence their land and destroy the peyote plant. The main threat to true native American culture is this evil thing. The only people that should be eating peyote are the people that live by it and can access it in the locality. For all other tribes, access, use and possession of peyote should be permanently banned. Not all tribes embrace peyote and as an Ojibwe Indian, it is forbidden in our tribe. Anyone that says otherwise is a liar. The Crees of Montana are ardent followers of the Native American Church. They are not legally descendants of a federally recognized tribe, so therefore, their use of this product is ILLEGAL!!! Any peyotero that is caught supplying these people can face prosecution. Please ranchers, help save the authentic cultures of Native America and destroy the peyote plant when you see it, deny access to peyoteros, its your Constitutional right of liberty and privacy over your property and eradicate this menace from American society. I am a traditional, drug free Native American. PLEASE STOP THE PEYOTE DRUG TRADE TO NORTHERN TRIBES, THIS IS NOT OUR ORIGINAL CULTURE.

    Comment by M GOPHER — February 14, 2008 @ 11:25PM

  2. I disagree "Ojibway", I am of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma & believe that peyote should continue to be used. It's been here for thounsands of years, & yes not all tribes used it so why don't you leave it alone & let the rest of the nations take part in it. You don't speak for all the Natives!

    Comment by Emarthle — February 15, 2008 @ 10:34AM

  3. TO Ojibewa, How can you claim to be a tradtional Native American, when you advocate for and approve of the eradication of peyote? One the beliefs, I as a proud Chippewa-Cree,Sioux-Assinoboine woman was taught, was to protect and respect the Mother Earth. That the Creator placed us on this earth to care and protect her, which also include all the plants and animals. For you to support and advocate that Peyote be eradicated is Wrong. I fully support your right to your beliefs. However, you DO NOT have the right to force your beliefs on myself or others. Whether or not you choose to believe that Peyote is a medicine and a blessing, is your choice and right. I, however, also have the same right and choice to believe otherwise. I have seen the blessing of Peyote. I have seen the wonderful blessings that come from using this medicine. Another thing, for you to "claim" that the Cree's from Montana are not members of a federally fecognized tribe. YOU ARE WRONG! before you try and tell people how they should believe, find out what being a traditional native means.
    To the ranchers. For you to fence and distroy Peyote is also wrong. I hope and pray, that you will never have anyone, bar you from your path, to the creator. That you will, never be persecuted, for you beliefs.
    How sad that we as a country will send our Men and Woman to die, in other countries,so that they can have the rights and freedoms that we supposedly do. That we will go to war so they get the right to choose however they want. when we won't stand up or speak out and protect the rights of the Native Americans who believe in using Peyote as a medicine. I thought that one of the founding principles of this country was the right to choose and believe the way you want and not be barred or persecuted for those beliefs. Wasn't that the reason given for the extrimination of millions of Native American people? How can we teach our young childern that each and every day? Yet, not protect members or followers of the Native American Church right to worship and believe in using Peyote?
    I hope and pray that the creator will open your eyes and your hearts, so that you would see the blessings he gives us in the plants he created for us to use. That the Creator will allow you to see that even though we may follow diffent paths to reach him. None of those ways are wrong, if we all end up in the same place in the end, its just we chose to take a different road, and he loves us regardless.
    Thank you for allowing me to express my thought and views on this matter, I hope it gives you a glimpse into seeing why protecting Peyote and the rights of others to believe the way they choose is important.

    Comment by Cheyenne — February 17, 2008 @ 03:53AM

  4. As the great French explorer and writer said after his trips to the United States in the 1830s with respect to the American Indian: Two cultures collided, the inferior culture lost. Enough with this stupid romanticization of the natural state of the American Indian. Worshipping nature a la Darwin is asinine. Nature is cruel, it kills the young, weak, and infirm. We as human beings stand outside nature in a sense. It is a huge farce that the Indians were "at one" with the environment. They were a tough and formidable foe, we respect them for that, but they lost. Let's quit playing the "noble savage" victim game and while we're at it, ditch La Raza and their delusions as well.

    Comment by Doug White Eye — February 18, 2008 @ 06:58AM

  5. As the great French explorer and writer De Tocqueville said after his trips to the United States in the 1830s with respect to the American Indian: Two cultures collided, the inferior culture lost. Enough with this stupid romanticization of the natural state of the American Indian. Peyote will make you crazy. Worshipping nature is hip now, but asinine. Nature is cruel, it kills the young, weak, and infirm, civilized human beings do not. We as human beings stand outside nature in a sense. It is a huge farce that the Indians were "at one" with the environment. They were a tough and formidable foe, and we respect them for that, but they lost. Let's quit playing the "noble savage" victim game and while we're at it, ditch La Raza and their delusions as well.

    Comment by Doug White Eye — February 18, 2008 @ 07:00AM

  6. In response to White Eyes: Being a life time traditionalist, I reject Christianity as superior to my culture. Christianity is what brought the scourge of peyote---as you can ask any peyote user, they believe in Jesus, just like you. Your racism is evident in your assumption that the inferior culture lost....Bear in mind the Vatican and organized Christian institutions have been and continue to be supported by military institutions and this has been the church-state modus operandi for centuries--it is the foundation of manifest destiny and the pillage and plunder of indigenous societies, wealth and culture. Native people are not vanquished people BUT FOR a constitutional government that barred African Americans the right to vote for almost 100 years after its founding, for women even longer, and citizenship to native people until 1924. One can hardly call that a true democracy. The doors to democracy were only opened after the plunder had been had.

    As for the Peyote followers: The Native American Church should be held to liability as to the long term effects of peyote. What scientific evidence exists that this is a safe drug to use? I only agree with White Eyes in that peyote will destroy a person's mental health. I have seen this happen first hand, it is as destructive and even more pervasively harmful to native people than the introduction of alcohol. Peyote is not aboriginal to most if not all northern tribes and its use should be banned.

    Comment by M Gopher — March 4, 2008 @ 06:36AM

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