400 THE WINNEBAGO TRIBE [eth. ann. 37 



it used it for a purpose different from what it was intended.^ They 

 used it for war and for horse stealing. They, however, continued 

 to eat the peyote, but they really ate too much of it. After a while 

 the leader began thinking that the medicine might harm them, so 

 he told them to hide it. The man did not know that even at that 

 time a big war party was coming upon them. This tribe was almost 

 destroyed. 



They lost the peyote. One day, however, it was taught to a Co- 

 manche. He ate it and prayed to Earthmaker. Then it was taught 

 to the Che^yenne and to the Arapaho and to the Caddo. The Tonkawa, 

 the Apache, and the Mescallero Apache were the ones who had lost 

 the medicine. When these other tribes began to eat this medicine 

 they heard about it and they remembered that they also had long 

 ago eaten it. 



There was an old man in Oklahoma who knew the mescal country 

 very well and he went down to old Mexico and stayed there for a 

 year. When he returned he taught it to the Oto and the Oto taught 

 it to us. 



It is a true religion. The pej'ote is fulfilling the work of God and 

 the Son of God. When the Son of God came to the earth he was 

 poor, yet people spoke of him; he was abused. It is the same now 

 with the peyote. The plant itself is not much of a gi-owth, yet the 

 people are talking about it a good deal; they are abusing it, they are 

 trying to stop its use. Wlien the Son of God came to earth the 

 preachers of that time were called Pharisees and Scribes. They 

 doubted what the Son of God said and claimed that he was an ordi- 

 nary man. So it is to-day with the Christian Church; they are the 

 Pharisees and Scribes, they are the doubters. They say that this 

 is merely a plant, that it is the work of the devil. They are trying 

 to stop its use' and they are calling it an intoxicant, but this is a 

 lie. If they will but come and see this ceremony they will realize 

 this. 



J. B.'s Peyote Experiences 



When my father and mother asked me to come to the Missouri 

 River (Nebraska) I knew they had eaten peyote and I did not like it. 

 I had been told that these peyote eaters were doing wrong, and there- 

 fore I disliked them; I had heard that they were doing everything that 

 was wicked. For these reasons we did not like them. About this 

 time they sent me money for my ticket, and since my brothers and 

 sisters told me to go, I went. Just as I was about to start my young- 

 est sister, the one to whom we always listened most attentively, said 

 to me, "Older brother, do not you indulge in this medicine eating 

 (peyote) of which so much is said." I promised. Then I started out. 



' This is clearly Hensley's interpretation. 



