422 THE WINNEBAGO TRIBE [eth. ann. 37 



tested, on the groirnd that a man of X.'s character could not properly 

 perform the rites associated with that position. Rave, however, 

 retorted that the efficacy of the peyote, of any position connected 

 with its cult, was in no way connected with the character of the per- 

 former, and that it was inherent in the peyote and in the Peyote 

 ritual. Thereupon, after much parleying to and fro, Hensley form- 

 ally seceded, taking with him a number of followers. The bulk of 

 the peyote eaters, however, remained with Rave, and within a com- 

 paratively short time a number of Hensley's followers returned to 

 Rave, so that in 191 1 Hensley had merely a handful of people. Since 

 then he has ceased to be a force, although his innovations have been 

 retained by a number of the younger Peyote members, especially by 

 those who read English. 



In 1911 there was no unification of the ideas of Rave and Hensley. 

 Since then, strange to say, although Hensley's attempt to set up his 

 OMTi religion failed utterly, his ideas and Christain iimovations seemed 

 to have triumphed completelj'. This, however, has gone hand in 

 hand with a marked dropping off of enthusiasm. It appears now as 

 if the Peyote cult has rim its course. Some of the members have 

 recently returned to the old pagan customs, others have practically 

 become Christians, and many have become indifferent. 



Unquestionably the most interesting of recent innovations is that 

 introduced by Jesse Clay, the account of which has been given be- 

 fore. This is, of com-se, the Arapaho manner of conducting the cere- 

 mony. At the present time it has none of the characteristics of the 

 Winnebago ceremonial. Whether in the next few years it wUl develop 

 any depends upon the interest manifested in it by the Peyote worship- 

 ers and upon the vitality of the Peyote movement in general. 



It is extremely suggestive to compare what Rave introduced with 

 the ceremony borrowed by Clay. The former introduced an isolated 

 element, the peyote and its worship, and clothed it almost imme- 

 diately in characteristic Winnebago forms. It can truly be said 

 that although the peyote is an alien element, from the Winnebago 

 viewpoint, everything else in the ceremony is and was from the 

 beginning typically Winnebago. Clay's method of conducting the 

 Peyote ceremonies, on the other hand, is entirely alien. For it ever 

 to become popular with the large mass of Winnebago it will have to 

 become thoroughly assimilated with the Winnebago background. 



Dissemination of the Doctrine 



Let us now see how the ideas of Rave and Hensley were trans- 

 mitted in the tribe itself, who the first and the later converts were, 

 in what the nature of their conversion consisted, and what they, 

 in turn, brought to the new cult. 



