"The use of peyote has generated controversy among the white community for decades. But in Native America, particularly among the Yankton Sioux, it has been a constant source of deep religious conviction and contentment for the past 100 years.

In the past few months serious new medical studies have indicated that when used within the spiritual context of native traditions, peyote has no discernable negative health effects. In fact, the studies have confirmed that the "Peyote Road" can improve the well-being of the tribes and the individuals within them, helping many Native Americans escape the grip of that lethal white man's drug, demon alcohol.

A superb, lasting piece of intellectual and historic groundwork has been laid for that conclusion by Dr. Thomas Maroukis, a professor at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Maroukis has been a long-time friend and associate of the family of Sam Necklace, the chief priest of the Yankton Sioux peyote faith. Working and living with Necklace and his family and tribe, Maroukis has compiled an academically solid but eminently readable work on this important family and the culture it has anchored."

Get the Story:
Peyote visions (The Free Press 12/7)

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