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20 NARF Legal Rev. 1 (1995)

handle is hein.journals/narf20 and id is 1 raw text is: uative Ameican Rights Fund Volume 20, No. 1 ,/I,% LEGAL N .LVILW Winter/Spring 1995 CONGRESS OVERTURNS SUPREME COURT'S PEYOTE RULING by Robert M. Peregoy, Walter R. Echo-Hawk and James Botsford* I. INTRODUCTION On October 6, 1994, Presi- dent Clinton signed historic legislation guaranteeing American Indians the right to use the sacra- ment of peyote in traditional religious ceremonies.1 This landmark religious freedom legislation, Public Law 103-344, culminated over a century of persecution and prosecution of members of the Native American Church (NAC). Equally impor- tant, it ended a crisis in Indian country created by the Supreme Court in 1990 when it ruled in Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith2 that the First Amendment does not protect the religious use of peyote by Indians. The new law precludes the federal and state governments from prohibiting the use, possession or transportation of peyote by Indians for traditional religious purposes. It also prohib- its discrimination based on such use, including the denial of other- wise applicable benefits under public assistance programs.3 The legal history of the Native American Church offers lessons in both the highest, most noble aspects of American law and social policy, as well as, the lowest, most deplorable examples of American religious intolerance. On one hand, peyotism has been outlawed, banned, and suppressed during shameful, dark periods in our nation's history-most re- cently in the period 1990-1994. On the other hand, peyotism has been protected by some of the most outstanding and moving court decisions rendered in Ameri- can jurisprudence. The sacramen- tal use of peyote by Native Ameri- can Church members has been both outlawed and protected by State laws as well. The subject of a myriad of government laws and agencies, this ancient, traditional religion is ironically the most highly regulated religion in America. In 1990, when constitu- Continued on page 6 IN~S SEOYO REUBEN A. SNAKE, JR. The Native American Rights Fund is proud to dedicate this issue of the NARF Legal Review to the late Reuben A. Snake, Jr. of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Reuben was a re- nowned Indian leader of national and international prominence. Among his many distinctions, Reuben was a lifelong member of the Native American Church (NAC), which uses the peyote sacrament. He served for many years as a highly respected roadman, or spiritual leader, Continued on page 2 NARFVLEGAL N R REVIEW

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