essay
Peyote religion among the Navajo
Handbook of North American Indians. Southwest • 10 • Published In 1983 • Pages: 558-569
By: Aberle, David Friend.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article focuses on the growth of the Native American Church among the Navajo. Three fundamental issues are addressed: the spread of Peyotism from other tribes through the Navajo population, possible reasons for its success, and its role as a source of conflict within Navajo society and with state governments and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The author concludes that Peyotism was a response to political and economic subjugation exacerbated by government efforts in the 1930s to reduce sheep herds. Further, despite its previous importance as a divisive element in Navajo society, the Native American Church has grown to function as a cohesive force for community integration and cultural conservatism.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Organized ceremonial
- Congregations
- Religious denominations
- Acculturation and culture contact
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Navajo
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2004
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southwest and Basin
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Richard A. Wagner ; John Beierle ; 1985
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1880-1974
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- southwestern United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- David F. Aberle
- For bibliographical references see 197: Brugge (p. 780-839)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 77017162
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Navajo Indians