1 Christ and the Cactus: A Study of Peyotism among the Canadian Sioux1

This paper explores the religious phenomenon of peyotism as it originated and developed among the Sioux people of Western Canada. Peyotism is a relatively recent “new religious movement ” whose study raises important questions about religious syncretism and colonization. This study examines in some detail Canadian Sioux peyotism in terms of its history, its relation to Christianity at a doctrinal and institutional level, and its variations (with especial regard to the past and present American peyotism). Specific attention is given to the status and character of the Native American Church of Canada, an association of institutional peyotism that came to Canada from the United States in 1954. Presently, peyotism is in danger of disappearance among the Canadian Sioux; the reasons for this decline, and the prospects for a future of peyotism, will also be addressed. Finally, the study concludes with some examination of whether peyotism can be classified under the term “new religious movement, ” and what such a classification implies. Peyotism is a relatively new religious phenomenon with origins in a peyote cult among Native Mexican peoples. Peyote is a small desert cactus (Lophophora Williamsii) that contains several powerful alkaloids, one of which is mescalin, a hallucinogenic substance with powerful visionary properties