From: http://www.sltrib.com/07232000/nation_w/6056.htm At the state crime lab in Taylorsville, 3,500 peyote buttons rest inside a metal vault. Nick Stark, a medicine man in the Oklevueha Earth Walks chapter of the Native American Church in Benjamin, owned the buttons before police confiscated them July 8. Claiming he is entitled to use and share the hallucinogenic plant as an American Indian spiritual leader, he wants them returned. Weber County police and prosecutors, investigating Stark for possible drug distribution charges, say they would destroy the peyote if a court rules Stark had them illegally. However, leaders of the A Shii-Be-To chapter of the Native American Church (NAC), based in Salt Lake City, dismiss Stark as an imposter and decry the idea of destroying the peyote, which is eaten and used to brew a tea during religious ceremonies. They want the buttons. "We do not want anything to happen to the peyote," said President Johnny Blackhorse. "It is so sacred, so precious to us. We call it 'Mother Peyote' because that is how we feel about it. If somebody damages it, it would be like somebody hurting your mother." Blackhorse contends the 10 pounds of peyote should be given to "a real church. . . . It should never be given back to [Stark]." For thousands of years, American Indians have considered peyote -- a hallucinogenic cactus that grows in the limestone soils of the Chihuahuan desert in southern Texas and northern Mexico -- integral to traditional religious ceremonies. Such ceremonial usage is protected. Under federal law, use of peyote during "bona fide" ceremonies in "traditional" American Indian religions is lawful. But the tug-of-war over Stark's buttons highlights the difficulty law enforcement faces in interpreting just whose religion is sufficiently "traditional" or "real" to enjoy protection from prosecution for using peyote during worship. Ronald Garet, a professor of law and religion at the University of Southern California, says such an analysis raises serious questions about potential violations of Americans' freedom of religion. "If originality or purity is the test" of a religion's validity, Garet said, "then many religions will fail." Asking a judge to determine the correctness of a church's religious practices would probably be unconstitutional, he added. "Once a court is asked to adjudicate . . . it's put into a position where it might run afoul of the First Amendment," Garet said. Federal Drug Enforcement Administration regulations state only that peyote use is legal in ceremonies conducted by Native American Church members. "The federal law is fairly clear it is restricted to the members of the Native American Church, but the gray area has been: Who is the NAC and how do you become a member?" said Don Mendrala, DEA spokesman in Salt Lake City. "The law clearly doesn't cover that." Squabbling Chapters: The rift between Blackhorse's church in Salt Lake City and Stark's church in Benjamin, which is led by president James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney, was sparked by debate over traditional American Indian religious practices. The A Shii-Be-To chapter is part of the Native American Church of North America. Blackhorse, who is DinZ, or Navajo, estimates his church has 60 members, many of whom come from American Indian reservations to find temporary work and are seeking a place to worship while in Salt Lake City. Two years ago, Mooney was a vice president in the A Shii-Be-To church. But he resigned after its leaders protested that his newly formed Oklevueha Earth Walks church had abused tradition and flouted national bylaws of the NAC of North America by including non-Indians in peyote ceremonies, and by charging admittance. "We do not say that [non-Indians] could not benefit from the medicine [peyote]," Blackhorse said. "Anybody can benefit spiritually from it, but we have to stay within the law. The law forbids it." Almost all of the more than 90 churches that claim to be Native American churches in the U.S. are comprised of members with American Indian ancestry, said Jerry Patchen, a Houston-based attorney regarded as an expert on peyote laws. "I'd say over 95 percent of the members are Native American," Patchen said. And accepting money in any form for peyote ceremonies is "never, never, never" done by authentic Native American Church chapters, Patchen said. "That is absolutely outrageous and violates sacred principles of the Native American Church," he said. "I cannot imagine a bona fide Native American Church charging anyone for anything." Mooney's view of who can participate in peyote ceremonies is dramatically less exclusive. Mooney, who traces his ancestry to a Seminole tribe in Florida, has said his 4-year-old church has about 3,000 members, the majority of whom are white. Although he declined comment for this story, he explained his beliefs under oath in February 1999. Mooney is suing Utah Department of Corrections officials over his 1997 termination from its facility at Gunnison, where he was a rehabilitation specialist and created its sweat lodge as part of a drug treatment program. "From a constitutional aspect, you cannot . . . dictate spirituality by race, and that's what I follow, is the Constitution of our country," he said. His tribal chief in Florida instructed him to share peyote with anyone who seeks it, Mooney said. Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Falk asked, "So, if I were to ask you for peyote right now, do you feel you'd have to give it to me?" Mooney answered: "I have to. It's a mandate. I cannot refuse anybody." Stark, who says his ancestry is Iroquois, has a similar view. "They just got off the street, out of prison -- we don't care," Stark said. "We're here to serve; we're here to help anybody." Mooney and Stark have denied charging their church members, saying that requests for donations of $200 or more for peyote ceremonies are optional. Mooney said he has disciplined Stark, but declined to elaborate on how Stark had violated his church's practices or reveal the consequences. Stark's ceremonies, held in a rainbow-colored tepee in his Ogden Canyon back yard, outraged A Shii-Be-To leaders, who question his authority as a medicine man in Mooney's church and his ancestry. Arnold Thomas, a Shoshone NAC member who serves as a spiritual advisor to American Indians at the Utah State Prison, said, "If you start having non-Indians conduct the sacred ceremonies, there is a lot that can be lost." He added: "You cannot just wake up one day and decide you are a medicine man. The ceremony cannot be held by just anybody. It would be like somebody who one day just decided he was an LDS bishop and started running a Mormon church. Think of the outcry then." Ancient Traditions: To Blackhorse, who works in Salt Lake City as a welder, Stark's ceremonies demonstrate insolence toward ancient traditions. "Our service always takes place in a white tepee, and we never invite multicolored people," Blackhorse said. "[Stark's ceremony] abused our sacred religion and our medicine." Blackhorse worries that opening peyote ceremonies to everyone will dilute the power of the medicine, and erode American Indians' right to maintain their own traditions. "Our elders are afraid that if the white people start using the medicine they will suddenly know what is what," he said. "They will make new laws." Peyote grows in the United States only in Texas, where Mooney's church is on a Department of Public Safety (DPS) registry of Native American churches, considered the legal gatherers of the plant. Harvesters travel to the Holy Peyote Gardens around Rio Grande City, Texas, year-round, where the plant is growing scarcer as development encroaches on its habitat. Before harvesters arrive, they must obtain permission from the Texas DPS. "If [peyote] is in the ground, it is just a plant. But as soon as it is harvested it becomes a controlled substance," said Jody Patterson, controlled substances registration supervisor for the Texas DPS. "If you are an Indian you have the right to possess, use and transport it, but to buy it you have to show registration documents." Mooney met the requirements for the harvesting and purchasing permit: his Native American church is incorporated; he belongs to the Seminole tribe and is at least one-quarter American Indian. While Mooney points to the registry as proof of his church's legal ability to use and distribute peyote, Patchen, the peyote expert, said Texas officials have no way to verify whether a church is truly a Native American church. "There is no official registry of Native American churches," Patchen said. The Utah Attorney General's Office says the debate over "bona fide" Native American churches is irrelevant, contending Utah's peyote law makes no distinction. State law considers the plant a drug equivalent to heroin or LSD, with a high potential for abuse, no acceptable medicinal uses and -- in conflict with federal law -- no exceptions for American Indian religious ceremonies. State attorneys assert the federal peyote exemption only supersedes state law when the peyote use occurs on federal property, such as an American Indian reservation, said Tracey Tabet, deputy chief of staff for Utah Attorney General Jan Graham. Otherwise, Tabet said, state law prevails -- leaving the door open to charge Stark, no matter how authentic his Native American church or American Indian ancestry. Police began investigating Stark after a woman at a July 8 ceremony said she had been forced to eat peyote and held against her will. Garet argues the state's jurisdictional scenario is incorrect. Under the U.S. Constitution, federal law always trumps state law unless the federal law can be proven unconstitutional, he said. "Congress has the ultimate authority to determine the special legal status of American Indians," Garet said. On Friday, Weber County Attorney Mark R. De Caria said his office is still awaiting results of tests to confirm the buttons taken from Stark are peyote, and is investigating laws on use of the plant. De Caria said: "My office is working to determine if prosecution will result from the investigation. . . . If prosecution goes forth, my belief is there will be significant arguments made over the freedom of religion issue." ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day. ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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