Vision quests
In which an individual seeks spiritual power are common to many Indian tribes
The peyote plant is often used by the Sioux and Cheyenne
In the rituals associated with such quests
The sweat lodge, a solitary vigil or a flesh offering
The plant is often considered to be a human spirit
It is a sacrament in the Native American Church
The church was founded by a Comanche chief in the last century

Henry Crow Dog
The father of the man who told this story
Was among those who introduced the peyote religion to the Sioux in the 1920s

This Is How Grandfather Peyote Came To The Indian People

Long ago before the white man
There was a tribe living far south of the Sioux in a land of deserts and mesas
These people were suffering from a sickness and many died of it

One old woman had a dream
That she would find a herb, a root, which would save her people
The woman was old and frail but taking her little granddaughter
She went on a vision quest to learn how to find this sacred herb
They walked away from the camp until they were lost

They arrived at the top of a lonely hill
The grandmother made a brush shelter for herself and the young one
Without water or food they were weak
As night fell they huddled together not knowing what to do

Suddenly they felt the wingbeats of a huge bird
It was an eagle flying from the east toward the west
 The old woman raised her arms and prayed to the eagle for wisdom and power
Toward morning
They saw the figure of a man floating in the air about four steps above their heads

The old woman heard a voice
"You want water and food and do not know where to find it
I have a medicine for you
It will help you"

This man's arm was pointing to a spot on the ground
It was about four steps from where the old woman was sitting
She looked and saw a peyote plant
A large Grandfather Peyote Plant with sixteen segments
She did not know what it was
But she took her bone knife and cut the green part off
And there was moisture
The peyote juice
The water of life
The old woman and her granddaughter drank it and were refreshed

The sun went down again and the second night came
The old woman prayed to the spirit

"I am sacrificing myself for the people
Have pity on me
Help me!"

And the figure of the man appeared again
He was hovering above her as before
She heard a voice saying

"You are lost now
But you will find your people again and you will save them
When the sun rises two more times
You will find them"

The grandmother ate some more of the sacred medicine
She also gave some to the girl
And a power entered them through the herb
Bringing them knowledge and understanding and a sacred vision

Experiencing this new power
The old woman and her granddaughter stayed awake all night
Yet in the morning when the sun rose and shone upon the hide bag with the peyote
The old one felt strong

She said

"Granddaughter pray with this new herb
It has no mouth but it is telling me many things"

During the third night the spirit came again
And taught the old woman
How to show her people the proper way to use the medicine

In the morning she got up
Her thoughts were

"This one plant won't be enough to save my people
Could it have been the only herb in this world?
How can I find more?"

Then she heard many small voices calling

"Over here!
Come over here!
I am the one to pick!"
These were peyote plants guiding her to their hiding places
The peyote plants were hidden among the thorn bushes and chaparral
The old woman and the girl picked the herbs and filled the hide bag with them

At nightfall once more they saw the spirit man
He was silhouetted against the setting sun
He pointed out the way to their camp so that they could return quickly
Though they had taken no food or water for four days and nights
The sacred medicine had kept them strong hearted and strong minded

When they arrived home
Their relatives were happy to have them back
But everybody was still sick and many were dying

The old woman told the people

"I have brought you a new sacred medicine which will help you"
She showed the men how to use this pejuta
This holy herb

The spirit had taught her the ceremony
The medicine had given her the knowledge through the mind power which dwells within it

Under her direction the men put up a tipi and made a fire
At that time there was no leader
No roadman to guide them
The people had to learn how to perform the ceremony step by step
They had to learn from the ground up

Everybody
Men and women
Old and young ate four buttons of the new medicine

A boy baby was breast nursing
The peyote power got into him through his mother's milk
He was sucking his hand and he began to shake it like a gourd rattle

A man sitting next to the tipi entrance got into the power
He caught a song just by looking at the baby's arm

A medicine man took a rattle of rawhide and began to shake it
The small stones inside the rattle were the voice of Grandfater Peyote
Everybody understood what it was saying

Another man grabbed a drum and beat it
He kept time with the song and the voice inside the rattle
The drumming was good but it did not yet have the right sound
Because in that first ceremony there was no water in the drum

One woman felt the spirit telling her to look for a cottonwood tree
After the sun rose
All the people followed her as Grandfather Peyote guided her toward the west

They saw a rabbit jumping out of a hole inside a dried up tree
They knew that this was the sacred cottonwood
They cut down the tree
They hollowed out the trunk like a drum where the rabbit hole had been
At the woman's bidding they filled it with fresh spring water-the water of life

On the way back to camp a man felt the power
It told him to pick up five smooth, round pebbles
It told him to cover the drum with a piece of tanned moose hide
He used the pebbles to make knobs around the rim of the drum
By doing this he could tie the hide to it with a rawhide thong
And when he beat the drum it sounded good
It was as if a spirit had gotten hold of it

When night came
The people made a fire inside the tipi and took the medicine again
Guided by peyote power the old woman looked into the flames
She saw a heart
It looked like the heart shaped leaf of the cottonwood tree
Thus she knew that the Great Spirit who is also in Grandfather Peyote
He wanted to give his heart to the red men of this continent

She told the man tending the fire to form the flowing embers into the shape of a heart
The people all saw the heart
They beat in rhythm with the drum

A little later one helper who was under the spirit power
Saw that the hide rope formed a star at the bottom of the drum
He shaped the glowing coals of the fire into a star and then into a moon
Because the power of the star and the spirit of the moon had come into the tipi

One man sitting opposite the door had a vision
He was told to ask for water
The old woman brought fresh, cool water in a skin bag
They all drank and in this way came under the power

Feeling the spirit of the water
The man who was in charge of the fire shaped the embers into the outline of a water bird
From then on the water bird became the chief symbol of the holy medicine

Around the fire this man made a half moon out of earth
All along the top of it he drew a groove with his finger
Thus he formed a road
The road of life
He said that anybody with the gift of wacankiyapi should sit right there
Wacankiyapi meant having love and heart for the people
From that day on the man who is running a meeting was called the "Roadman"

In this way the people made the first peyote altar
After they had drank the water
They thanked the peyote

Looking at the fire in the shape of the sacred water bird
They prayed to the four directions
Someone sprinkled green cedar on the fire
The fragrant
Sweet smelling smoke was the breath of Grandfater Peyote
He was the spirit of all green and growing things

Now The People Had Everything That They Needed
The Sacred Herb
The Drum
The Gourd
The Fire
The Water
And The Cedar

From That Moment On They Learned To Know Themselves
Their Sick Were Cured
They Thanked The Old Woman And Her Grandchild
For Having Brought This Blessing To Them
They Were The Comanche Nation
And From Them
The Worship Of The Sacred Herb Spread To All The Tribes Throughout The Land

Told By Leonard Crow Dog
At Winner Rosebud Indian Reservation
South Dakota--1970