What follows is my personal research, analysis and summary of the use of peyote by the Native American Church in general, and how this applies to Jerry Dills' Native American Church, specifically. This will be a rather long, extensive, thorough, and cerebral post.[EDIT/UPDATE:] The purpose of this extensive post is to document the legitimacy of true Native American Churches, and to dismantle any argument that Jerry Dills may have at operating a legitimate church. I believe those reading this post will come to similar conclusion as I have based on the information presented.
First I will re-cap some comments by previous posters to this forum, and will address their comments as I unfold this review and analysis here.
Jerry Dills goes by several names, including Macaki Peshewa, and another name Neishte. They are all the same person. Dills administers peyote ceremonies in his home in Strawberry Plains, TN without a valid DEA permit. He claims affiliation with the United Remnant Band of Shawnee based in Ohio, where a priest there ("Chief Hawk Pope") did have a peyote permit. Dills does not have a permit and uses this borrowed permit to have peyote delivered to his home. He has, for several decades, administered peyote to young college students (including myself) who he taps into to become "Indian" enough to work for him for free. However, he has no standing to do this, hiding behind his "priesthood" and "Indian" in general and wowing starry-eyed wannabes with peyote trips using a borrowed permit.
As Jerry Pope [AKA "Chief Hawk Pope"] does not have a raptor feather permit, it is hard to imagine that he has a legitimate peyote permit.
Hmmm, I did not know peyote permits could be "lent".
look to the left in photo 3 fire circle and a lodge circle and further left a medicine wheel
looks like he made a bonified sacred sight
What I have not seen is the supposed NAC charter number - no official charter and it is not an official NAC chapter. As far as giving the medicine to children, well it is up to them if they eat the medicine and frequently children are given a little medicine if they want it, at least that has been my experience as a baptised member of the NAC, charter 3132 from SD
In this post I will attempt to analyze the legitimate use of peyote by NAC and how these permits are obtained. In conducting this research I find that there are gaping holes in the available literature.
With regard to E.P. Grondine's comments above, I cannot find any requirement that an eagle feather permit be held in order to obtain a peyote permit. In conducting my research, my main question is, “What, then,
are the requirements to obtain a peyote permit?” This is the question I will attempt to answer with this post.
It appears that the only requirement to obtain a DEA permit is that peyote be used by “Indians” in “bona fide religious ceremonies.” It is clear that the use of peyote is protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act:
From the US Department of Justice Website:
Section 1307.31 Native American Church.
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/21cfr/cfr/1307/1307_31.htmThe listing of peyote as a controlled substance in Schedule I does not apply to the nondrug use of peyote in bona fide religious ceremonies of the Native American Church, and members of the Native American Church so using peyote are exempt from registration. Any person who manufactures peyote for or distributes peyote to the Native American Church, however, is required to obtain registration annually and to comply with all other requirements of law.
Note that this sub-section of the Act
exempts individual members of NAC from registration requirements to use or ingest peyote. However,
anyone who distributes peyote is required to obtain DEA registration, which would include growers who distribute it to churches and priests who distribute it to their members. I have found several reference to the requirement that this registration needs to be renewed yearly.
It is also of note that my review of the available materials, including numerous court rulings, makes it clear there are
no restrictions on who may ingest peyote. Anyone of any race may ingest peyote and is exempt from registration requirements in this regard. Because there is so much literature to back this up, these questions are easily answered and there is no point in including references here.
So it is easy to establish, as I have done here, that
use of peyote is protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and further, that there are
no restrictions or registration requirements on who may partake of peyote within the construct and of a “bona fide religious ceremony,” which, according to my understanding of this literature, is generally defined as the “Native American Church.” So, the issue actually boils down to these questions: Who may obtain a permit to distribute peyote, and what are the requirements for them to apply for this permit? These questions are much more difficult to answer.
First, I will examine the issue of who may obtain a permit and how they may obtain one. Then, I will examine this issue as it related to Native American Church itself and what a “ bona fide religious ceremony” actually is, as this seems to be the only definitions I can find regarding this topic.
Regarding who may obtain a permit, this is an unclear issue, but here are some materials which shed some light on the answer:
Found on the “Drugs Forum” website:
http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8746PEYOTE AND PEYOTE LAW
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reports only a handful of registered distributors who are permitted to sell peyote, and sell only to persons who can prove at least one-quarter blood lineage to a Native American tribe.
Medicine men who live too far from the Texan plains to harvest their own peyote purchase it from such distributors, who must follow regulations from the DEA and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Peyote can be mailed using the U.S. Postal Service if both the distributor and the purchaser of the peyote meet the government's requirements.
Salvador Johnson, a peyote distributor in Mirando City, Texas, said the DEA has pressured him in recent years to be more selective in deciding to whom he should sell peyote.
He said that while membership in a Native American church used to be sufficient, his clients must now prove American Indian ancestry.
"We started asking for tribal enrollment cards and certificates of Indian Blood," Johnson said. "That is the only way we can prove a person is who he says he is."
A federal statute limits peyote use to "Indians" who use it in "bona fide religious ceremonies."
[NOTE: It is possible the laws have been modified to relax the 1/4 blood requirement? I also believe this is an outdated article in that various rulings seem to indicate that there are no race restrictions on who may be a member of the Native American Church. This seems contradictory on its face: court rulings allow any race to ingest peyote, but the law itself states that "Indians" is a requirement? Does this mean now that anyone who is non-Indian may be a priest in the Native American Church? Odd and inconsistent. But, there are other tests of a legitimate church which I will examine later in this post.]
Yes, as stated above, the federal statutes do indeed limit peyote use to "Indians" who use it in "bona fide religious ceremonies.” But finding definitions of what “Indian” and “bona fide religious ceremonies” actually means has been much more difficult for me to pin down.
(At this point I will address the comments of dabosijigwokush quoted at the top of this post, who indicated that Jerry Dills' “scared grounds” appears to be a bona fide sacred site because it includes a “fire circle and a lodge circle and further left a medicine wheel” in the aerial photos I linked to much earlier in this thread. I can find no reference to any law or ruling which involves the physical location or details such as this. Having these objects on the “sacred grounds” does not in and of themselves define a “bona fide religious ceremony” any more than having a menorah on my table at Hanukkah would define me as having Jewish religious ceremonies or being of the Jewish faith. Someone might see these and conclude I am Jewish, but it is a deeper examination of my faith and practices that would reveal whether I am in fact Jewish or not. In regards to NAC, it is the same test in my opinion.)
So then, what is an “Indian” and what are “bona fide religious ceremonies”? And, applying these answers, who then may apply for and receive a peyote permit?
Some insight to these answers may be found on the Department of Justice website:
Guidance Regarding Petitions for Religious Exemption from the Controlled Substances Act
Pursuant to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/rfra_exempt012209.pdfThis 2-page .pdf file indicates there is a process in which to petition the Drug Enforcement Administration to request exemption from the Controlled Substances Act. However, this appears at first glance to be a matter of self-declaration, and this “guidance” really offers no guidance as far as I can tell. It does define a process, but offers little guidance.
In addition, Application for Registration with the DEA itself offers no clues as to who may or may not apply:
APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION
Under the Controlled Substances Act
APPROVED OMB NO 1117-0014
FORM DEA-224 (9-05)
Previous editions are obsoletehttp://depts.washington.edu/uwmedres/professional/faq_files/224_form_0905.pdfThe above application does include peyote as a controlled substance but makes no indication of any special requirements placed upon the applicant.
This is further compounded by the fact that there are materials available online which advocate peyote and religious freedoms
which make no reference at all to the Native American Church, and even offer an online self-declaration form for the religious use of peyote. The worst, most outrageous example of this is found here:
Council on Spiritual Practices
Entheogens and the Free Exercise Clause
http://csp.org/society/docs/telr-free_exercise.htmlThe above link to the Council on Spiritual Practices in my opinion incorrectly and illegitimately opens Pandora's box in that it essentially is a how-to guide for any wannabe peyote priest, no matter of race, to self-declare themselves legitimate. If you read this link thoroughly, you will see no reference to the Native American Church and “Indian” is only referenced once in the entire article, then it goes on to actually provide a blank template form for anyone to self-declare themselves to be able to use peyote for religious purposes and spells out a defense if they are ever arrested for having peyote. But, the writer of this article at least had enough sense to offer this caveat:
To clear up any confusion: The only people who should consider preparing a declaration like that modeled in this article are those people: (1) who, because they are not members of an established entheogen-using church, need to document their religious intent; and (2) fully intend to make efforts at presenting a religious defense (under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act) in the event they are ever arrested. If a person plans to defend on some other ground (e.g., "it's not mine," or "I didn't know what it was"), the declaration, if found, will likely be the best thing the prosecutor could have to rebut the defense.
Choose your weapon wisely.
Yes. Choose your weapon wisely. Interesting choice of words. This article first appeared in the
The Entheogen Law Reporter (Issue No. 4, Fall 1994), and whoever wrote this article, in my opinion, is an absolute idiot. They are basically spelling out how to circumvent the very law they are purporting to rely on. I believe that anyone who is stupid enough to execute such a self-declaration is guilty of violating federal law, by definition.
The above link does offer one very interesting insight, however. This quote from the above article link is in regard to the high courts ruling against the use of marijuana and other controlled substances as protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act:
As a practical matter, a court will be more inclined to grant religious protection to a person utilizing a single entheogen rather than a multitude of entheogens. In fact, every case finding in favor of religious use of entheogens has involved a person or church employing a single entheogenic sacrament — namely, peyote.
I will return to this point at the end of this post.
So, the question still remains unanswered: what is “Indian” and what are “bona fide religious ceremonies”? You would think that since the entire issue of peyote permits relies on these definitions, that there would be some clarification of what this actually means. Not
nooooo. Not so simple. The best I have been able to find on this is:
Found on the “Drugs Forum” website:
http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8746Under federal law, peyote is listed as a Schedule 1 narcotic, which puts it right up there with heroin. Depending on the amount and circumstances, to possess or possess with the intent to sell peyote can carry a maximum fine of $4 million and a jail sentence that can range anywhere from 20 years to life.
However, if you are a member of a federally recognized Native American tribe, you are exempt--as long as everything is kept among tribal members.
"Frankly speaking, we have not come across any peyote seizures for several years (in Southern Arizona)," says DEA Public Information Officer Ramona Sanchez. "It is a controlled substance and is of course on our radar, but we have not seen an alarming use of it. We have a trusting relationship with the Native American Church (that peyote will not be abused). As far as the DEA is concerned, there is a list of all the tribes which can use peyote, and you must be of American Indian heritage with federally recognized criteria to possess and use peyote." (emphasis added)
Ok, well that's a start. So where is this “list of all tribes which can use peyote”? Is is nowhere to be found, that I could find. Unless, of course, it means all tribes? Federal tribes or state tribes? This remains undefined. I did find an online reference to a list of valid Native American Churches, but this link I would think is probably out of date:
DIRECTORY OF NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCHES
http://web.archive.org/web/20050308162749/www.utah-nac.org/nacindex.htmlIt is of note that the Native American Church of Strawberry Plains, TN (or Knoxville, TN depending on the E-911 change of address) is not on this list, although it has been active since at least 1981 according to the corporate records I documented in an earlier post. I do not know how authoritative or how out of date this list is, so to be safe, it should be assumed it is incomplete and out of date. But it is of note that no NAC is listed for Tennessee at all although that church has existed as a corporation since 1981, and since the early 1970s unincorporated.
So, since I am unable to find the answer to my most basic of questions online, which are, what is an “Indian” and what are “bona fide religious ceremonies,” I will try to answer these questions myself.
I believe the answer who is “Indian” should be left to another discussion another day. My read of the materials indicates that one applying for a peyote permit must be tied to a federally-recognized tribe, and I found many references to that. However, I cannot find this referenced in the US DEA literature, or the in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. I assume this law and these regulations rely on definitions spelled out elsewhere in federal rules and regulations.
So, I will narrow my question, then, to what “bona fide religious ceremonies” may be, and then zero in on answer to this question as it pertains to the Native American Church of Strawberry Plains, TN.
A “religious ceremony” is defined as--
http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/religious_ceremony.htmMeaning: “a ceremony having religious meaning”
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "religious ceremony"):
agape; love feast (a religious meal shared as a sign of love and fellowship)
libation (the act of pouring a liquid offering (especially wine) as a religious ceremony)
inunction; unction (anointing as part of a religious ceremony or healing ritual)
sanctification (a religious ceremony in which something is made holy)
sacrament (a formal religious ceremony conferring a specific grace on those who receive it; the two Protestant ceremonies are baptism and the Lord's Supper; in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church there are seven traditional rites accepted as instituted by Jesus: baptism and confirmation and Holy Eucharist and penance and holy orders and matrimony and extreme unction)
divine service; religious service; service (the act of public worship following prescribed rules)
religious rite; rite (an established ceremony prescribed by a religion)
And, let us examine the definition of “church”:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/CHURCH1 : a building for public and especially Christian worship
2 : the clergy or officialdom of a religious body
3 often capitalized : a body or organization of religious believers: as a : the whole body of Christians b : denomination <the Presbyterian church> c : congregation
4 : a public divine worship <goes to church every Sunday>
5 : the clerical profession <considered the church as a possible career>
Ok,
well that doesn't help much, does it? I think, then, as far as I am able to determine, the final test for what a “church” is and what “bona fide religious ceremonies” may be more simple that anything we could all imagine. With my apologies to the true Native American Church, I believe the most appropriate comparison to knowing something for what it is or is not, may be found in the US Supreme Court ruling on
Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1964), a Supreme Court decision handed down in 1964 involving whether the state of Ohio could, consistent with the First Amendment, ban the showing of a French film called
The Lovers (Les Amants) which the state had deemed obscene:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobellis_v._OhioThe most famous opinion from Jacobellis, however, was Justice Potter Stewart's concurrence, holding that the Constitution protected all obscenity except "hard-core pornography." Stewart wrote, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." (emphasis added)
So, I think this simple test can be applied to any use of a DEA peyote permit within the Native American Church.
Unless there are US DEA specifications to this effect (which I have been unable to locate), then a “bona fide religious ceremonies” is a subjective thing and the
I know It When I See It test is probably the best one there is.
The Native American Church of Strawberry Plains, TN fails this test.Applied to the Native American Church of Jerry “Doc” Dills (a/k/a Dr. Macaki Peshewa), I put forth that is fails this simple test, for these reasons:
1) Dills' church has less than a dozen members, although it claims to have hundreds of members, it will be unable to produce any membership rolls, names, receipts,
anything to support that claim. Any cursory examination will pierce this lie and will in fact reveal that Jerry Dills' church is a sham;
2) Dills' church has left dozens of lives fragmented and destroyed, which will also be revealed by a simple examination of his operation and interview with dozens of past members of this so-called “church” which is, in truth, a cult.
3) Dills' administers much more than peyote, and frequently administers marijuana, cocaine, and at time in the past, the Rx drug placydyl. These truths will be revealed should the Dills' NAC come under even the most basic scrutiny (which he will be unable to withstand) and as past members, including silver star and others, come out of the woodwork to tell their stories. That Dills' uses other controlled substances not covered by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, negates any claim he may have made to protection by the RFRA, and any claimed exemption of the Controlled Substances Act;
4) Jerry Dills is not a member of any federally recognized Indian tribe.
Summary and ConclusionThere is no doubt that the legitimate use of peyote is a protected religious freedom by "Indians" within the boundaries of "bona fide religious ceremonies." What is unclear is how these things are defined. I believe the very basic
I Know It When I See It test will hold true even at the highest level of scruitiny. Simply stated: It's either real, or it ain't.
In regards to the comments posted by Cetan to this thread, quoted at the beginning of this post, again, as past members of Dills' Native American Church start to tell their stories, it will be established that he has administered peyote to children as young as 4 years old. I will here again repeat Cetan's quote to this thread:
What I have not seen is the supposed NAC charter number - no official charter and it is not an official NAC chapter. As far as giving the medicine to children, well it is up to them if they eat the medicine and frequently children are given a little medicine if they want it, at least that has been my experience as a baptised member of the NAC, charter 3132 from SD
To Cetan: if you believe that, for children as young as 4 “it is up to them if they eat the medicine and frequently children are given a little medicine if they want it” then why don't you also give these youngsters the keys to your car and your credit card? This makes just as much sense, and in all due respect, does not pass the laugh test nor does it pass the common sense or decency test. I will refrain from commenting on being a “baptised” [sic] member of NAC, which seems to blur the Native American faith with Christianity. Enough said. [EDIT/ADDITION:] Then again, I cannot claim to know much about the true Native American Church being that Jerry Dills is a fake priest running a bogus church.
For these reasons stated, I humbly submit that the “church” of Jerry “Doc” Dills (a/k/a Peshewa a/k/a Neishte) is not any church at all, because it cannot pass the most basic
I Know It When I See It test for anyone who chooses to look beyond the surface and Dills' words and not be bamboozled with bullshit.
If there are guidelines in place for controlling who may apply for a permit, I have not been able to find them; if there are no such guidelines, there should be.In conclusion, it is quite possible that Jerry Dills may in fact hold a "valid" DEA permit. However, if true, than I put forth that that permit has been acquired by deception and falsehoods.
Therefore, it is my opinion, from personal first-hand knowledge and from my review and analysis included here, that Dills is operating an illegal peyote cult, and not a church.
clearwater
