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Navajo bill clarifies use of peyote on reservation
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Peyote use will be limited to card-carrying members of the Native American Church under bill pending in the Navajo Nation Council.
According to the bill, tribal members need to be registered with the Azee' Bee Nahagha of Diné Nation in order to use peyote, a hallucinogenic. Council delegates said they want to prevent non-Indians from using a sacrament of the Native American Church.
The situation arose when a man claiming Native ancestry in Utah was busted for selling peyote. The Utah Supreme Court said all Native American Church members, regardless of heritage, could use the drug. Federal authorities are considering charges.
Get the Story:
Committee votes to limit NAC membership
(The Gallup Independent 10/11)
Court Decision:
State
of Utah v. Mooney (June 22, 2004)
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