Why won't the United States Government return the 15,000 Peyote Buttons that legally belongs to the Native American Church, when they already returned their Peyote Chief? From my understanding the owns the Sacrament. Something smells real fishy here.

These people are not members of a federally recognized tribe and therefore should not poses these Peyote buttons in hand. They ruin it for those of us who were born and raised in the NAC. The buttons should rightfully go back to the NAC...BUT NOT THROUGH THE HANDS OF A PERSON WHO IS NOT A TRIBAL MEMBER.

This self proclaimed medicine man is NOT an American Indian of any recognized tribe and it appears that this has been prove. We, American Indians struggle to keep our traditions/cutures retained and recognized and then, we have caucasians like this man who as a "want to be" makes it difficult for us. Mr. Mooney and the other caucasians in his group are an embarrassment to the American Indians here, in Utah. We continue ro practice our sacred ceremonies, but our true Indian Spiritual Leaders do not go public in the media dressed in in all the frills and advertise what they are doing. Our traditional beliefs are sacred and are not shared with the media, etc. Mooney, be proud of who you are, as a Caucasian!

A federal ID number for a lot of folks is simply a prison number. Federal authorities informed me of my authentic American Native blood through DNA testing.

A race of people do not own nor does the U.S. government have the ability under the constitution to legally set the ideology of any church, let alone the First Nations Spirituality religion known as the Native American Church.

I personally, nor does my friend and Co-Founder of Oklevueha Native American Church Richard 'He Who Has the Foundation' Swallow a Federally Recognized Lakota Sioux man, have a problem with other bona fide Native American Churches who choose to close their doors to races.

The Great Spirit and our Seminole and Lakota Sioux Elders have told us in no uncertain terms we are to take these ceremonies to all people.

Oklevueha NAC simple wants to worship our beliefs in the manner the Great Spirit directs us to do and with that we let other NAC do what prompts them to do.

James: Perhaps, as you say, some do not like the idea of Fed recognized ID cards, and then, there are those who may not like the idea of being the only race who has to be recognized by an ID, but it does keep people like Mooney from claiming tribal membership, for whatever reasons they do. We, American Indians deal daily with these "want to be's" and again, it makes it difficult for us all. Mooney can claim to be a leader of any church, but if your not a true Native Spititual Leader, why would you claim to be? Be a good leader of your church , whatever race you may be. Yes, people can worship and spread the word in whatever manner they choose to and that is wonderful privlege. Many people have a smidgen DNA of a tribe, and it still doesn't recognize them as an American Indian. Again, Caucasians are also a proud race of people and there is nothing wrong with just being who you are. We, American Indians don't have to convince, or prove anyone of our race, we are who we are, livng daily with our belifs, traditions and culture.

Rose, I have never claimed to be a member of a Federally Recognized Tribe.

I am honored to be a member of the Oklevueha Band of Seminole's of Central Florida (A non-federally recognized Tribe)who never signed a peace treaty, nor where we totally decimated.

We still conduct our annual Green Corn Ceremony on the very land the United States Army massacred nearly our entire Tribe over a hundred and fifty years ago.

I have a great deal of respect for all American Native people, no matter what degree of Native blood flows through their vein's. I happened to be a half breed, half Caucasian and half American Native.

I mean no disrespect to Federally recognized Indians if anything I honor them more so than myself. I was raised in the white mans world and denied my American Native heritage most of my adult life.

I even did this after my Grandmother time in and time again admonished me "don't forget who you are" of which I will never do again as long as I walk Mother Earth.

tHOSE WHO SPEAK OF 'LEGALITIES' AS TO WHETHER OR NOT A MEMBER OF OUR CHURCH IS 'fEDERALLY RECOGNIZED' AS A 'TRIBE MEMBER' IS ONLY SPEAKING THEIR GAME AND LANGUAGE. SOME OF US CHOSE NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS ACT OF SELLING OUT AND WILL MAKE OUR DECISIONS BASED ON OUR FEELINGS AND NOT THAT OF SOME AGENT OF DESTRUCTION. iT'S TOO BAD SOME WILL STAND IN THE WAY OF FREE THOUGHT AND PROGRESSIVE HEALING THROUGH UNDERSTANDING TO MEET THE FEDERAL EXPECTATIONS. dAWN bEAVER - Orlando

I was raised this way aswell. I recall the stories of my old men having to hide the sacred items using shotgun cleaning rods for the unstrung bow, and salt and pepper shaker rattles. They told me of having to hide the meetings in houses and pulling coals from the woodstove to place the sacred evergreen on to bless our selves with. The agents would come and they would have to run with their boxes and sometimes burying them for months to keep them safe. I my self do not hold all the Europian people for this though. I do think however; That they should be more careful than they are. I think that if they wish to do these things they should have an adoption ceremony into the tribe they are closest to and be very strict in the traditions, ommitting or adding nothing so as to bring no harm to them selves or us!

James,
How can you claim to be a branch of the Native American Church, and yet everywhere I have looked so far, which is considerable, I don't see you practicing the precepts of the NAC, Sundown to Sunup peyote meetings run by a Roadman. Your websites talk about sweats, Sundances, Pipe ceremonies etc, which have absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with the NAC, they are separate ceremonies particular to the tribes they come from. as I'm sure you know.
You must be fully aware the the Native American Church is just that, it is not generic to all practices, in fact, it is extremely specific to it's own ceremonies.