The Peyote Religion Among the Navaho

“David F. Aberle’s book on Navajo peyotism is by far the most comprehensive and complete of any on a North American tribe, and the Navajo nation is the largest in the United States. He discusses the specific politico-economic context and the crisis in the longtime struggle, and traces in detail the conflict of the traditional and the new religion.” Weston La Barre. “A sound, scholarly work which has joined the ranks of anthropological classics since its original 1966 publication.” American Indian Quarterly. “The chapters attending to the rituals of Peyotism and the contrast between it and Navaho religion are particularly good, though none of the materials can be faulted. Of import are the chapters explicating the Native American Church, Navaho style, in the theoretical context of social movements.” Choice. “Today peyotism is a political as well as a religious issue to the Navaho people….A large part of [this] scholarly and impressive contribution is devoted to this aspect….Aberle has not been content to present ritual divorced from philosophy, and his discussion of the underlying though of peyotists is valuable to the student of religions in general….[His] study of the economic aspects of peyotism is closely detailed, and indeed, this book is one of the few publications which present such material in compact form for any North American Indian group.” Science.