Peyote by Alice Marriott and Carol K. Rachlin, and: The Magic World: American Indian Songs and Poems by William Brandon (review)

72 Western American Literature exposition interrupts and is interrupted by the excerpts, which fail in register­ ing their own impact. Reading a page and a half of a sixteenth or nine­ teenth-century passage to jump to Mr. Lee’s chronological cannonball risum i of Colorado tries a reader’s indulgence. M a r t h a S co t t T r im b l e , Colorado State University Peyote, Alice Marriott and Carol K. Rachlin (New York: Thomas J. Crowell Company, 1971. I ll pages, $5.95.) The Magic World: American Indian Songs and Poems. William Brandon (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1971. 145 pages, $6.00.) The Native American Church and its sacramental use of peyote has mystified and, at times, outraged some members of White Christian America. In their lastest work, Peyote, Alice Marriott and Carol K. Rachlin, authors of the excellent volume American Indian Mythology, have again collaborated in “ an account of the origins and growth of the peyote religion” . This work gives an interesting history of the cult’s development and importance in Indian rites, songs, legends, and art. Although not as exhaustive as Weston La Barre’s The Peyote Cult, Mar­ riott and Rachlin’s book achieves a comprehensive and coherent overview. In the introduction the authors point out that peyote has been considered in many articles and books but that these are sociological and scientific journals which "do not reach the general reading public". The most important asset of Peyote seems to be precisely that it was written for the general reader—yet still holds interest for the serious student of Indian culture. Another important feature is that both authors have participated in peyote ceremonies and also count many peyotists among their friends. Hence there is an added importance to the book because of this quality of both subjective and objective analysis. One of the most interesting points of the historical section of the book is the rejection of the prophet Wovoka and his Ghost Dance Religion by the Kiowa warrior Ahpeahtone. This man sets the stage for the coming of Quanah Parker who brought peyote to the southern plains tribes. The authors also give an extensive background of the various influences on the peyote cult after it was more or less established: the creation of songs and stories by each tribe, the persecution by some Christian sects, and the in­ corporation of various aspects of Christian dogma. In the final third of the book Marriott and Rachlin conclude that the peyote cult is still of great importance to many contemporary Indians. With conviction and, at the same time, a sensitive awareness of the human condition the authors state: . . . peyote worshippers, like the early Christians, try to prove by their outward lives the worth of their faith. They preach— and Reviews 73 within human limitations most of them practice— generosity, hard work, cleanliness, sobriety and helpfulness to others. These are the ideal behavior elements they have set for themselves. Real be­ havior is often different. Goals cannot always be achieved, but goals are there. Another welcame addition to the growing body of volumes on Indian literature is William Brandon’s The Magic World. In his introduction Brandon explains that he is concerned with the poems "not as ethnological data but strictly as literature”. It seems that this is the first anthology of American Indian poetry that tries to convey the "feeling” of the poem rather than framing it within paragraphs of socio-theological explanation. The selection that Brandon has made is both understandable and beautifully lyrical. The book opens with a poem reminiscent of the reserve yet depth of meaning of the oriental Haiku: I the song I walk here. In the next hundred and forty pages the Native Americans’ overpowering sense of the mystery, majesty and unity of all things is revealed. The author has incorporated representative poems from every section of North America —Mexico, the eastern woodlands, the plans, the southwest and the Pacific Northwest. One point to be especially noted is the inclusion of eight Nahuatl poems from Mexico. The intense search for meaning that comes out in them reminds one of the sober warnings of Ecclesiastes...