"Mexico's Peyote Endangered by 'Drug Tourists'," Steve Inkeep, Morning
Editon, National Public Radio, September 3, 2007. Copyright 2007
National Public Radio. All Rights Reserved.
["STEVE INSKEEP, host:...That hallucinogenic cactus has been used for
hundreds of years by Mexican Indians in sacred ceremonies. It became
popular outside that community in the 1960s when a UCLA student, Carlos
Castaneda, wrote 'The Teachings of Don Juan.'... So now the Mexican government and
the Indian community warn that peyote is under threat....
LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO: I'm standing in the central square of Real de Catorce,
a former silver mining town high in the mountains of the state of San
Luis Potosi in northern Mexico....
Mr. ARMANDO GARZA: (Through translator) People like to come here and
take peyote because it has a very long history. It's a natural plant and it
allows you to understand the Indian culture and that way of life - a
different perspective on things.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: And come they have. The problem is, in ever-increasing
numbers.... The road is bumpy and pitted with rocks and holes, but our
guide, Jorge, who doesn't want his last name used because it is illegal
to harvest peyote, takes us to a patch of the cactus located under a
bush....
JORGE: (Through translator) Peyote is running out. People come here and
don't know how to harvest it. And there are people who traffic it, too.
There used to be so much peyote, but the plant is dying out here
now....
GARCIA-NAVARRO: ...Even though there is peyote from the southern United
States to central Mexico, the desert area near Real de Catorce is the
most important for the sacred rites of the Huichol Indians, who are
animists.
Local academics say disappearing peyote affects not only biodiversity
but also their rites. Several times a year, the Huichol make a pilgrimage
on foot from their communities in the neighboring states to this area. On
the journey in specific places their shamans consume peyote. In their
cosmology, the peyote is used to communicate with their gods. It has been harder
and harder for them to find their peyote along the way, so the Huichol
asked the Mexican government to designate their route a protected area.
Mr. PEDRO MEDELLIN: If peyote disappears, their whole culture
disappears.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Pedro Medellin is one of the lead investigators for the
government study on the peyote population in the Huichol sacred areas.
Medellin says that the 40,000 strong Huichol community is one of the
most important indigenous groups in Mexico. And the government is coming up
with a plan to preserve the peyote along their route."]
