Sacred Conservation

Since time Immemorial our Indigenous ancestors who lived on both sides of the present day Rio Grande in south Texas harvested our Creator-given medicine Peyote for physical ailments as well as a sacred medicine for worshiping. Today there is a huge increase in the demand for peyote due to the spread of the Native American Church and its growing membership and only four south Texas counties with harvestable populations of Peyote.

Along with the increase in demand driven by the growing numbers of Native American Church Members there are some negative Impacts on our Peyote medicine such as:  Rustling, Over Harvesting, Oil/Gas Companies Leasing Acreage and denying access to land, Land owners clearing land and plowing under plants, Severe Weather Conditions, and improper Harvesting.

Of the Negative Impacts stated above the only impact we can try to control is improper harvesting. If a Harvester pulls a peyote plant by the roots that will result in certain death for that plant; if a plant is cut down to the true root tissue (below the underground stem) that will also kill the plant.  

The proper way to harvest Peyote is to clear around the base of the plant to get a clean cut at ground level.  This means cutting the plant horizontally just at the base of the green top, leaving the underground part of the stem unharmed. This will result in a high rate of survival of the harvested plants (about 90%) and re-growth of two to three pups on average from the underground stem of each harvested plant. 

Ted Herrera has been informing American Indian audiences locally and across the country for over 10 years on the plight of the Peyote.