page_title: Native American Church
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Native American Church / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Peyote road sand half-circle
context_page_description: The Native American Church, also known as Peyotism and Peyote Religion, is a Native American religion that teaches a combination of traditional Native American beliefs and Christianity, with sacramental use of the entheogen peyote. The religion originated in the Oklahoma Territory in the late nineteenth century, after peyote was introduced to the southern Great Plains from Mexico. Today it is the most widespread indigenous religion among Native Americans in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with an estimated 250,000 adherents as of the late twentieth century.
context_section_description: Historically, many denominations of mainstream Christianity made attempts to convert Native Americans to Christianity in the Western Hemisphere. These efforts were partially successful, for many Native American tribes reflect Christian creed, including the Native American Church. Although conversion to Christianity was a slow process, the tenets of the Native American Church were more readily accepted.
  Originally formed in the Oklahoma Territory, the Native American Church is monotheistic, believing in a supreme being, called the Great Spirit. The tenets of the Native American Church regard peyote as a sacred and holy sacrament and use it as a means to communicate with the Great Spirit (God), also referred to as the Creator.
caption: Peyote road
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