Peyote Panel and Double Book Launch (Psychedelic Society of San Francisco)

From the event organizer, Psychedelic Society of San Francisco:

Namaste Hall, California Institute of Integral Studies

Join us for a special peyote panel discussion and book signing! The program for the evening includes a number of special guests. Hope to see you there!

Presenters:
Stacy B. Schaefer

Bia Labate (https://bit.ly/1oKzGLd)

Jorge N. Ferrer

Diana Negrin

Kevin Feeney

Clancy Cavnar

For more information: https://bit.ly/1QmEijq

About the book: https://bit.ly/1TDLOsQ

Reflections on Wirikuta: Representations, Discourse and Activism in the Land of Peyote
Diana Negrín da Silva
In the late summer of 2010, the Wixárika indigenous peoples of western Mexico were alerted to transnational mining concessions in their sacred pilgrimage site of Wirikuta, located in the northwestern Mexican state of San Luis Potosí. As one of the most bio-diverse desert ecosystems of the world, Wirikuta’s most visible marker is the peyote hallucinogenic cactus that is endemic to the region and has been utilized for religious and curative purposes by some indigenous peoples since time immemorial. From 2010 to the present, non-governmental organizations, academics, celebrities and individual activists have organized to support the Wixárika peoples defense of this sacred territory. In collaboration with Wixárika authorities and utilizing the popularity of Wixárika aesthetics and spiritual practices, activist alliances temporarily halted most mineral extraction in Wirikuta. In this presentation, I will discuss the ways in which Wirikuta, and its fundamental linkage to peyote, has become a hypervisible symbol of Wixárika culture and an enabler—for better and for worse—of the mobilizations to protect this sacred pilgrimage site from extractive industries.
Peyote as a natural resource: Examining structural and relational mechanisms of access
Kevin Feeney
Access to the peyote cactus, a religious sacrament of the Native American Church (NAC), has been regulated by the federal government and the state of Texas since the 1960s. Over the last 40 years there has been a steady decline in the number of licensed distributors, a trend accompanied by rising prices and a diminishing market supply of the psychoactive cactus. The distributors are thought to be the primary source of peyote for the NAC; as a result, their disappearance could be potentially devastating for the 250,000-plus adherents of this distinctive indigenous tradition. In this presentation the regulated peyote trade will be examined, and factors contributing to its decline will be discussed. Avenues for bolstering access deficiencies in the peyote supply network are considered, potential fixes are suggested, and potential alternative points of access to peyote for the NAC will be explored.