A Legal History Distinct from Any Other Tradition Here

The Native American Church has a specific and unusual legal history in the United States, since its sacramental use of peyote, otherwise a federally controlled substance, has required specific legal protection to continue, most significantly following the Supreme Court's 1990 decision in Employment Division v. Smith, which found no automatic constitutional exemption for religious drug use, prompting Congress to pass amendments to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1994 specifically protecting Native American Church peyote use as a recognized religious sacrament for enrolled members of federally recognized tribes. This legal history situates the Native American Church's prayer and ceremonial practice within an ongoing and specific legal framework unlike that surrounding any other tradition catalogued in this atlas, and it reflects the considerable legal and political effort Native American Church members and legal advocates have invested in securing recognition for their sacrament and its associated ceremony as legitimate religious practice rather than as illicit drug use.

The church continues as an actively practiced faith among members of many different tribal nations across the United States and Canada today, and its own governing bodies and chapters maintain authority over how its ceremonies and their associated prayer are conducted, taught and represented, consistent with the descriptive rather than instructive approach this entry takes.