A conversation with Native American Church leaders Steven Benally and Sandor Iron Rope, who discussed the centuries-old sacramental use of plant medicines such as peyote. They explored the history of the persecution of this plant medicine and the Indigenous peoples and cultures for whom it is sacred, and how Indigenous perspectives might complicate or challenge the contemporary “psychedelic renaissance.”

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Steven S. Benally is a member of the Dine Nation (aka Navajo Nation), a lifelong member of the Azee Bee Nahagha, Peyote Ceremonial way of life, a practitioner. He served as the President of Azee Bee Nahagha of Dine Nation for nine years and as a member of the National Council of Native American Churches/Azee Bee Nahagha of Dine Nation. He is a founding member of the Board of Directors for the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative and is currently working as a Regional Conservationist.

Sandor Iron Rope represents the Lakota Oyate, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe from Pine Ridge, South Dakota. He is a lifelong member and practitioner of the Native American Church of South Dakota (NACSD). He has nine years experience leading the National NAC and is the current President of the NACSD. Mr. Iron Rope received his Bachelors of Science in Human Services and American Indian Studies from the Black Hills State University. He is the executive director of a family healing center called Tiognaka Tawowakan Otokahe (the beginning of a Sacred Home). He is a current board member of the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative (IPCI). He is committed to Indigenous Cultural Preservation and Peyote Conservation.