Peyote is the darling of the psychedelics renaissance. Indigenous users say it co-opts ‘a sacred way of life’

Indigenous Americans fought through genocide and forced assimilation to use peyote in peace. Will the psychedelics boom co-opt it?

On the first day of autumn, evening temperatures near Window Rock, Arizona, were brisk. Beneath the late September sky, a traditional round hogan in this remote corner of the Navajo Nation was enveloped in darkness. Ten tribal members gathered inside.

After a dinner of mutton and fry bread, the group settled in a circle around a wood stove radiating with burning juniper, preparing to ingest what the Dine (Navajo) call azee - the medicine.