REVIEWS

“Sure to provoke discussion ....Reminds us once again that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom... Highly recommended for public, high school, and university libraries.”
3 1/2 stars
VIDEO LIBRARIAN (3/94)

“Few documentaries play so effectively on the themes of reverence and justice. Reverence for a sacred tradition. Justice, which in this case has been callously infringed.”
PROF. HUSTON SMITH,
Author, The World’s Religions

“A complete and fair examination of the controversial use of this plant...with production values of the highest order...ambitious in scope, eloquent in its presentation... Suitable for high school through adult audiences.”
VIDEO RATING GUIDE FOR LIBRARIES
5 stars
(4/94 - 5:691)

PARTIAL LIST OF AWARDS
Chicago Intl. Film Festival
  “Silver Plaque”
National Educational Film Fest
  “Silver Apple”
Great Plains Film Festival
  “Best Documentary”
Birmingham Educational Film Fest
  “Best 9 - Adult”
CINE
  “Golden Eagle” Award

“This is a simple, clear, quiet exposition... told truthfully, objectively, in utterly logical sequence, without resorting to the many forms of manipulation available to producers of television documentaries...
It is a masterful example of excellence in the arts.”
RABBI JOSEPH GLASER
Central Conference Of American Rabbis

The Peyote Road

Ancient Religion In Contemporary Crisis

Available as: VHS and DVD
63 minutes, Color, English, Spanish & Navajo (English subtitles where needed)
Copyright 1993 Kifaru Productions, Inc.

A Kifaru Production in association with Peacedream Productions with participation by Eagle Heart Productions Produced for The Native American Religious Freedom Project Producer GARY RHINE, Writer PHIL COUSINEAU, Narrator PETER COYOTE, Featuring RODNEY GRANT, Directors FIDEL MORENO, GARY RHINE & PHIL COUSINEAU, Executive Producers, REUBEN A. SNAKE, JR. & JEFFREY BRONFMAN, Associate Producers FIDEL MORENO, TOM COOK & KIMA DOUGLAS

This widely acclaimed, landmark documentary was instrumental in the campaign to have Congress overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's 1990 "Smith" decision, which denied the protection of the First Amendment to the traditional sacramental use of peyote by Indian people.

As timely and relevant today as ever, the film examines the history of European and American religious intolerance -- especially toward indigenous peoples -- and documents the centuries-old sacramental use of the cactus Peyote in the Americas, where it is integral to the beliefs and ceremonies of one of the oldest and largest Native religions in the Western hemisphere.

The film seamlessly interweaves live-action and archival film footage, historical photographs and paintings, and commentary by members of the Native American church, lawyers, and noted scholars of history, religion, and anthropology.

The film demonstrates how the Court's decision ultimately threatened the religious freedom of all Americans, and chronicles the successful efforts of the American Indian Religious Freedom Coalition, including the passage of the historic 1994 Amendment to The American Indian Religious Freedom Act that legalized sacramental peyote use.

"The Peyote Road" is both classic and utterly contemporary. It will engage students and will generate analysis and discussion in a variety of courses in Native American studies, religious studies and comparative religion, cultural anthropology, American history and studies, and legal studies. This version of the film includes a 1996 legislative update. It was produced by Gary Rhine and directed by Rhine and Fidel Moreno (Yaqui/Huichol) for Kifaru Productions. The program was written by Phil Cousineau and his eloquent narration is delivered by noted actor and activist Peter Coyote.

“Before we can set out on the road to success, we have to know where we are going. And to do that we have to know where we have been in the past . It seems a basic requirement to study the history of Native American people. Only through this study can we as a nation do what must be done if our treatment of the Native American is not to be marked down for all time, as a national disgrace.”
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY

“In 1952, the President of these United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, said these words, ‘Whatever America desires for the world, must first come to pass in the heart of America’. Today our national leaders, our President, and members of his Administration, the Secretary of State, travel to the four corners of the globe professing the support of human rights in all the different nations of the world. They say, ‘Live up to your teachings and protect the human rights of people’. But while they are doing that, right here within this country, the Indigenous people of this land continue to suffer from gross injustices and deprivations of our religious freedom. So in closing, I want to say Senator, quoting Edmund Burke, ‘The only thing necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing’.”
REUBEN SNAKE (Coordinator, The Native American Religious Freedom Project)

“The right to freely exercise our religion is a right that millions have sacrificed their lives for. It is a right that is so fundamental to our way of life, no matter whether we are Christian, Jew or Buddhist or Muslim, should any of our religious practices be threatened, we join together in defense of our right to exercise our religious beliefs. Except perhaps, when it comes to the religious practices of the Native People of this country. These are the religious practices that are little understood and which in recent years, the rulings of the courts have systematically undermined. We should all feel threatened, when the religious rights of Native people are challenged. For today it may be their rights, someone elses religious rights that are discouraged, but tomorrow it may well be ours.”
SENATOR DANIEL INOUYE, D-Hawaii (Former Chairman - Select Committee on Indian Affairs)