[No abstract]

INTRODUCTION North American Indians have used peyote within religious ceremonies for centuries. Because it is worshipped as a deity, peyote is today still important to the religious beliefs and practices of numerous tribes throughout Central and North America Equally, the history of legitimate peyote use by American Indians must be understood as a struggle to maintain tribal religious traditions against various repressive federal and state governmental practices aimed at eradicating Indian culture. Our purpose in this article is threefold. First, we briefly identify the historical repression experienced by American Indians who have used peyote within their religious practices and the Indians’ responses, including the creation of the Native American Church of North America. Second, we summarize recent federal and state court decisions that deal with Native Americans arrested for illegal peyote possession. Finally, we link repression of peyote use and resulting court decisions to larger questions of American Indian religious freedom.

For several decades the peyotists within the Native American Church of North America have won numerous legal battles that have helped to ensure the continued existence of their religion. Beginning in 1960 with the landmark decision Arizona v. Attakai, a consistent set of state court decisions have supported the church's claim that the use of peyote is a reasonable and legitimate aspect of religion within the church. In 1964, for example, in People v. Woody, et al., the California Supreme Court overturned the drug conviction of church members, saying the state had no "compelling interest" to justify a ban on ceremonial peyote use. The Woody court concluded that a ban would remove the "theological heart of Peyotism" and that the government's need to fight drug abuse could not be used to deny religious freedom automatically to members of the Native American Church. Since the Woody decision, the United States Congress has taken legislative steps to clarify and enhance Indian religious freedoms by the passage of the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978.

A cooperative program to control European starling damage in feedlots in California has been developed among the CA Department of Agriculture, the county agricultural commissioners, the U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, and the University of California. Pilot starling control programs using avicides began in winter 1963-64. A description of a developing bait program is given, using DRC-1339-treated grain or raisin baits, exposed in V-troughs mounted on cages containing live starling decoys or on the ground adjacent to a pond. When cold nights limited decoy survival, baits were exposed near mangers, positioned so that starlings were exposed to baits as they first entered the feed bunkers. Baiting strategies and starling behavior in relation to baits are described and discussed. At one feed lot, calculations estimated that well over 5 million starlings were killed by baiting operations.