"John Wilson the Revealer of Peyote" (c.1845–1901) was a

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...

medicine man who introduced the

Peyote The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. ''Peyote'' is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl (), meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root , "to gl ...

plant into a religion, became a major leader in the

Ghost Dance The Ghost Dance ( Caddo: Nanissáanah, also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) was a ceremony incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilso ...

, and introduced a new peyote ceremony with teachings of Christ. John Wilson's Caddo name was Nishkû'ntu, meaning "Moon Head." Though he was of half-Lenape descent, quarter-blood French, and quarter-blood Caddo, John Wilson spoke only the

Caddo language Caddo is a Native American language, the traditional language of the Caddo Nation. It is critically endangered, with no exclusively Caddo-speaking community and only 25 speakers as of 1997 who acquired the language as children outside school ins ...

and identified only as a Caddo. He is believed to have been born in 1845, when his band of Caddo were still living in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. They were driven into

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

in 1859. Wilson, being interested in religion and only known as a

medicine man A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and ceremo ...

, sought out a path to be a peyote roadman in 1880.Stewart 86 As the

ceremonies regained popularity in Oklahoma, he became one of its most active leaders in the Indian Territory. During a two-week period, Wilson consumed peyote for spiritual reasons and said he was shown essential astronomical symbols representing the life of Jesus Christ. These messages became part of his own teaching, which nevertheless remained reliant purely on peyote. He recalled that Peyote spoke to him, telling him to keep indulging in, and to keep walking in its "road" until the day he died of the peyote to create a higher enlightenment. The tribe had been exposed to the Half Moon peyote ceremony, but Wilson introduced the Big Moon ceremony to the tribe. The Caddo tribe remains very active in the

Native American Church The Native American Church (NAC), also known as Peyotism and Peyote Religion, is a Native American religion that teaches a combination of traditional Native American beliefs and Christianity, with sacramental use of the entheogen peyote. The re ...

today. He is the single human most known for the changes to the religious altar and the peyote ceremony. His changes to the altar, unintentionally persuaded the image of the cross in Christian churches. Wilson died at the age of 61 in 1901.

Notes

References

* Stewart, Omer Call
''Peyote Religion: A History.''"> ''Peyote Religion: A History.''
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993. . * Swanton, John Reed
''Source material on the history and ethnology of the Caddo Indians''.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, John Caddo People from Caddo County, Oklahoma 1840s births 1901 deaths Native American Church Religious figures of the indigenous peoples of North America Ghost Dance movement Folk healers