Anthropologist Will Present Story of 100-year-old Indian Healer
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 16, 2004
CONTACT: Kathleen McPartland
Tel: 530-898-4260
Byron Jackson, Behavioral and Social Sciences
530-898-6171
Anthropologist Will Present Story of 100-year-old Indian Healer
Professor Stacey Schaefer, Department of Anthropology, will speak at the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences Faculty Colloquium on Dec. 2 at 7 PM in Ayres 106. The title of her talk is “Grandmother, Healer, Dealer, and Saint: Amada Cardenas and the Tejano-Indian Peyote Trade in South Texas.”
Schaefer has been carrying out ethnographic fieldwork in the southernmost area of the Rio Grande River surrounding Laredo, Texas, since 1992. Recently, she completed research on the Peyote religion. She is currently writing a book on the life of Amada Cardenas and the Tejano-Indian peyote trade.
“This area along the Rio Grande is an intriguing borderland culture rich in Spanish, Mexican, American, and Native American history,” said Schaefer. “The story of Amada Cardena’s life provides a glimpse into this vibrant Tejano culture, the history of the Tejano-Indian peyote trade, and the fascinating friendships between people from diverse backgrounds that have grown and endured as a result of Mrs. Cardenas and her exceptional abilities to foster respect and appreciation between religions and cultures.”
The rugged prickly brush land of the border is abundant in cattle, oil and natural gas; it is also the natural habitat of a unique spineless vision-producing cactus, peyote (Lophophora willamsii). Amada Cardenas, one of the first federally licensed peyote dealers in the United States, lives here.
“Respected and loved in her Tejano community of Mirando City and her local Catholic Church, Amada Cardenas holds a special place in the hearts of many members of the Native American Church and people who follow in the peyote way,” said Schaefer. “At age 100, she is a living legend among members of the Native American Church; some liken her to a living saint.”
Cardenas and her late husband influenced state and national regulations
regarding the sale, transport and religious use of peyote, said Schaefer. Cardenas also helped the local economy by providing work to community members in harvesting peyote to supply Native Americans.
In addition to her teaching and research, Schaefer serves as the co-director of the Museum of Anthropology.
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