Black leather belt with chrome buckle with three black metal studs and five holes to which has been affixed loom beaded strip with peyote symbols of peyote fan, staff, rattle, drum, water bird, and tipi in navy, ruby, red, orange, yellow, white, black, and green all on sky blue ground. Beading executed on black leather sheath slid onto belt and glued.

Today, the Native American Church has declined in Oklahoma, but it is widespread throughout the Southwest. With the Navajo, the peyote church has become another ritual that they use rather than replacing the traditional religion. In the 1960s, the Navajo outlawed peyotism when the traditional followers of Navajo religion did not approve of it. Disapproval declined after that. The loom beadwork is attached to the belt, and it has Native American Church religious symbols. This type of paraphernalia is widely distributed, and it is produced by mainly Navajo individuals.

Tags: Peyote, Native American Church, belt
People: Possibly Apache
Places: Southwest
Purpose: domestic use, ceremonial use

From interviews with Dr. Garrick Bailey, 2018-2020 University of Tulsa, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology