Robyn Lebron that took place quietly and with some legal protection Battling alcoholism and poverty, many followers were attracted to the church’s strict avoidance of alcohol and its call for monogamy and hard work Many older religious leaders among the Navajos and elsewhere opposed the new faith, but it continued to gain adherents The Indians bravely defended their religious freedom in their respective states and in Congress One of the most eloquent of these defenders was Albert Hensley, a Winnebago educated at the Carlisle Indian School By 1908, Hensley and the Winnebago had come to regard Peyote as both a Holy Medicine and a Christian sacrament “ ǡdz ǡ Dz ǯ Ǥ Ǥ Ǥ ”—Peyote Religion: A History (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987) Intense antagonism to the Peyote religion and to Indian religions in general forced members of the to organize formally to protect themselves Accordingly, on October 10, 1918, the Native American Church incorporated itself in the state of Oklahoma Led by Frank Eagle, the group’s first president, the church stated its intention to promote Christian religious belief using “the practices of the Peyote Sacrament” and to teach Christian morality and self-respect The 1918 charter of the Native American Church was changed through amendments in 1944 and a new charter in 1950 and further amended in 1955 Most of the changes reflected the expansion of the group from Oklahoma and Mexico to the Midwest, the Great Plains, the Southwest, and even into Canada Peyotists chartered their churches in states where the religion became active In addition, Peyotists gained the recognition of the Texas Department of Public Safety so that they could gather the cactus in that state, the only place in the United States where it grows ~ 310 ~