The Red Nation Podcast Indigenous Spirituality, Religious Freedom, and Psychedelics w/ Christine McCleave
Dec 22, 2025
Christine McCleave, a Turtle Mountain Ojibwe researcher and advocate, explores the intersection of Indigenous spirituality and the psychedelic movement. She shares her journey into psychedelic research and highlights the importance of peyote in the Native American Church. The conversation delves into the legal complexities of Indigenous religious practices, concerns over biopiracy, and the distinctions between clinical methods and traditional healing. McCleave emphasizes the need for Indigenous-driven research and the challenges communities face amid commercialization.
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From Boarding Schools To Peyote Research
- Christine McCleave traced her path from family boarding-school trauma to researching Indigenous medicines and peyote.
- She described attending a MAPS conference that prompted her PhD on peyote and Indigenous religious freedom.
Medicines As Living Beings
- Indigenous medicines are living beings in their cosmologies and require relationship and protocol, not just clinical extraction.
- The Western psychedelic movement often adopts the term 'medicine' without understanding the spiritual reciprocity involved.
Require Consent And Benefit Sharing
- Use the Nagoya Protocol model: obtain free, prior and informed consent and share benefits with Indigenous stewards.
- Prioritize conservation and ensure Indigenous communities receive economic and cultural benefits before commercial use.