In the Plains the fear is often expressed, not without justification, that the white man is ever about to take away the peyote religion from the Indian, as he has taken almost everything else material and immaterial. But the frequency of this asserveration, sometimes in contexts which the writer thought were unrealistic, indicates that Indians view peyote in a sense as a protector from the Whites. Peyote is rather confidently thought to be able to take care of itself—which accounts for the comparative ease with which a white man can obtain entrance to a meeting, where he will be exposed to “proof” of peyote’s power. We need not emphasize this function of peyote beyond its true proportions, but it may be recalled that peyote enabled a native to escape from a white man’s jail; that it aided peyote pilgrims to bring plants undeterred through the white man’s customs; that it is the sovereign remedy for the evil of the white man’s whiskey; that peyote has so far protected itself against the white man’s attempted sumptuary legislation; that it miraculously escaped detection and confiscation in a white man’s war, through which it protected its bearer; and, not least in psychological importance, that peyote characteristically succeeds (because it is of God, not man) in cures which the white doctor has long since given up as hopeless. This function of peyote as protector is rooted in earlier history: it sees from afar the approach of the enemy, predicts the results of battle and protects one in battle from the hazards of war. Peyote would have prevented a gun accident, and an accident with a mechanical saw, in instances collected, if the persons involved had only been able to understand its warning. And in another case, when a serious automobile accident had already happened, peyote quelled the anxiety of worrying relatives in assuring an ultimate cure. Again, Mary Buffalo, White Wolfs mother and Belo Kozad’s wife had all lost many children, until they took their sons into peyote meetings and prayed to the power that they be spared; in each case the son grew to manhood. Peyote is the comforter in the event of death also; a funeral meeting is often held as the last rite of respect to the deceased, and some groups hold anniversary meetings for four years after the death. But peyote punishes as well. An inconstant result of its physiological action is the production at times of an intense fear-state. Rave, for example, (Winnebago)[12] in a period of mental stress experienced his fear: