Autobiographical Notes on a Career in Applied Anthropology
Dr. Stewart served as discussant for the Santa Fe paper session "Working On, Working For, and Working With American Indians" from which this special issue of PA is drawn. His most visible applied anthropology role has been as expert witness. He reports that between 1950 and 1983 he testified in numerous Indian Claims cases on behalf of the Chippewa, Shoshone, Ute, Southern Paiute, Northern Paiute, Klamath, Washo, Gosiute, and Indians of California, helping these groups receive awards from the Indian Claims Commission in excess of $200 million. Most recently, he was involved in the San Juan Southern Paiute effort to obtain federal acknowledgement as a tribe. However, Dr. Stewart is best known for his testimony on behalf of members of the Native American Church who have sued state courts for the legal right to practice the peyote religion openly. His work in this area has spanned the thirty years from 1960 through the present. Dr. Stewart discussed the origins of anthropological concern with the peyote religion and his own role in defending its practice in his 1983 Malinowski Award address at the SfAA meetings in San Diego, CA. The following are excerpts from the full text of that address, reprinted with permission from Human Organization 42(3), Fall 1983, pp. 189-194.