Mustafa Richards was born December 24, 1950 in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Murray High School located in Detroit. Although he was accepted to Wayne State University, Richards opted out of attending college and started his journey towards his study of multiple religions.

Omer C. Stewart (1908-1991) was Professor Emeritus of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado and a renowned scholar of indigenous religions, particularly peyotism. He was also an outspoken advocate for the indigenous nations of the United States. Omer C. Stewart and Martha C. Knack wrote a book together in 1984 titled As Long as the River Shall Run: An Ethnohistory of Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation.

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