I send this letter in respect and in honor of all my relations.

As many of you know I have been a Sundancer and pipe carrier for over 35 years. I have also had the honor and privilege of guiding Inipi ceremonies during this time as well. My daughter Lushanya has been raised in these ways by Sundancing at the age of 4, and has continued to dance and lead ceremony for thirty years.  I have prayed and been taught by the elders of my Lakota tradition, in this way of my people, for over forty years.  Throughout those years and ceremonies I have learned many things, gained many insights, and have shared what I have been taught, and will continue to do so as Spirit directs me.  The recent tragedy in Arizona has had my phone ringing constantly and I would like to offer my thoughts on this tragedy.

As you may know, in Arizona, a man offered a spiritual experience to a group of people in exchange for $9,000 for a 5 day spiritual experience.  News reports have stated that the “experience” included fasting, a type of vision “seeking”, and a “sweat” lodge that held sixty plus people. By the end of this experience three people died and nineteen people were taken to the hospital. All who participated have been traumatized to degrees that will take years to come to terms with. 

First let me say, that unless one has been given instruction, teachings and and has had several years of guided experience with their elder and teachers’ supervision, they have no business running a lodge.  Further, it would take many years’ experience to run a lodge for that many people. It is not normal practice. I would also like to stress that these ways are sacred, and handed down in a purposeful manner.  The outcome of this tragedy should be a wake- up call to anyone who has found themselves in a lodge pouring water without being trained, and guided by their teacher, to begin to pour water for others. Anything less, is a co-opting of these sacred ways, and as we have seen in this instance, can and do have lasting, heart breaking consequences.

Moreover, charging money for a lodge or ceremony of any kind is never okay. It is not our way. Suggested, reasonable donations to offset the cost of wood and supplies are acceptable. No one should ever be turned away for lack of money. Lastly, plastic tarps should never be used to cover a lodge, for when man- made oil based materials are heated up, there is no way to know what toxins are released into the air. In a small confined space where it is warm and oxygen is limited. Use of a plastic tarp can have an adverse effect on those who have gone into the lodge to pray.

The lodge should be a safe place to pray and to cleanse ones heart, spirit, mind and body. Extreme heat does not give strength to ones prayers. One’s own heart does that.  Hours of extreme heat and diminished oxygen are not healthy for anyone, and a recipe for disaster.  Many years ago, my people, the Lakota, did not eat processed foods laced with chemicals, nor did they drink water polluted with factory waste or pesticides, and still they recognized the limits of the human body gifted to them by the creator. Our leaders of those lodges were taught to show compassion and concern for those who came to pray.

This tragedy and loss of life is a tangible reminder that one should not assume that going to a lodge once or twice, or being taught by anyone who would stroke ones Ego by telling them things they knew the seeker wanted to hear, gives one the wisdom to lead a ceremony safely.  I would like to also suggest that it is ok for participants to ask about the experience of the one who is pouring water, where did they get their teachings, who is their teacher, and do they still talk with their teacher on a regular basis.  The participant’s health, both spiritual and physical, is in the hands of the person sitting at the door, therefore it is essential that you know what you are doing.  And, it is ok not to go into a lodge when it doesn’t feel safe to you.

In today’s world there are so many who are seeking to find their own inner connection and to heal from their abuse that life sometimes gives. Some run from tradition to tradition trying to find what fits for them.  As lodge guides, we have a responsibility to the participants to provide a safe, sacred space for them to continue on their journeys. Not just physical safety, but emotional and spiritual safety as well.

The lodge represents the womb of our Mother, sometimes there are “preemies” in the birthing process and these individuals leave the womb, the lodge, earlier than others. It is part of their process. Not allowing someone to leave a lodge when they request to leave, or shaming them is a form of abuse and an act of violence. How many people have been in such a so called spiritual space, and are walking around with the painful scars stemming from such violence?

Lushanya and I ask you to consider the context of the Sedona incidents, and trust the teachings we have and will continue to provide.  We have taught you, to the best of our ability, how to be respectful of the Lakota people's ceremonies.  We have remained consistent about providing information for "newbies", opening the door when a participant wishes to leave, providing water when the heat feels overwhelming, maintaining there is never a "charge" for ceremony, using the sacred herbs to cleanse ourselves and the space, providing comforts within the lodge space for those differently-abled, and so much more.

The prayer I hear often is for world peace. How can we achieve peace in the world if we do not hold ourselves accountable to living our own lives in peace?  We can begin by praying for those who disrespect the ways of our ancestors, praying for those who still allow their greed for money and power to push them to do things they know or don’t know, in their hearts, is not in accordance with our oral traditions of those who carried these ceremonies into this century.  Pray for those who are seeking to find balance in a world where balance is difficult to find.  Pray for the families of those who continue to profit personally from their misuse of yet another sacred way. And finally, pray that each of us can always remember that we are here because of those who have gone before us, and we are here to continue life for the ones yet unborn.

Mitakuye Oyasin,

We are All Related,

Beverly Little Thunder

Lushanya Echeverria