All My Relations: Native Americans Step Into The Ring Over Abuse Of Their Sacred Sweat Lodge Ceremony

Native Americans have been expressing their concerns over the deaths related to New Age Faker, James Arthur Ray, since the story of the sweatlodge deaths first broke.

The Sun News ~ I am not going to dance around the consequences of James Arthur Ray's stupidity because he was blatantly using a religious ceremony of the Native Americans to enrich himself and, what is worse, he didn't know any of the sacred rites that accompany the inipi nor did he know the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota language, an intricate part of the ceremony.

The Buffalo Post ~ Looking Horse says that while non-Native people have a right to seek help from First Nations intercessors, he has a plea: “I would like to ask All
Nations upon Grandmother Earth to please respect our sacred ceremonial way of life and stop the exploitation of our Tunka Oyate (Spiritual Grandfathers).”

(Full text HERE)

Now, it seems, the American indians are stepping into court. (Reuters' image)
From Rumor Rat ~ The lawsuits keep piling up on James Ray’s doorstep.

This time it’s the Lakota Indian nation of North and South Dakota that’s piling on.

The tribe has filed suit against the U.S. government, the State of Arizona, James Ray and the Angel Valley Retreat where Ray’s fatal sweat lodge ceremony was held on October 8th.

According to the lawsuit, the Lakota Nation considers its sweat lodge ceremony, the Oinikaga, one of the seven sacred rites of the Lakota.

~*~