Remember the horrific case last month of the Sedona sweatlodge in which three people died? Now a Lakota tribe has filed a lawsuit against the United States, the state of Arizona, James Arthur Ray and the Angel Valley Retreat Center. The complaint states that Lakota ceremonies are sacred, and as such, should never have been appropriated by Ray or anyone else who's not Lakota.
The suit cites the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, which says, "if bad men among the whites or other people subject to the authority of the United States shall commit any wrong upon the person or the property of the Indians, the United States will (...) proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained."
The lawsuit also charges Ray with committing fraud by "impersonating [an] Indian," and says he "must be held responsible for causing the deaths of the victims and injuries of the survivors, and for the destruction of evidence through the dismantling of the sweat lodge."
In addition to the lawsuit, a number of Native American leaders have gotten together to form the Council of Indigenous Traditional Healers, in hopes that they can "provide guidance and oversight in regards to sacred healing ceremonies." Council members say their goal is not to shut down healing centers that are non-native, but instead to protect people, and make sure that native ceremonies are being performed safely, by those who are qualified to run them.
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The suit cites the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, which says, "if bad men among the whites or other people subject to the authority of the United States shall commit any wrong upon the person or the property of the Indians, the United States will (...) proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained."
The lawsuit also charges Ray with committing fraud by "impersonating [an] Indian," and says he "must be held responsible for causing the deaths of the victims and injuries of the survivors, and for the destruction of evidence through the dismantling of the sweat lodge."
In addition to the lawsuit, a number of Native American leaders have gotten together to form the Council of Indigenous Traditional Healers, in hopes that they can "provide guidance and oversight in regards to sacred healing ceremonies." Council members say their goal is not to shut down healing centers that are non-native, but instead to protect people, and make sure that native ceremonies are being performed safely, by those who are qualified to run them.
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Its about time the originators of these rites take issue with this and other hubris acts by frauds. I hope all the nations will follow suit (and suits, no pun intended). Then, perhaps, this nonsense will end and allow those truly trained, worthy, and spiritual to conduct these events.
It is long over due that the natives re-empower themselves. They’ve lost so much, I fully support them keeping their mysteries to themselves.
Well, I think it’s great, about time we used those old treates to our advantage.
I agree with the Lakoda Indians. That sweatlodge should have never had taken place. I am truly sorry for the families that have lost a loved one, because of this James Arthur Ray. He gave a lot of true healers Native American or not a really, really bad repretation. What I don’t understand is, why would people pay $10,000.00 for a sweat lodge retreat? Especially not doing a background on the person that is performing the sweatlodge. My heart and Prayers go out to the people who lost a loved one in this horrible incedent.
Ave,
I like this. I am truly happy a “Tribal Oversight Committe” is being formed to protect their Mysteries.
Now, there is less worry about “Westernization” watering down theIr religion to fit the masses and less probability for other religions to assilimate Tribal Mysteries.
(These are an important two posts. I created them on a Native American site:)
Let’s put it this way:
A group of six White People decide to go to one of YOUR Native American sweat lodge ceremonies. You charge them nothing and there is no liability waiver to sign. One person ends up dying and two are hospitalized. The families of the White Person who died are determined to throw you in jail and the remainder of the White People are determined to testify against you and that your were negligent.
SHOULD THEY WIN THE CASE AND THROW YOU IN JAIL?
WHY NOT?
*I assume you are going to say they should not throw you in jail
MY COMMENT AFTER THEY TRIED TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT:
You think you are slick, but I am slicker than you! I know your tricks on trying to change the subject and not answering my direct questions. I feel like slapping your faces and demanding you answer my direct questions. Of course that is not possible, but that is how I feel when people like you try to change the subject. I have you psychologically checkmated and YOU KNOW IT!
And don’t give me any crap that in my scenario the White Man would not lie under oath to make you look negligent when you were not negligent. You should know by now that lying comes easily to the ‘fork-tongued’ White Man.
Trying to take James Arthur Ray for every penny he has is DISHONORABLE!!!! Do you have any sense of honor left or are you determined to completely sink to the dishonorable ways of the White Man? The White Man has no real sense of honor. That is why contracts and treaties are written up. Such contracts and treaties are mandatory when dealing with the dishonorable. The honorable need no contract in order to keep the agreements they make with others. You only need contracts when dealing with the DISHONORABLE.
The White Man made a treaty with James Arthur Ray and the White Man should be made to abide by the treaty they signed and not find some dishonorable way around the treaty!
If you Native Americans are angry you should be angry that the White Man made a treaty with James Arthur Ray and now they are trying to break that treaty in ways not unlike how the White Man broke the treaties they made with the Native Americans.
How dare you sink to the level of White Man hypocrisy and pretend you care whether or not the White Man dies trying to emulate your sweat lodge ceremonies.
How dare you sink to the level of trying to rob James Arthur Ray by acting as though you have some sort of legal copyright on how sweat lodge ceremonies must be conducted.
The White Man may have robbed you of many things. Don’t let the White Man also rob you of your sense of honor!’
WAKE UP!!!!!
The ABC program Mind Games, about James Arthur Ray, completely missed the MOST IMPORTANT aspects of this James Arthur Ray Sedona case and that is:
The Construction of the Sweat Lodge
They never even mentioned it!
So, what if they interviewed experts in the construction of sweat lodges and asked them about the construction of the sweat lodge at the Sedona Warrior Workshop? What if the experts TRUTHFULLY told ABC that sweat lodges are supposed to be covered with breathable material. What if the experts had said that a sweat lodge covered in waterproof tarps, like the one in Sedona, could indeed be dangerous enough to cause serious injury or even DEATH!!!
Then ABC would have logically asked: “Who built that sweat lodge?” From then on you would find out who the real culprits in this matter actually are and that is: Angel Valley!
Angel Valley built a dangerously unsafe sweat lodge
and if that wasn’t bad enough
Before the James Arthur Ray trial began Angel Valley DESTROYED EXHIBIT ‘A’ IN THE CASE. Obviously, Angel Valley is doing it’s best to destroy all evidence that would implicate them in this matter.
If James Arthur Ray was caught destroying that sweat lodge before his trial we wouldn’t have heard the end of it! The media would have been all over him and he would probably still be in jail for attempting to destroy exhibit ‘A’ in the manslaughter case.
How would you have felt if ABC investigated this MOST IMPORTANT aspect to the James Arthur Ray Sedona tragedy?
Probably very different indeed!
Obviously, the ABC Mind Games program is biased. It was made to serve a hidden agenda. That’s why they never bothered to investigate into the construction of the sweat lodge
Chances are NOT A SINGLE NATIVE AMERICAN who conducts sweat lodge ceremonies would publicly state that a sweat lodge covered with non-breathable, waterproof tarps was safe. NOT SO MUCH AS ONE NATIVE AMERICAN SWEAT LODGE LEADER IN THE WHOLE BLOODY WORLD!!!
ABC was obviously determined that the whole world view James Arthur Ray as guilty NO MATTER WHAT THE TRUTH MAY BE and they ‘back-engineered’ the program to serve this hidden agenda
SHAME ON YOU, ABC!!!
YOU ARE GUILTY AS HELL!!!
It is MY OPINION that James Arthur Ray was ignorant as to just how dangerous a sweat lodge holding about 60 could be. Angel Valley must have assured Mr Ray that such a sweat lodge would be no problem to build and it would be safe or else James Arthur Ray would not have paid them to build it. Mr Ray blindly trusted Angel Valley to be experts in these matters. This is where James Arthur Ray made his big mistake. Angel Valley should have told Mr Ray that they would NEVER build such a sweat lodge because it was extremely dangerous to do so. They should have told Mr Ray that they also would not allow ANYONE to build such a dangerous sweat lodge on THEIR PROPERTY, for liability reasons. Yes, Mr Ray was indeed ignorant to blindly trust Angel Valley when they told him they could safely build a sweat lodge that can hold 60 people. It was indeed blind ignorant trust in Angel Valley that led to the tragedy in Sedona’s Angel Valley
From my travels on the Internet, about the Sedona matter, I know how Native Americans would have reacted if a Native American went to that workshop and stayed in the sweat lodge until he had to be hospitalized. The Native Americans would hold THAT PARTICULAR Native American fully responsible for his actions. They would have told THAT PARTICULAR Native American that he should have known better than to stay in a sweat lodge until he needed to be hospitalized. They would say that he got what he deserved for being an idiot! Yes indeed. That’s how Native Americans would have reacted.
James Arthur Ray held that workshop at Angel Valley for, I believe, 7 years. He trusted Angel Valley when they OBVIOUSLY assured him they could build a safe sweat lodge that could hold about 60 people. From my research, I’ve learned it is CRAZY to build a sweat lodge that big where you cannot clearly see all the participants and be absolutely certain they are properly handling the heat. The only way the people in the back could possibly get any benefits from such a big sweat lodge is to cover the breathable material with non-breathable tarps and that is ((((INSANE)))). It was Angel Valley’s responsibility to tell James Arthur Ray that they could not build a safe sweat lodge that could hold about 60 people. Angel Valley obviously assured James Arthur Ray that the sweat lodge was safe and Mr Ray is guilty of…blindly believing them. Still, the bottom line is that I feel certain James Arthur Ray takes FULL RESPONSIBILITY for (((HIS ACTIONS))) at that workshop and the people who signed the liability waivers PROMISING to take full responsibility for (((THEIR ACTIONS))) should be legally bound to abide by the treaty they signed. I’m sure we can agree that the White Man should (((NOT))) be allowed to get around promises made in the treaties they sign with others.
If you are a Native American you absolutely MUST agree with me on this: When the White Man makes a treaty with ANYONE, for Christ’s sake, KEEP TO YOUR AGREEMENT, WHITE MAN!!!! All Native Americans should make absolutely certain that the White People are FORCED to abide by the treaty they signed when they went to that workshop. You owe it to your people to MAKE CERTAIN those White People don’t find some slick way to get out of that treaty! Can’t you see what you are doing if you endorse the White People breaking the treaty they signed? YOU MUST NOT ENDORSE THE WHITE MAN BREAKING THE TREATY THEY SIGNED!! You owe it to yourself and your people to make certain they keep to the treaty they signed WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT!
TO THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE SEDONA WARRIOR WORKSHOP:
So, you paid over $9,000.00 to go to that workshop. It had been held for, I believe, 7 years at Angel Valley. You obviously knew what you could basically expect. If you wanted to be indulged and pampered you could have used that money to go to a luxury holistic heath spa and been covered in organic mud then pampered with soothing massages. No, you didn’t want that, right? You wanted to be pushed so that you could learn the difference between what you THINK you can endure and what you ACTUALLY can endure. You wanted to be able to make dramatic use of The Secret and see your daily lives transformed. Obviously, you couldn’t get that from a luxury holistic health spa that caters to pampering you in all your cozy holistic indulgences. No, you paid the money and went to that workshop because YOU DIDN’T WANT TO PLAY IT SAFE. You wanted to be pushed out of your ‘comfort zone’ to the edge of your endurance. For this you knew you needed a Spiritual Drill Sergeant in order for you to reach your fullest potential and that’s what you got. You must admit it takes a lot of guts for James Arthur Ray to create such a workshop. It’s not as safe as a holistic ‘pamper yourself’ spa. Such a workshop is only for those who are serious about permanently changing their lives. The liability waiver made it clear enough that you might indeed be injured at that workshop. You might even die, yet you chose to PROMISE IN WRITING that you would take full responsibility for your actions when you attended that workshop and not hold James Arthur Ray or ANY of the JRI staff liable should you suffer injury and if you died your relatives could not sue over the matter. Ray should have had the attitude of a Marine Corps drill sergeant. He was nicer than that, right? Still, show me a Marine Corps drill sergeant who is always sweet and nice and I’ll show you…a worthless drill sergeant.
True warriors are honorable. They keep to the agreements they make and DON’T NEED a written contract to honor their agreements. You ‘pity me’ people who went to that workshop with the intent of breaking your promise if anything went wrong are a disgrace. You should not have been there. Supposed “warriors” who break their promises are actually losers pretending to be warriors. A drill sergeant is indeed going to shock you into a state of mind where you access your dormant potential. Once you sign the military agreement it’s too late to change your mind about the matter. Sounds to me like you crybabies would make excellent military basic training boot camp washouts. You say you were pressured by Mr Ray to stay in the sweat lodge. What did you expect? For him to pressure you not to go in and build your endurance? GROW UP and take responsibility for your actions and your lives, people! Until you can say the Native American adage “It’s a good day to die” with casual optimism and REALLY MEAN IT you will never amount to much on the path of Universal Knowledge. You should have gotten your lives in order, before you went, and been fully prepared to die at that workshop. There is no guarantee that you would not have died before you even arrived there! Next time spend your money on a self-indulgent holistic health spa for New Age weaklings that will pamper you with indulgent, holistic luxury. You don’t belong at a workshop for the strong and the honorable.
I suggest you consider this: Angel Valley destroyed exhibit ‘A’ in the James Arthur Ray manslaughter case before it went to trial because…when they took the sweat lodge apart they found that the vinyl tarps covering the breathable material were somewhat melted. God forbid you people who went to the workshop would find that out! It would mean you suffered injury because of the fumes that came from those melting vinyl tarps. Angel Valley had no business constructing a sweat lodge and covering it with non-breathable vinyl tarps. THAT’S CRAZY!!! Study into sweat lodge construction and you will indeed find Native Americans agree that a sweat lodge MUST be covered with a breathable material. So, you didn’t have enough air in the sweat lodge, eh? WHO THE HELL BUILT THAT DEATH TRAP COVERED WITH NON-BREATHABLE VINYL MATERIAL? Who assured James Arthur Ray that the sweat lodge was safe and didn’t even bother to supply thermometers to make certain it didn’t get too hot inside the structure,eh? These are the questions you really need to be asking…”warriors”
TO THE FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO LOST RELATIVES AT THE SEDONA WARRIOR WORKSHOP:
I’ve had four near-death experiences and am just waiting for a NOBLE and HONORABLE opportunity to leave this world of body order and hardship with honor. I am indeed ready to die RIGHT NOW and, as any Samurai worth his salt will agree, the Native American adage is indeed correct: ‘It is a good day to die’. I’ve read how those three who died at the warrior workshop were athletic, giving, wonderful people. Yes indeed! Well, wonderful people are honorable people. When an honorable person borrows something you don’t have to chase him or her around to finally get what was borrowed back, right? When the dishonorable borrow something they ‘conveniently’ forget they borrowed it secretly hoping that you have forgotten so that they can, effectively, steal it. Those three who died were honorable people, right? They returned whatever they borrowed without having to be chased and hounded, right?
Honorable people don’t need contracts to keep to the agreements they make, right? And the three people who died were indeed ‘honorable’ people, right? Now, when you are dealing with the dishonorable even if they sign an agreement promising to do something they will try to find a way out of the agreement they signed and, chances are, you will have no choice except to take them to court in order for them to be FORCED to keep to the agreement they signed. The court systems are there because most are obviously dishonorable. HOWEVER, the three who died at the Sedona Warrior Workshop were not like that, right? They were honorable people, right? Well, I AM AN HONORABLE PERSON and I would have considered it an honor to die at that Warrior Workshop giving my best to become the very best person I can possibly become. That would have been an honorable and noble death indeed! I would not want to face eternity with my relatives doing their best to make me break the LEGAL PROMISE I made in the agreement I signed. If you are successful in getting the ‘legal system to break the promises made in that agreement you stain the reputation of those who died at the Sedona Warrior Workshop. Their noble deaths will be stained by the fact that YOU made them break the sacred promise they made before they died honorably. Yes, the final promise a person keeps before he or she dies is indeed a ’sacred promise’.
Is money more important to you than the honorable reputation of those brave warriors who died at the Sedona Warrior Workshop? Would you stain their entrance into the infinite by making them dishonorable liars who do not keep the promises they make? If money is more important to you than the honorable death of those you love then YOU ARE DISHONORABLE and you shame their memory by your selfish actions. UNDERSTAND THIS: just because some judge will allow you to be dishonorable and legally get away with it DOES NOT MAKE IT RIGHT!
Oh, so you want someone to pay for the deaths of your loved ones? I don’t blame you. Find out who destroyed exhibit ‘A’ in the James Arthur Ray manslaughter case and you will indeed have your culprits. Angel Valley DID NOT want anyone to discover that the vinyl tarps covering the sweat lodge were partly melted. That’s why they destroyed exhibit ‘A’ in this case before it went to trial. Why, if James Arthur Ray was caught destroying exhibit ‘A’ in his case you and your kind would probably have lynched him from the nearest tree if you caught him before the police arrived! Study into the matter and you will find that the fumes from melting vinyl tarp material are indeed toxic. How convenient Angel Valley destroyed the evidence that would confirm this. How convenient indeed. A sign of Angel Valley’s ‘angel-like’ innocence in this matter? I DON’T THINK SO!