Page 5
November 30, 2011
Spílyay Tyrooo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Native home
ownership bill passes
Congress committee
Fire Fighters Appreciation
«
Duran Bobb/Spilyay
All team members from W.S. Fire Management were honored with a dinner sponsored by tribal elders Rita Squiemphen,
Marcia Soliz, Neda Wesley and others. Crews from IHC, Operations, Fuels, and Finance enjoyed a turkey dinner with all
the trimmings. The community gathered to thank the firefighters for their efforts during the summer fires of 2011.
WASHINGTON - A bill
meant to make home ownership
easier for Indians, has cleared
another hurdle this month.
On Nov. 17, the U.S. House
of Representatives Natural Re
sources Subcommittee on In
dian and Alaska Native Affairs
passed the HEARTH Act.
The HEARTH A ct (H.R.
2905) is the “Helping Expedite
and Advance Responsible Tribal
Homeownership Act of 2011.”
The legislation was designed
with assistance from tribal lead
ers in an effort to amend the
Indian Long-Term Leasing Act
of 1955.
The new legislation would
reform federal leasing require
ments and encourage housing
and community development in
American Indian communities.
It would allow tribes to enter
into certain leases without prior
expressed approval of the Sec
retary of the U.S. Department
of the Interior.
In sum, the legislation is ex
pected to expedite the lease ap
proval process by allowing tribal
governments to approve trust
land leases directly.
Specifically, the legislation
directs the BIA to prepare and
submit to Congress a report de
tailing the history and experience
of Indian tribes that have cho
sen to assume responsibility for
administering the Indian Land
Title and Records Office func
tions from the BIA.
“The HEARTH Act of 2011
will go a long way in strengthen
ing tribal self-determination and
tribal economies at the same
time,” said National American
Indian Housing Council Chair
woman Cheryl A. Causley in a
statement.
“We know the time frame for
individual tribal members to re
ceive a home-site lease is ardu
ous and can be as long as three
years under the current Bureau
of Indian Affairs process, but
we anticipate that these improve
ments in leasing and enhanced
tribal control over surface leas
ing will help more tribal mem
bers get into homes quick.”
“The housing strongly sup
ports H.R. 205 because it re
spects and fosters Indian tribal
decision-making, expedites what
can often be lengthy federal ad
ministrative processes, and will
improve the delivery of Federal
housing assistance and expand
economic opportunity in tribal
communities.”
In April, Causley testified
before the Senate Committee
on Indian Affairs to suppott
companion legislation, Senate
bill 703.
She said then that the bill “re
spects and fosters Indian tribal
decision-making, expedites what
can often be lengthy federal
administrative processes and will
improve the delivery of federal
housing assistance and expand
economic opportunity in tribal
communities.”
r
Indians see lessons in sweat lodge trial
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) -
Self-help author James Arthur
Ray faced more than a judge at
his sentencing this month for a
sweat lodge ceremony that left
three people dead. Members of
the American Indian community
sat through almost the entire trial
in silent protest of Ray’s use of
a sacred tradition.
Ray is serving two years in
prison after a lengthy trial that
ended in a trio of negligent ho
m icide convictions and that
made little mention of Native
culture and traditions. He has
vow ed not to hold another
sweat lodge ceremony.
But whether Ray learned not
to misappropriate cultures re
m ains to be seen, said Ivan
Lewis o f the Fort McDowell
Yavapai Nation.
“He d esecrated our c e r
emony, he abused it,” Lewis said
Wednesday. “He used it in any
way that he could just to get his
money. He was told before not
to do that, and he's paying for it
now.”
Sweat lodges are commonly
used by American Indian tribes
to cleanse the body and prepare
for hunts, ceremonies and other
events. They typically hold no
more than a dozen people, com
pared with more than 50 people
inside the one Ray led near
Sedona in October 2009.
The cerem on y involves
stones heated up outside the
lodge, brought inside and placed
in a pit. The door is closed, and
water is poured on the stones,
producing heat aimed at releas
ing toxins in the body. In tradi
tional ceremonies, the person
who pours the water is said to
have an innate sense about the
conditions of others inside the
sweat lodge, many times recog
nizing problem s before they
physically are presented.
Day after day, Lewis and his
com panion, C heryl Jo aq uin ,
slipped into a central Arizona
courtroom to listen to trial tes
timony. Prosecutors hardly men
tioned a sweat lodge, instead
referring to Ray’s event as a
“heat endurance challenge.”
Most of the participants had
never been in one before.
The families of the victims—
Kirby Brown, 38, of Westtown,
N.Y., James Shore, 40, of Mil
waukee, and Liz Neuman, 49,
o f Prior Lake, M inn.— asked
Lewis and Joaquin to keep in
mind their loved ones when they
could not be in court. The
couple wore bracelets bearing
Brown’s name, given to them by
her parents. On the day Ray was
sentenced, Joaquin’s children
handed a single red rose to the
victim s’ fam ilies to promote
healing.
Brown’s mother, Virginia, ex
pressed sorrow “that their sa
cred traditions were defiled in
this event.”
“We have experienced hun
dreds of years of generational
transgressions against our way
of life and the value of human
life for the purpose of power
and greed,” Joaquin, of the Gila
River Indian Community, wrote
as Ray was being sentenced.
“Today we pray and envision a
time of unity for all mankind,
with a humble understanding of
love, peace and harmony.”
Lewis was among a group
who sued Ray following the cer
emony, alleging that Ray violated
the Indian Arts and Crafts Act
by running the sweat lodge. A
federal judge dismissed the civil
complaint, saying the act applies
to goods, not services.
Bill Bielecki, an attorney rep
resenting the Black Hills Sioux
Nation Treaty Council on South
Dakota’s Pine Ridge reservation,
said the trial would encourage
non-Natives to focus on safety
when running sweat lodge cer
emonies.
“They’re going to look at the
facts,” said Bielecki, who also
He charged more than
$9,000 to partici
pants o f his five-day
Spiritual Warrior”
event that culminated
with the sweat lodge.
was party to the lawsuit, “You
don’t use a large sweat lodge,
you make sure people can leave
and you don’t coerce the occu
pants into staying beyond their
limits or capabilities. If you do
that, then you avoid gross negli
gence.”
Ray touted his sweat lodge
ceremony as “hellacious hot”
and said he learned from a Na
tive American shaman. He told
participants shortly before they
entered the structure that he
would incorporate teachings
from different cultures and re
ligions, according to an audio re
cording played by prosecutors.
Ray said a friend once told him:
“no one has been in a sweat
lodge until they’ve been in your
lodge.”
He charged m ore than
$9,000 to participants o f his
five-day “Spiritu al W arrior”
event that culminated with the
sweat lodge.
Three people died and 18
others were hospitalized, yet oth
ers emerged with no problems.
The deaths and illnesses sparked
outrage among American Indi
ans, who drew distinctions be
tween what Ray did and what
would be considered a tradi
tional American Indian sweat
lodge.
Jonathan Ellerby, author of
“Return to The Sacred: Ancient
Pathways to Spiritual Awaken
ing,” said the trouble Ray en
countered suggests a breakdown
in either training, facilitation or
the unskilled blending of mate
rials and oractices.
“Sweat lodges and fasting are
ancient traditions that promote
health and healing when done
well,” said Ellerby, a non-Native
who also has run the ceremo
nies. “The trouble is that any
thing that can help, if misused
or poorly delivered can hurt,
even kill. This raises a lot of
questions about qualifications,
cultural appropriation and in
tent.”
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