Pine Ridge man sues Arizona retreat center over sweat lodge practicesBy Mary GarriganFloyd Hand Jr., who serves as an Oglala delegate on the treaty council, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Arizona earlier this month against James Arthur Ray and the Angel Valley Retreat Center.
Hand contends the "inikaga" ritual, commonly referred to as a sweat lodge, was desecrated by Ray when three people died and 18 others were hospitalized after a sweat lodge ceremony Oct. 8 that was part of Spiritual Warriors program that they paid about $9,000 to attend. The retreat center is legally responsible for allowing individuals like Ray to rent their property, which offers a sweat lodge for paying participants, Hand said. The lawsuit also alleges fraud on the part of Ray and the center for the "impersonating Native Americans" and for dismantling the sweat lodge immediately after the tragedy.And:
Also named as defendants in the suit are the U.S. government, U.S. Attorney Eric Holder, the state of Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer and state Attorney General Terry Goddard for failure to uphold the "bad men" clause of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. Article 1 states, "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..."Comment: For more on the subject, see
Suing the Sweat Lodge Killer and
New Age Mystics, Healers, and Ceremonies.
2 comments:
How much money has the owner of The Angel Valley Retreat made off this sort of thing? How can someone say that they intend to "approach it from the heart and make something positive out this.. because the owner, quote: "highly appreciates the indigenous peoples and those who feel a strong connection with them" the owner stated, when many, 'still living' Native American tribes exist in utter poverty all across the country watch as people such as these all across the country continue to capitalize upon them for the purpose of gaining enormous profit for themselves and those they are in partnership with by promoting the claim of obtaining extreme wealth, quote: "through the 'essence and power' of their ceremonies". The appreciation the owner states she has toward the indigenous peoples seems to be from the fact of having made enormous profit, because there is no documentation to support this claim that is being marketed, due to the fact that, quote: "through the 'essence and power' of their ceremonies" has been attempted to be marketed into avenue to profit and wealth. Where is the substantiation to this claim, if this is not an endeavor to commandeer something that cannot rightfully be bought? No practicing Native American has ever obtained extreme wealth this way, as J.A.R. pitched for sale on his site that "Yesterday's biggest nerd is today's richest man in the world (and he doesn't even have a college degree) ". If she truly "highly appreciates the indigenous peoples" as she claims other than for the fact of having made enormous sums of money through the years under the guise of pitching Native "essence and power" for the price of one of these retreats and partner to any numerous book profits & royalties, she would not state that she intends to "approach this.." by endeavoring to divert the focus solely into "honoring the people who lost their lives" then only merely making the statement that she merely acknowledges, quote: "the native traditions that feel offended and hurt" she would truly be ready to take the responsibility of being partner to not only the deaths but also to the Lakota lawsuit for which she unmistakably should also held legally accountable to.
Amayra Hamilton owner of A.V. Retreat says that by "listening to your heart she understands" and "highly appreciates the indigenous people and those that feel strongly connected with them"... try telling that to a children on Pine Ridge (or any other reservation) that is crying from hunger & cold and missing their grandmother that froze to death the previous winter, living in abject poverty GREATER THAN MANY 3rd world countries, living in a home that has broken windows, no basic appliance such as beds, refrigerators or stoves, that can't speak for herself here. Existing in a place where Internet & computers are RARE, where the per capita income is $5000 dollars a year. After having made the press comment "that acting and reacting based on judgment, anger and revenge is not honoring those who lost their lives" why should Amayra Hamilton suggest the focus only be toward "honoring the lives of the people who lost their lives"... attendees that shelled out 2 times the amount of money that it takes indigenous people living in abject poverty to make? Most of these indigenous people she says she "so admires" haven't the energy to think about "anger and revenge" they are too busy just trying to survive one more winter, much less have any access to a computer or help this woman make her fortune by "sharing with the world the beauty of their traditions, to share the 'essence and power of their ceremonies' and increase awareness"
Exactly what kind of "appreciation and connection" does this woman feel she has with indigenous peoples anyway???
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