20-Dec-08 12:00 PM CST

All My Relatives

As long as the grasses grow,
And the four winds blow
I feel your prayers from home
In this pile of stones…
--Bill Miller

The last edition of the DRUM contained photographs taken by Todd Silva of men in our community constructing an inipi, or sweat lodge. The Lodge Keepers Society (LKS) was blessed by the board of directors to build the lodge for our community. The lodge is built and is located on the north side of the MKP lodge between the MKP lodge and the north fence. As in all traditions that have a sweat lodge, our lodge will be used for prayer, purification and blessing. The lodge door opens in the east, as in the New Warrior tradition.

The lodge is open to the initiated community for any requested rite of purification and healing. It is also available for bachelor sweats where men will have an opportunity to purify and renew prior to taking vows of marriage, as well as for I-Groups that want to sweat. There will also be planned periodic community lodges around solstices and equinoxes, as well as for gratitude for the land and the bounty with which we have been blessed.

There are a few restrictions for conducting ceremony in our lodge. The restrictions are necessary to comply with safety and liability as well as city fire ordinances. Because of these concerns, only men who are blessed to make ceremony in the New Warrior tradition or who are blessed to lead ceremony from other native traditions are allowed to conduct ceremony in our lodge. Reasonable accommodations can be made when requested.

To learn when lodges will be held, watch the e-mail blasts form Greg’s office, the DRUM and announcements at the MKP lodge. News about upcoming lodges will be posted on the LKS bulletin board at the MKP lodge. Also posted on the LKS bulletin board are the requirements for being blessed to make ceremony in our tradition. Feel free to review the requirements at the lodge or contact either of the co-headmen for a copy.

To arrange a ceremony, speak with either of the LKS co-headmen, Rob Negrin or Vaughan Counts, or call past headman Frank Dunstatter.

Washte