Well, after failing to complete this page how I see other blogs with pictures displayed, I will swallow my pride, an give you this for now. This is but a glimpse of what Michelle and I do on the Crow Indian Reservation over Thanksgiving.I don't think I can put into words what visiting the 'rez' every year does for my soul. To see a sovereign people within our own borders, struggling to make ends meet, broken on the wheels of living, yet still hopeful and clinging to ancient traditions is a struggle that unfolds before my eyes. I cherish the friendships I have made and look forward to continuing my travels to Montana througout my life.
One of the great stories of going to the rez every fall is the opportunity to do a 'sweat' with Kenny Pretty on Top and his brothers and son. The sweat is made up of cherry branchesbowed to look like an igloo with numerous canvases covering it. The inside holds approximately 6-8 people. Granite rocks are heated up in an outdoor fire for 3-4 hours and then place in a pit inside the sweat.
There are four stages to the sweat:
1) Preliminary stage: Allows for newcomer to get accustomed to the heat. About 7 cups of water are poured on the granite rocks producing a steam most would not even experience in their local sauna at the YMCA. The prelim stage is about 10-12 minutes long whereupon the entrance will be opened allowing the steaming hot air to escape.
2)First 'real' stage: Canvas opening is closed and the pouring begins. About 9 cups of water are poured over the rocks in spread out by a couple minutes each. Breathing certainly becomes a factor, as the air is so hot, you have to slowly breath.
3)Second stage: After a ten minute cooldown period, the canvas is closed and now 11 cups of water are poured. The heat becomes extremely not around the head if you are sitting up. It is about this time that the 'amateurs' (me) lay down. Concentration is a must or you start to panic and hypervenilate.
4)Third and fourth stages: Similar to the first and second stages, although 13 and 15 cups of water our poured over the rocks. I've made it to the third and fourth stages once, yet rumors abound that the Natives took it easy on us white men. We were told that the second stage alone can exceed temperatures of 170 degrees.
Over the duration of the sweat, prayers are spoken in the native Crow language. It brings to mind the verse in Revelation when every 'tongue, tribe, and nation' will bow before the King. All the more considering my last experience in the sweat consisted of three white men, four Native Americans, and one Africaan from Mozambique.
How often do we think of heaven's makeup being mostly white, speaking English. With thousands of languages spoken around the world, including within our borders, this is far from truth.
posted by Andy Christophersen at 7:43 AM
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