Pejutah Sundance

Purification Days: August 15th-18th, 2005
Tree Day: August 19th, 2005
Sun Dance: August 20th-23rd, 2005
Location: Northern California - Southern Humboldt County

This is an invitation to pray together during these difficult times. We can come together and learn from one another how to diffuse fear and anger by transferring spiritual energy into words and actions. Through awareness, creativity, and freedom, we can change our lives. Each child of the Creator, gifted with their own medicine ways, can make a difference in this holy creation. We come together to pray and to nourish ourselves and each other. We strengthen and empower ourselves by experiencing unity; we counter disempowerment by realizing that we are not alone in our struggles.

Purification - August 15th-18th: The sacred sweat lodge purification ceremony is a way of cleansing body, mind, and spirit. In the sweat lodge, we clean our bodies of toxins, clear our minds of negative thoughts, and raise our spirits. Our intention is to come into balanced with ourselves, the earth, everything that surrounds us, and to prepare ourselves for the sundance ceremony. The sweat lodge leader holds the sacred space and helps the participants with words, prayers and songs. Participants are invited to speak their prayers from their hearts. Most importantly, this is a time to come closer to ourselves, to heal ourselves, and to work on becoming better human beings.
The sweat lodge will begin at 4:00 PM every day during Purification, August 15th-18th.
Moontime (menstruating) women, pregnant women, people with heart problems, or people who have problems with heat are asked not to enter these purification sweat lodges. Clothing such as a bathing suit, shorts, or cotton sweat dress, wrap, and/or towel are to be worn in the sweat lodge. If you have questions and are not sure what is appropriate for you or your condition at the time, be sure to ask the ceremonial leader before entering the sweat lodge.

Peyote Meeting - August 18th: There will be a Native American Church service in the evening. This will be a prayer for the survival and continuation of the ancient redwood forests. The peyote meeting will start at 8:00 PM. If you have not taken part in any N.A.C. service before, please let the sundancers and sundance helpers into the teepee first. There will be enough medicine for anyone who wants to eat the sacrament and talk in person with Grandfather Peyote.

Treeday - August 19th: On Treeday, most of the people in camp will help to bring the sacred tree into the arbor and help stand it up.

Sundance - August, 20th-23rd : Anyone who wants to come into the sundance arbor to dance must have already completed a four-day vision quest ceremony. All dancers who want to pierce to the tree must dance the first three days and pierce on the fourth day. There will be no food or water for the dancers during the ceremony.

Peyote Meeting - August 24th: There will be another Native American Church service in the evening.

For more information contact Durwin WhiteLightning at Durwin45@yahoo.com , or call 541-463-7839.