Stephen will be doing sweats in Belgium again at the end of the month through Canku luta. If there are any Lakota people close by (UK etc) who would like to see what this guy's up to, I can offer a place to stay.
Meanwhile, here's his opinion on the protection of ceremonies statement from Arvol Looking Horse:
>
>May 30, 2003
>
>Hello friends,
>
>My name is Stephen McCullough.
>
>When I lived in White River, South Dakota I was
involved in the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee. I
have fought for Indian rights and issues ever since,
including the protection of Native American burial
grounds, performing reburial ceremonies and getting
laws passed to protect the graves of our ancestors.
For the past 12 years I have been the leader of the
first Sundance east of the Mississippi River. The Salt
Creek Sundance was begun to honor the spirits of our
ancestors and to protect their burial grounds from
looters.
>
>I want to begin by sharing some experiences I've had
over the years listening to my elders and learning
from them.
>
>We all have seen that thousands of non-Indian people
and Indians from other tribes have been asked to put
their pipes away and not go on their Vision Quest, or
pour water in the sweatlodge ceremony, or sundance.
>
>So my question is, could the more than three hundred
tornadoes that recently occurred across America with
all the ensuing casualties be a sign as to what can
happen when pipe people stop praying and are asked to
stop their Sundancing commitments?
>
>I say these things to explain that many elders say
that when a pipekeeper puts their pipe away, or
doesn't keep up their commitments, then that person
may have a tragedy in their family or community.
>
>I want people to understand what can happen when they
turn away from the commitments they have made to the
Creator, even if asked to do so by the very leaders
who introduced them to the ways of the pipe. All those
who have stopped their commitment to Sundance or have
not fulfilled other obligations they have made with
the pipe, should consider why they chose to pick up
the pipe in the first place.
>
>As a Sundance leader, I had a vision many years ago
to not only honor the spirits of the ancestors of this
area, but to host a ceremony that would bring all
nations together, both Indian and non-Indian.
>
>Back in the 80's a Lakota medicine man put me on the
hill at Wounded Knee, S.D. The second day it was so
hot. I remember I had to lie down and I laid my pipe
on the altar while I lay on the ground. A spirit came
and took me so far in the heavens that when I looked
down on the earth, I was so far up it looked as small
as a golf ball. I saw a lot of havoc and destruction
taking place on the earth and it looked like the earth
was coming to an end. An eagle brought me back into
the center, back to the earth, and later it was
explained to me what I saw.
>
>He said, "Never lay your pipe down. If you ever lay
it down again this is what will happen to this world."
>
>In that way he explained to me the seriousness of
putting your pipe down.
>
>Stanley Looking Horse talked with me personally about
how to run our Sundance and the things he would like
to see done at our Sundance. We agreed and he gave his
blessing.
>
>Every year we've taken tobacco offerings to Green
Grass, S.D., asking for blessings from the White
Buffalo Calf Pipe for a good, strong Sundance.
>
>Now his son, at the urging of others, is asking
Sundance leaders like myself to dishonor his father's
teachings by excluding non-Indian people who have been
welcomed many places in the past.
>
>Many have shared our ways with non-Indians through
the years for many reasons. But I can only speak for
myself that I shared it with non-Indians because there
are many non-Indian people who have good hearts and
want to know the right way. I've met people who had
dreams or visions of the pipe way, and they had no
idea what it meant. They didn't even know American
Indians were still living. When I saw those things I
knew those spirits had already called them so how
could I refuse them?
>
>It was non-Indian people who fought for us in the
court system so we could have our freedom of religion.
We should give credit where it is due. We should offer
them respect. The same respect we want for ourselves
and our traditions.
>
>
