April 21, 2005

Personal sweat lodge experience recounted

Culver Academies students studied American Indian dances as part of Culver Academies' "Spirituality Around the World Event." Here, students perform the "Shawl Dance" on Wednesday. Tribune Photo/SHAYNA BRESLIN

   CULVER -- Danaya Almenares-Mesa's mind closed down for a time earlier this week.
   But her senses were alive.
   "It's the closest I've ever felt to our creator and our Earth," said Danaya, a junior at Culver Academies.
   She gave a personal testimony Wednesday during a school convocation honoring American Indian culture.
   She participated in a sweat lodge ceremony during Culver Academies' "Spirituality Around the World Event."
   Four American Indian guests visited the campus to share their culture with the students.
   A sweat lodge, the students explained during the closing ceremonies, marking the time the guests visited the school, is considered a place to experience somewhat of a rebirth.
   A small lodge is constructed. Lava rocks are heated and brought inside the lodge, creating the heat. Water is splashed on the coals, creating steam.
   The heat creates profuse sweating among the participants in the pitch black lodge. Singing and prayers are offered during the ceremony.
   Danaya told other students the heat outside the lodge created by heating the rocks almost hurts because it is so intense.
   But when she entered the lodge, she said, she didn't find it as hot as it probably should have been.
   Melvin Minor, one of the visitors, presided over the sweat lodge Danaya participated in.
   Minor is a Sun Dancer and assistant curator of the Sioux Indian Museum in Rapid City, S.D.
   Danaya said Minor sang, and each of the students participating offered prayers out loud, which was scary for her at first.
   But she simply opened up, she said, and shared her problems.
   By the time the ceremony was coming to an end, Danaya said she was drenched in sweat. She, remarkably, didn't feel dirty, though.
   She said it wasn't like walking around campus and getting dirty and sweaty.
   "When I left I felt so clean," Danaya said. "I was completely drenched in sweat, but I felt completely clean."
   The closing ceremonies Wednesday included opening and closing prayers by Merle Whistler, a Sun Dance chief and medicine man, as well as traditional American Indian dances performed by the students.