Thursday, April 14, 2011

Sweat Lodge Prayers


A largely Christian community of Native North Americans in Quebec has banned a spiritual practice traditional to their people, the Cree. The decision has disappointed some ministers in native communities in the United States and Canada.

The Band Council of Oujé-Bougoumou, a village of about 600 James Bay Cree, voted in October to dismantle a sweat lodge some residents had constructed. The council decided that Oujé-Bougoumou's Christian founding elders had not intended the community to partake in "native spirituality or practices."

"The practice of the sweat lodge and its rituals are not restricted to merely medical [pursuit] of healing, but [are] in essence a way to contact and communicate with the spirit world through shamanism," the resolution declared.

To read more, click here.

2 comments:

Joe Mahler said...

Apparently these Christian Crees understand the spiritual danger of syncretism. Orthodox Anglicans should understand and avoid papist practices, liturgies, ornaments, and fixtures in their services. They will certainly corrupt. We should thank these Crees for their excellent example.

b3nnii said...

LOL a village of 600? and that is not the picture from ouje! just google ouje and you should see the picture on the first page or second. and the populations is roughly over 1,000 yea that's all i wanted to say....