WARRIOR VOX

       The fire crackled under the Spring sun. "What is the main purpose of the lodge?" I asked the water pourer, a man of mixed ancestry, Dakota, Ojibwe, French and German.       He answered without hesitation.      "Prayer and purification. We pray, and we purify. When we purify, we make ourselves wakan , holy. This helps to bring ourselves closer to our Creator, Wakan Tanka , the Holy Spirit."      I have never found a better explanation for the point of participating in a sweat lodge, or inipi ceremony. This man was dedicated to his way of life, and held every activity at the site of the lodge with reverence, a quiet calm and clarity in all of his movements and words expressing his faith and dedication.      Reflecting back on the many seasons I have walked the road of beauty, the Red Road of Native American spirituality, I am filled with gratitude. Early on, I was named and trained as a helper, sca...