Excerpt 

The rocks lit up, and scorching steam pumped out of the pit and billowed into the tarps and branches that made up the low ceiling of the sweatlodge. The glow of the stones faded and it became instantly hot and hard to breathe. Brown skin shimmered in the dark. Heartbeats vibrated through bare shoulders and thighs rubbing side by side. The elder splashed water on the rocks four more times.

“I have brought you all here tonight because you need this. I have known each of you since you were babies, bringing new hope and joy into this community. But that hope has been gone for a long time and I know you aren’t happy anymore. None of you. It’s not your fault, but it’s up to you to restore that hope, and the old ways. This can help.

“We sit here tonight because we need to cleanse our spirits. We’ll sing songs to the four directions and learn from each of them. This will give you a better understanding of who you are as Anishinaabe people. This place represents the womb of Mother Earth. In here you are back with your mother. The purest you have aver been. But there is a delicate balance between here, the Spirit World, and the world we know outside. The world we struggle with every day. When I pour this water on these rocks it cleanses you inside and out. But you need to help yourself too.”