Tom Tingle/ The Associated Press Investigators look over a "sweat lodge" on the grounds of Angel Valley Retreat Center near Sedona Friday where two people died and an estimated 19 others were taken to hospitals after being overcome while sitting in the sauna-like sweat lodge during a Sedona spiritual retreat, authorities said Friday.
SEDONA - Two people have died and a total of 19 received treatment at one of three medical centers Thursday night when participants collapsed after a New Age-type sweat lodge experience near Sedona.
As many as 68 reportedly crowded into a tarpaulin-covered dome at the remote retreat in Deer Pass Valley about 6.5 miles south of West Sedona along Oak Creek. The domed structure is about 30 feet long and about shoulder high, estimated Merry Shanks of the Verde Valley Fire District, the agency that commanded the rescue.
Angel Valley Retreat operators say they rented out the lodge to another group for the Thursday event. In addition to the 48 participants, three staff members and three members of the "Dream Team" were in the sweat lodge, where operators pour water over hot rocks to create steam in the enclosures.
James Arthur Ray played host for the event for a "Spiritual Warrior" phase of his "Journey of Power Experience" series of lectures presented across the country. Participants told Sheriff's Office investigators they paid $9,695 for the experience. Ray was in the shelter at the time of the illnesses. Investigators interviewed him, and he since has left the retreat center.
Shanks retreat participants said the "experience" had eight "rounds" over a two-hour period.
The Verde Valley Fire District initially responded about 5:19 p.m. to a reported emergency medical incident, but it quickly escalated as sweat lodge participants reportedly "coded."
"While we were there more and more people were getting sick," said Shanks, spokeswoman for the Verde Valley Fire District.
Eventually, three medical helicopters carried four victims to Flagstaff Medical Center. Ground ambulances responded from Sedona Fire, Montezuma-Rimrock Fire, Verde Valley Ambulance and Camp Verde Fire.
Doctors pronounced two of those taken to Verde Valley Medical Center dead shortly after arrival. They were a middle-aged man and a woman. Authorities are withholding their names pending notification of relatives.
A preliminary assessment by the Camp Verde Haz-Mat Team showed no hazardous materials. Camp Verde Fire Spokeswoman Barbara Rice notes that authorities conducted tests nearly an hour after the first call and when the structure had been ventilated. Crews found carbon monoxide traces in the "voids" between the covering blankets, and a lack of oxygen.
Five patients taken to Sedona Medical Center were treated and released. A total of 12 went to Verde Valley Medical Center. Seven were treated and released Thursday. Three more were admitted, treated and released Friday. Of four patients flown to Flagstaff Medical Center, four remained in critical condition Friday and one is in fair condition.
Robert Resendes, director of the Yavapai County Health Department, says the department inspects the kitchen at the retreat in another building, but does not have any authority over the sweat lodge.
Yavapai Sheriff's Office detectives arrived Thursday night to begin the unexplained death investigation. They interviewed principals in the activities and were to obtain search warrants to determine if evidence exists in other buildings at the retreat.
The 70-acre retreat lies at the end of a rough Forest Service Road on the east side of Oak Creek.
The retreat area has been closed to the press and public pending the investigation.
INITIAL REPORT:
(AP) - Two people died and an estimated 19 others were taken to hospitals after being overcome while sitting in a sauna-like sweat lodge at a Sedona retreat, authorities said Friday.
About 50 people were in a crudely constructed "sweatbox" next to an open sitting area at the 70-acre Angel Valley resort Thursday evening, Yavapai County sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said. The facility nestled in the forest about 20 minutes from Sedona provides spiritual retreats.
Many people began feeling ill after about two hours in the sweat box, emerging lightheaded and weak, said Verde Valley Fire District Chief Jerry Doerksen.
About 21 people were taken by ambulance or helicopter to area hospitals, where two were pronounced dead, D'Evelyn said. The dead were identified only as a man and woman, both middle-aged.
Three people taken to Flagstaff Medical Center were listed in critical condition Friday, and another was in fair condition. Three others who were admitted to a hospital in nearby Verde Valley recovered quickly; two of them were released overnight and one was reported in good condition Friday.
Sheriff's homicide investigators were working to determine what happened and whether any criminal actions might have been a factor in the incident, D'Evelyn said. They were at the resort Friday interviewing the retreat director, staff and guests.
D'Evelyn said authorities were checking into whether any of the attendees had preexisting medical conditions and the possibility that some of the people might have been fasting.
"There are a lot of issues that may have led up to these injuries and deaths," he said.
"It's not something you'd normally see at one of the resorts there," he added, "and it's unfortunate regardless of the cause."
Doerksen, whose fire district responded to emergency calls, said he sent a hazardous materials team into the sweat lodge to test for carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other contaminants.
"The test they ran didn't show anything out of the ordinary," he said.
Sedona is a resort town about 115 miles north of Phoenix famous for its red rocks. It is well-known as a center for the modern spiritual movement.
A woman who answered the phone at the resort Friday said its founders, Michael and Amayra Hamilton, would have no comment. The resort's Web site credits various vortexes, a creek and the surrounding vegetation as a way to transform, heal and nourish visitors.
Posted: Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
"Bogus" Shamen? "Would be" mystics... Hey! News flash people: 100 percent of people claiming ANY connection to a non-existent "spirit world" or "supernatural" anything are bogus!
Also:
Should we have compassion for the families of the deceased or injured? of course! But for the dummies who participated? Heck no! No more than we should have compassion for anybody who is hurt or killed willfully doing something demonstrably stupid.
Sure: Cook yourself in a steamer... How very transcendent... Also worthless and in some cases, very harmful.
Posted: Sunday, October 11, 2009
Article comment by:
Barbara Cargal
I have sponsored sweat lodges at my farm for many years and never did we require anyone to give money. No real sweat lodge would require money to be given. This amount of greed has resulted in the same amount of grief.
Posted: Sunday, October 11, 2009
Article comment by:
Karen
Sweat lodges are also common in indigenous european cultures. But I do think this is not the time or the place to bring up the whole indian-nonindian thing. can we come together in support of those families who have lost loved ones, and for those struggling with loss at this time?
Posted: Sunday, October 11, 2009
Article comment by:
CanWeKa
Hello - I am sending this comment in hope that it gets out into the wider public or the people in the area where this happened.
First of all, I know that the families that this happened to are probably not from this surrounding area where this happened. But my condolences go out to them.
I am from the Oceti Sakowin Omniciye People, My bloodline comes from the Tintunwan, I am WaJaJe Oglala, and originally from this land we call Turtle Island. When I hear about misuse of not only our traditional ceremonial ways but also our traditional structures, this concerns me! I am not here to elevate anyone or elevate labels or tags people put on themselves. What I mean by that is whenever you give undo publicity to something of this nature it elevates the negative not the positive.
This American society we live in today has never wanted to recognize the Native Cultures out right. Yet they imposed the totalness of their culture on us even their citizenship. We have not been given the right to be our own souvenir nations in our own homelands. This is why these things occur because our teachers are being oppressed. We don’t have any rights to govern our own ceremonies so anybody can use/run the lodge/ ceremonies any way they want. And because they don’t realize what it takes to live in the native way of life they abuse not only our ceremonies but also our laws. And that is apparent by charging people in this time when this recession has taken everyone down. The $9,000.00 and something that was charged for each individual taking this work shop, Which adds up to around $600,000.00 total just for this one workshop. Most so called Native Tribes here in the United States don’t even see half of that amount for their budget yearly. These ceremonies should be given back to the rightful people of this Turtle Island and not be used by anybody of European decent without the proper understanding of what these ceremonies consist of which could take generations. I run Stones Peoples Lodges i.e. (sweat lodges). I don’t charge people and this has been a handed down way of life. It was passed down generation to generation, for over 17 generations. So this gives me the right to run these ceremonies.
My name is CanWeKa, (WaJaJe Tintunwan)
Thank you
Posted: Sunday, October 11, 2009
Article comment by:
joy
I've been in two sweat lodges in my life. It's very spiritual and run by a Native Am. It is clear after four flaps that you are to leave, and if clostrophobic you sit near the chief, and lower to the crowd allow air from the TPee to the ground. I cannot fathom 50 nor paying, it's all donation, it's all very kind and spirtual. This is a sad time, and sadder knowing the person charged almost 2,000, for a spirtual journey. This is NOT typical of any sweat lodge.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Lizzard
This is so sad. People cut down in the prime of life. I did have an experience with a sweat lodge many years ago. I stayed in there as long as I could, even after I got so over-heated that I could hear my own heart beating. I never would have thought that my life was in danger. I think that it will turn out that those unfortunate individuals were exposed to unacceptable levels of carbon monoxide. I just pray that God is helping their families.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Got off track and admitted it!
OMG, 'no name provided' is using this sad event to exert his opinion on the state of Indian reservations and the litter. I knew these comments couldn't go on without someone bringing up the race card. What a sad person. I feel sorry for you 'no name provided'. Why do you live in Arizona with its large population of Indians and reservations? Oh look, I did exactly what 'no name provided' did. I got off track!! Condolences to the families of the two dead and hope for fast healing for the survivors.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
dressed and sweaty
To "Name Optional": Nope, didn't make it up. Could have been mistaken about the fire going on while we were inside, and apologies if I misremembered. (Seems the smoke from a fire would surely have killed us all, as there certainly was no ventilation.) The rest of it -- steam-searing of the lungs and so on -- was quite real. The heat was incredible -- much more intense than any sauna or steam room I've ever experienced -- and we were packed in very tightly. Whole thing felt like a recipe for heart failure. Worst to endure though was the hokum-smokem dialogue and the "channeling" or whatever it was supposed to be. I've had more moving spiritual experiences from going 130mph on a motorcycle. Maybe if we'd had some peyote...
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Sad
The native lodges i've been to
1. never charge money , donations were optional never stressed and used to purchase wood or gas for person running the lodge.
2. The person who ran the lodge was not given the right to do so until he or she followed many ceremonies/ protocols that gave them the right to run the lodge from their peers.
This is not a weekend workshop kind of thing it is a committment and takes usually several years before one is allowed to run one.
3. They NEVER used plastic to cover the lodge . The lodge was supposed to breathe . Sometimes in winter months it was lowered a little to hold in heat when its 32 degrees or lower out and raised in the summer months .They never overfilled the lodge with people everyone had adequate space and they were told if it got to hot to get low to the ground where it is cooler , even poke a hand under the bottom to let some cool air in. People were told also if they felt they were having difficulty to speak up .
4. The rounds never lasted more then maybe 20- 35 minutes then the flap was opened so the cool air would come in,water was passed to drink or juice, once again the lodge covering was breathable material (blankets , canvas tarps without water proofing etc.)There were four rounds total each had a significance as to what that round was about.
5. The lodge leader was always aware of the other people participating in the ceremony.
6. Everything used in the lodges were explained when newcomers participated . Oh and no one was naked nor was one ever asked to remove clothing, they did have sort of a dress code when mixed (men and women ) were in the lodge. This also i was told traditional .
I think the misuse of the lodge in this case is a tragedy and hope it does not cast a shadow over the ceremonies that have been done safely for eons.
I have participated in these with Lakota, Dakota, Northern Cheyenne, Crow , Navajo,Apache, and Shoshone running the lodges and NEVER has there been a bad incidence .
These traditonal ways are done so for a reason ! While every culture may have some kind of sweat or sauna ceremony I feel it is the native americans who have carried this ceremony most honestly and NOT the new agers or wanna be's .
It is unfortunate that those in Sedona ran into a situation that from my perspective put them at risk .
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Perhaps I'm being simplistic, but doesn't the human body expel C02 naturally, combine that times 60...
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Name Optional
To "dressed and sweaty": If there was a fire under the rocks in the sweat lodge you were at, then there was a fire INSIDE the sweat lodge - which is never done in a sweat lodge, there is never supposed to be a fire going on as it gives off smoke and light, two things that shouldn't be in a sweat, so if you really were in a sweat with a fire and not just making this up, then you were not in one that was done correctly.
Sweats have been going on for centuries, all over the world in different cultures, not just Native American. It is not a "new age" phenomenon and it is usually a safe and healthy thing to take part in.
Let's wait and see what the investigation shows us. There could have been toxins abound somewhere, or there was some other source of illness.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
to No name provided, I dont understand your comment "You have to have great respect for Mother Earth and the powers she has..." have you seen the empty beer cans/bottles/tires/ect blatenly discarded on reservation? From what I have seent you make that statement hard to belive. Now maybe there are some tribes/reservations that are not like that, but I havent seen them yet.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
lesee... 5 + 2 am 59??
Hutchinson's article says there were "as many as 68" people and then in the next paragraph says 54 (48+3+3), then the AP article says "about 50", then Carl says "60 naked", then Chris makes it into "87" but sticks with the "naked" thing that's NOT in either article. I know numbers and reading are just real tricky for some people, but C'MON!
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
honkybrujo
You teabaggers have no compassion at all. I bet you would be upset at the loss of lives and injuries if at your next cross-burning it fell and hit some Klan members.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
dressed and sweaty
Carl: 60 NAKED people?!!? Count me in! For prurient reasons I read the article over and over, looking for the reference to nakedity (yeah, made up that word) -- but, alas, could not find it. Commandment #2, Carl: "learn to read accurately". (Sweat lodges, like lawn darts, will no doubt now be outlawed "so this terrible tragedy can never happen again.") ------ I did one of those sweat lodge things one time. There were about 20 of us, none naked, just sweaty and stinky and listening to some blather about journeys and warriorism or some such; and the "lodge" was well sealed with a fire heating the rocks for steam, which felt, indeed, like inhaling fire. Certainly there was a dearth of oxygen and plenty of CO and CO2. Figured I was probably gonna die, was surely courting heart attack, and didn't care because I was so depressed from the bad relationship that made me want to be there in the first place. A couple of people bailed after the first couple of "rounds", but I stuck it out because I'm an idiot. I emerged from the experience still heartbroken and feeling not a bit like a warrior, but more like a schmo. And for only $20! It's good to try everything at least once in life -- or maybe not.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Realized too late
Seriously, these who attend every "spiritual" meeting that comes down the pike are searching for what will satisfy their desire to understand the "universe". They are experimenting to find the ultimate experience, the unforgettable, whatever is far above the "ordinary", quite comparable to those who searched for the perfect, mind-blowing high back in the 60's. It's an unsavory comparison, but still gives us something to think about. They all put their lives on the line, and sometimes lose it. How deceived they are to think they are outsmarting their Creator.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Shows non-native people why our ceremonies are scared to us, Native American people. You have to have great respect for Mother Earth and the powers she has... I hope these people get better.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
CO2?
They had to have inhaled something that killed them. Just the heat/sweat wouldn't kill 2 healthy persons. Carbon monoxide could do it and could have been gone by the time it was tested for by the fuzz. I bet the autopsy will show CO2 in their blood, and it stays for a long time after death. Tragic accident but my bet is that the sweatbox was unsafe.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
mike
hey Jimbo,
I did the human math after reading your comment...
you didn't add up
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Chris Bergman
Derek, let's be realistic. Yes, it's a tragedy that two people died, but these people spent nearly 10 grand each to experience the "power" of sweating naked under a tent with 87 other people. There simply NEEDS to be a consequence to stupid. If there wasn't, everybody would be doing it. bergman_blogs@yahoo.com
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
jim v.
"You people"
Spoken like a true misinformed (do the political math)
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Derek
I can't believe how lah tee dah all these comments are. How incredibly misfortunate for these people regardless of the circumstances. I'm not into the new age thing either but I have some compassion for the human race. You people should be ashamed of yourselves.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Dan Foxx
I was in Spiritual Warrior with James A Ray at the Angel Valley Resort in October 2005. I left the sweatbox in fear after less than 1 hour. I witnessed most people stay in it for much longer. I remember one man came out swinging and punched a women! Soon after that he was rushed to a hospital VIA ambulance! Why were there no red Flags raised then? Why did 2 people have to lose their lives?! :-( .... I experienced his harsh and what i felt was selfish acts. I felt as if he was making himself to be a profit. I am available for further questions if need be. I feel as though he deserves to be charged with their deaths.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Chris Bergman
Okay, I give in. If this is how they're gonna spend it; go ahead, tax the rich! bergman_blogs@yahoo.com
Posted: Friday, October 09, 2009
Article comment by:
trippetta
Hey I need money, even have some crystals form childhood trips to the desert with my family, plus some knowledge of Native American spirituality; I'll set up a medicine circle in my bathroom for anyone interested and only charge $1,000.00, only no nudity please.(Seriously though, my condolences to the family, it's a shame some people are duped by bogus shaman and would be mystics)
