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Indian Mountain group lauded for keeping sweat lodge tradition alive

Group lauded by Boulder County
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Members of the Indian Mountain group keeping the sweat lodge tradition alive in Boulder County. L-R: Levi Marinucci, Wesley Black Elk, Mike Fixica, Marty Chase Alone

Longmont’s Mike Fixica struggled for years trying to break his addictions, going to Alcohol Anonymous meetings and attempting other conventional measures to gain some peace with himself.

Nothing seemed to help. That’s when Fixica — a member of the Seminole Tribe — entered a Native American sweat lodge for the first time and emerged with a new clear, eyed fix on his sobriety.

“I tried AA meetings but it wasn’t for me,” Fixica said. “But a sweat lodge, that’s what keeps me going. The heat, the sweat, it’s just purification for your body and soul.”

Fixica is now a steady fixture at wind-swept Indian Mountain in the foothills between Longmont and Lyons. It’s there that, for two years, Wesley Black Elk and Marty Chase Alone have overseen the Inipi Ceremony, a purification sweat lodge, on the 120-acre Southdown Mountain property.

Three sweat lodges line a northern section of the Southdown Mountain property and are near a grove of trees where people often gather to talk and share potluck meals. The sweat lodges are built with bendable salix willow and are about 10 to 12-feet in diameter, said Wesley Black Elk, the spiritual advisor for the Native American Veterans’ Group. The sweat lodges are usually covered with samplings and heated by volcanic rock, Black Elk said.

A typical ceremony lasts from two-to-three hours and people are encouraged to follow their own spiritual instincts during a time of self-discovery, Black Elk said.

“We don’t care who you pray to,” Black Elk said. “This is your time to contemplate and feel.”

Black Elk and Chase Alone said they wanted to reestablish the sweat lodge ceremonies to help their fellow Native American veterans deal with past traumas caused by their service and overall isolation. 

“There are a lot of Native American veterans who are hurting, many have tried sucide and many have considered suicide,” Chase Alone said. “This is one way we feel we can help them and others.”

“Our veterans are hurting,” Chase Alone added. “They need a place to pray and heal.”

Chase Alone is an Army veteran and Black Elk served with the Marines and both are members of the Lakota tribe. They say, however, anyone can take part in the sweat lodge ceremony. “We want to help anyone who feels they need it,” Chase Alone said.

Chase Alone and Black Elk will receive Land Conservation Awards on Oct. 6 at Beech Shelter north of Boulder. The awards are given by the Boulder County Commissioners and the county’s Parks & Open Space staff for “outstanding contributions made to the conservation, preservation, and protection of land-based environmental resources,” according to a Boulder County news release.

The two mens’ work is consistent with the Southdown Indian Mountain (West Dow Flats parcel) dedication, according to a nomination letter submitted by Carrie Inoshita, Boulder County pandemic response & recovery co-manager and Jeff Moline, resource planning manager at Boulder County.

The property was donated to the county in 1997 for the purpose of protecting archeological resources and “to promote the cultural interests of Native Americans in the property,” the letter states.

The veterans’ group originally settled on a sweat lodge site established by Bill Center during the 1990s, the letter states. Access to the site presented challenges given its rugged nature, Chase Lone said. “Sometimes you could only get there by 4-wheel drive. Other people, physically, couldn’t make the trip,” he said.

The new site is easier to get to and the group began sweat lodge ceremonies in October 2019, Chase Alone said. COVID-19 restrictions suspended activities at the site and restarted again in May 2020, adhering to strict Boulder County Public Health guidelines, Chase Alone said.

Boulder County’s Inoshita said in her letter that the ceremonies performed by Chase Alone and Black Elk are important community fixtures and promote spiritual healing for veterans and others suffering from the effects of combat, military service and other life-altering events.

“They have also created an ongoing land-based experience for Native Americans in the Boulder and Denver areas,” Inoshita said.

Inoshita said the area is closely monitored by the veterans’ group and local fire agencies to make sure the ceremonies are safe. Local mental health practitioners are also consulted to ensure the safety of participants in the sweat lodges and the even more emotionally intense Vision Quests that are practices, Chase Alone said.

He said he hopes more people will get involved with the group and its ceremonies. “People need help these days, and we are just here to do what we can to help,” he said.

For more information about the sweat lodge ceremony go to South Indian Mountain Ceremony Grounds or call Marty Chase Alone at 720-249-8264.