Prayers for healing offered on steps of State Capitol

The Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Tendrils of smoke from burning sage rose to the sky and three eagles soared overhead Tuesday as Minnesotans of many faiths and races joined grieving members of the Red Lake Nation in a traditional Indian prayer service.

Hundreds gathered on the steps of the state Capitol to seek healing and purification after the shooting rampage at a home and school on the Red Lake Reservation that left 10 dead and seven others injured.

Indians formed two drum circles in front of the Capitol doors and chanted in their native tongue as others moved to the beat, remembering their friends, relatives and neighbors who lost loved ones.

"When I looked up and saw those three eagles flying, I saw that as a sign of healing," said Dave Anderson, former head of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. "I'm optimistic that out of this tragedy our young people will have a future."

Herb Sam, a traditional healer from the Mille Lacs Band, began the pipe ceremony by addressing the crowd in his native Anishinabe tongue, then recapping in English.

"This is one of those days that I cannot understand," Sam said. "I'm sad standing here and it hurts in my heart."

Sam lit the long-stemmed pipe and puffed as he turned the pipe in circles, then raised it overhead and offered a prayer in Anishinabe.

Ona Kingbird of Red Lake brought a pipe that belonged to her father, who was a medicine man, and smoked before passing it to others.

"Once again our people have been hurt," Kingbird said. "But our people are strong. We'll come out of it."

Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, Education Commissioner Alice Seagren and state Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, were among those invited to participate in the pipe ceremony.

"This is a terribly sad and tragic time for all of Minnesota," Pawlenty said. "Now we've come to grieve together. Grief wipes away all the boundaries between us."

Pawlenty said the tragic shootings do not define Red Lake.

"You have our condolences and our respect," he said.

Clyde Bellecourt, longtime American Indian Movement leader, offered up tobacco to the four directions of the universe and thanked the sacred Mother Earth for the greatest medicine of all, water, as he introduced the water ceremony.

Indian women moved through the crowd offering paper cups of water so people could "replenish tears they have shed," Bellecourt said.

"Water is life. We ask for healing and we ask for strength for those families who have lost a relative and we ask for healing for those who were injured," Bellecourt said.

As the ceremony came to a close, David Glass of the White Earth Nation, read the name of each shooting victim.

The remaining sage was then placed on a cedar fire that will be kept burning for four days in a copper firepit on the lawn in front of the Capitol.