Sedona, One Year After the Sweat Lodge Tragedy

From the New York Times, a discussion of the drop in tourism in and near Sedona, Arizona, in the year after the sweat lodge deaths at James Ray's retreat. The tragedy has led not simply to the charges against Mr. Ray, but to a civil suits against him by the Oglala Dakota Delegation of the Black Hills Sioux Nation Council. In the complaint, the Delegation alleges that Ray and the other defendants have violated the peace between the Lakota Nation and the U.S. under the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and desecrated the lodge (in which the ceremony was held) by causing the death of three non-Indians.Some other suits are also pending against Mr. Ray, apparently filed by former participants for breach of contract.