Buffalohair,Was Justice Served in the James Arthur Ray Sweat Lodge Case?

Was Justice Served in the James Arthur Ray Sweat Lodge Case?

James “Snake Oil” Ray will get off with a few years in the joint and probably have his sentence reduced when the eyes of the public are gone. It is funny, in a dark way, what money can buy a guy who sold spirituality ending in the deaths of innocent trusting human beings. But for the families of Kirby Brown, 38, of Westtown, New York; James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee; and Lizbeth Marie Neuman, 49, of Prior Lake, Minnesota, justice will never be served. The loss of their loved ones will always leave a big void in their hearts and there is no dollar figure that could possibly replace their loss. Eventually James Arthur Ray will literally get away with murder and be free to hock his bogus wares to other unsuspecting people seeking spirituality enlightenment.


This should be a grave reminder to people that true spirituality can never be bought or sold and those who do are fools or frauds. Within my tradition the sweat lodge is a sacred place and material consequence has no place in this hallowed ceremony. Building a monstrosity that housed about 60 people was far from the traditional sweat lodge mine and many other tribes build for ceremony. This was more like Dante’s Inferno or trip to hell rather than a place to reflect, purify and pray. People had to pay about $10,000 for a bogus Spirit Warrior extravaganza. Wonder if Jimmy sold tee shirts, baseball caps and coffee mugs after these fetid events? The medicine was bad from the very beginning. It did not follow any traditional protocol I’m aware of, not by a long shot. Instead of purifying the people they were broiled ultimately killing three and injuring at least 15 innocent souls in the process during this pseudo ceremony.


Well the jury is still out on the penalty phase of this case but since he was convicted of the lesser of all charges he will not see much time behind bars. Hopefully he will not be sent to a “resort prison” like so many other affluent people do these days but a real prison where he might learn some hard lessons. Maybe the home boys will teach him some respect for native traditions and err of his ways while he wiles away in his concrete penthouse. Then I guarantee justice will be served and just maybe Jimmy will think twice before using traditions from a culture he is oblivious of just to make a buck. It was an insult to our culture that this bonehead used our traditions to scam people in the first place. It tore our hearts out knowing his antics lead to the demise of innocent people and our prayers go out to the victim’s families for their loved ones will never come home.


Your Devil’s Advocate
Buffalohair