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People in treatment at the Vashon Island center will start their mornings with a sunrise ceremony, and have access to a sweat lodge, drum circles and language classes.

During our interview, he chokes up remembering Shorty Stone, one of his closest friends, who as a member of the Paiute tribe introduced Searles to the healing and clarity he found in the sweat lodge.

The sweat lodge where the healing ritual occurs also features a bison head hanging from its roughly 50-foot-tall cottonwood center pole, which the tribe believes is a conduit for their creator’s spiritual power.

The multiday sacred ritual involves dancing, fasting and praying, often within a sweat lodge made from natural materials.

Native people say the mine will desecrate Oak Flat, a site for coming-of-age rituals for Apache women, healing sweat lodge ceremonies and other big and small moments in the lives of Native people.