Inipi (Ceremonial Sweat Lodge) on Catalina Island

ceremoniallodge

Led by President Ann Muscat, the Catalina Island Conservancy not only backed the Buffalo repatriation project, it donated a gorgeous piece of land on the Island to build a traditional Lakota Inipi (Sweat Lodge). The Sweat Lodge is a monument dedicated to the Buffalo and the Islands 85 year old history of awareness and actions related to the plight of the American Indian. It was traditionally built by Roy Stone Sr, John Red Bird and Michael Stuart Ani.A wildfire scorched the entire side of the Island that the Inipi was built on. Everything on that side of the Conservancy was destroyed except the Inipi. The fire came within three feet of the Sweat Lodge, and burnt all around it, but never touched it. Recognizing this extraordinary event, the Catalina Island Conservancy and the Boy Scouts of America, dedicated a bronze plaque honoring the Buffalo, Grandpa Roy Stone Sr., and the Native American people.