Sacred fireplace

by Pete Catches

"Oceti Wakan (Sacred Fireplace) is a vision shared by Pete Catches Sr. (Petaga Yuha Mani) and his son Peter V. Catches (Zintkala Oyate), both Spotted Eagle medicine men of the Oglala Lakota. In Pete's words, Oceti Wakan is a response to events that have devastated the Dakota people over the past six generations, and is focused on creating a place "for the healing of the family as a whole by rekindling Lakota spiritual values and culture." Sacred Fireplace is part of Pete Catches' contribution to making his vision a concrete reality. A healer and teacher, Petaga Yuha Mani (He Walks With Hot Coals) was credited with reviving the traditional Sundance ceremony among the Lakota. In 1964 he was named Sundance chief by the Oglala Sioux tribal council, the only such distinction in tribal history. Pete Catches lived on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota throughout his life, and for decades healed and instructed both Native and non-Natives near his home and off the reservation. This book