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RITUAL HAS KILLED FIVE Desert ceremony's deadly past By EDITH BEVIN in Leigh Creek and SAM RICHES 05nov04 http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,11291752%255E910,00.html THE man who died during an Outback purification ritual is the fifth known fatality of the practice known as "a death sweat". Melbourne father, Rowan Cooke, 37, died from dehydration after performing the heat-intensive cleansing ritual on Wednesday. Mr Cooke was the leader of a 11-member group which was camping on an isolated property in the State's Far North for a "spiritual and cleansing" program. The program included a water-only fast for several days and a series of sweat lodge ceremonies, a process which involves huddling over steaming rocks inside a dome tent built from sticks and blankets. Mr Cooke is the fifth person in the past 11 years to die while taking part in such a ceremony � described by one of those victims in a letter as "a death sweat". Despite authorities around the world denouncing the dangers of the ritual, the group had no medical supplies or emergency communication equipment. Mr Cooke was a passionate advocate of the steam lodge ritual and had done it up to 300 times. Yesterday, Adrian Asfar � recovering in Port Augusta Hospital � said he was completely delirious and remembered little of the events in the steam lodge that he described as being "like a gas chamber". "I remember going in there with Maureen (Collier) and Rowan and sitting down," Mr Asfar, 30, said. "Rowan was telling a story and then I vaguely remember people pulling me here and there." Mr Asfar said he was not aware of what was happening around him as members of the 11-strong party went for help. The two men were suffering the effects of extreme dehydration caused by the sweat lodge process. Mr Asfar said Mr Cooke was responsible for organising the trip for the group of friends. "He was the one really spear-heading this. It was really far-out," Mr Asfar said. The group, who met through attending festivals and dance parties, liked to go camping and be outdoors and were interested in trying the ritual. "There's been so many odd things that are being said, but the gist is we are a group of friends interested in making lodges and stuff," Mr Asfar said. "One of the guys does a regular fortnightly sweat lodge using Maori, Aboriginal and native American structures. "It's used as a purification ritual and we walk clockwise, so if you call that a ritual, but basically it's purely as an interest," he said. But Kirsten Babcock, 34, who died in a similar ritual in California in 2002, had described it in a letter to friends as a "death sweat". One of the Leigh Creek group members, Ken Gifford, yesterday said Mr Cooke has a young son. "We've now got to go home and talk to his wife and make her understand," he said. "She knows everything about it � she's been out with us a few times, but it's not her thing. It was Rowan's passion, not her passion." The group had been surviving on apple juice and Gatorade at the campsite on remote Yankaninna station 100km northeast of Leigh Creek since leaving Melbourne on October 27. They had not told the station owners they were camping there. They had already performed one "round" of sweat lodging on Tuesday to "pray for peace for Earth". It was during the second round that things went wrong, another group member said. Mr Cooke, Mr Asfar and Ms Collier all entered the sweat lodge � built from sticks and blankets � some time between sunset and darkness on Tuesday. About 2am, a member of the group became worried and called out to the three asking if they were alright. Members of the group told police they heard Ms Collier scream "help me, help me". They pulled Ms Collier out, but they were forced to rip the sweat lodge apart to get to Mr Asfar and Mr Cooke. Both men were lapsing in and out of consciousness. Mr Cooke had also gone into shock. The two men were covered in large blisters � believed to be burns inflicted on them as the group pulled them out of the sweat lodge. About 4.30am, some of the group travelled 6km to the home of station manager Paul Doran to get help. Mr Doran took Mr Cooke in the back of his utility to try to get medical help. They were met about 70km from the station by an ambulance, but Mr Cooke died as he was lifted from the four-wheel drive. Attempts to resuscitate him failed. The group had brought the volcanic rocks they heated to create the steam for the sweat lodge with them from Melbourne, but packed no medical or emergency communications equipment. Police yesterday interviewed the group before they drove to Port Augusta to check on the condition of Mr Asfar. They were expected to return to Melbourne by tonight. "Everything was so well planned and everything was fine � there was an element there that we just couldn't know," Mr Asfar said, trying to explain what went wrong. "We only fasted for two days � we'd been eating that day and the day before. The other guys had no problems. We walked in and it was like walking into a gas chamber. "The only thing I can think of that was different was that we used bore water." Police are preparing a report for the coroner on the man's death. =========+========= FEEDBACK? http://nativenewsonline.org/Guestbook/guestbook.cgi GIVE FOOD: THE HUNGERSITE http://www.thehungersite.com/ Reprinted under Fair Use http://nativenewsonline.org/fairuse.htm =========+========= Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Native News Online a Service of Barefoot Connection Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nat-International/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
