BOULDER, Colo. - The leader of an American Indian religious group says police violated his constitutional religious rights when they forced the group to extinguish a fire pit in a back yard, which has been home to an underground "sweat lodge" for more than three years.
City officials say the "sweat lodge," or inipi, violates a long-standing city ban on open fires. They say a U.S. Supreme Court ruling backs their decision to protect public safety, especially during a spring that has already been marred by the state's largest wildfire.
On Saturday, responding police and fire crews found a group of people tending a 5-foot-wide, 3-foot-high fire pit. Nearby was a "sweat lodge," an enclosed 20-foot-wide circular tent structure made of tree branches that are bound together.
Members of the American Indian group say they heat stones in the fire and carry them to a pit in the sweat lodge, where water is thrown over the hot rocks. The steam cleanses the body of toxins and heals the body emotionally and spiritually, group members said, and the practice can be traced back thousands of years.
The group, known as Kalmeka Aztlan, has met in a member's back yard for the last three years almost every weekend. It includes about 30 people from several American Indian groups, said David Young, a spiritual leader who is Apache and Pueblo.
Conflicts between sweat lodges used for religious purposes and local urban laws are uncommon, according to the Boulder-based Native American Rights Fund and Judd Golden, vice chairman of the Boulder County ACLU.
Adrian Hise, Boulder fire marshal, said the city's open-burning ban dates back at least 20 years.
Bonfires, the burning of trash, weeds, wood and construction materials are prohibited. Exceptions include barbecues, agricultural and prescribed burns, safety flares and training fires.
Hise said the city does not grant special permits.
"The reason for the open-burning restrictions is because fires can very easily get out of hand and set fires to decks and houses and forests," he said.
Young said the fires are led by American Indians who are experienced and trained to lead ceremonies.
He said he believes the First Amendment and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 trump local laws. The act protects the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites.
But Walt Fricke, assistant city attorney, said a 1990 Supreme Court ruling established that governments can restrict religious freedom, as long as the law is neutral and applied to all persons equally. Boulder's fire law was passed with regard to public safety and air pollution, he said, and did not target religion.