By Nomi Morris
The light of a full moon through desert fog cast an ethereal glow around a spacious tepee as worshipers gathered in the foothills of Palomar Mountain last weekend for an all-night prayer meeting of the Native American Church of North America.
The Rev. John Nighthorse Tyler, a Northern Arapaho originally from Wyoming, beckoned 36 people to sit on blankets and pillows in a circle facing a carefully tended fire in the middle.
Participants had traveled to this site, 40 miles southeast of Temecula, from as far away as San Francisco to remember Albert Bianez, who died a year ago at age 61. They emerged from the womb-like tepee 12 hours later, greeting the new day as if spiritually reborn.
Read the original article at: Los Angeles Times
