Capitol becomes stage for rain dance

ATLANTA --- Some American Indians have taken a drum-pounding plea for rain to the hallowed political ground of Georgia's State Capitol, asking for relief from the epic drought engulfing more than a third of the Southeast.

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Associated Press

A man calling himself "Six Bears" joins other American Indians in a plea for rain at the Capitol in Atlanta. People who came from Canada and New Mexico for a "walk for water" also attended.

Months after Gov. Sonny Perdue held a public prayer vigil on the Capitol steps, about 30 people chose the same site Monday for a rain dance as temperatures soared into the mid-90s.

It started with a lone drum beat. As the pounding grew louder, about a dozen voices -- Indians from Mohawk, Shoshone, Seneca and other tribes -- joined in with chanting and prayers.

"Prayer helps. We hope to do our talking to the natural world," explained Gary Adler FourStar, one of the organizers. "Life needs water and water needs life."

The drought that began gripping Georgia and neighboring states late last year has shown few signs of easing. The affected region includes most of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina and parts of Kentucky and Virginia.

Georgia officials banned virtually all outdoor watering amid fears of a water shortage in the hardest-hit northern part of the state, but they recently started to relax some restrictions.

Although few braved sweltering heat for the ceremony, some people traveled from Canada, New Mexico and California for a 10-day "walk for water" through parched northern reaches of the state.

Bennie BlueThunder LeBeau, an elder with the Eastern Shoshone in Wyoming, said the rite was intended to help heal a region "just like the body with high blood or low blood pressure."