"When the novice had recovered she was taken into the high mountains in the summertime by her mentor and her male relatives (as many as ten of them). They went to a prayer seat, cekce>l, a semicircular enclosure of rock – sometimes river rock brought from below ... . ... the novice and her teacher swept the seat carefully [http://texts.00.gs/Standing_Ground,_5.htm]." ~ Thomas Buckley : Standing Ground : Yurok Indian Spirituality. U of CA Pr, Berkeley, 2002.
Insider information: the photos in the gallery were taken in response to questions from Norman Muller, who one commented that "The Yurok Indians weren't the only tribe in the West to construct prayer seats, so the question is, among which tribe in the West did they originate? Plus, they weren't always oriented toward a celestial feature, as many here in the Northeast believe. A sacred mountain or simply a spectacular vista, one that would lead to a successful vision quest, was sufficient." (See: http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/2008/09/yurok-karok-and-rocks.html)
There are more images of other tsektsel in the other galleries. Alyssa writes, "All are connected; woven into a single network by Andesite rock walls. Elders have called these walls "Spirit Paths."
Image from: http://www.ancientpathsofshastina.com/
And you may note the "Links to Friends of APOS" on the side bar; it mentions "A great blog on RockPiles: http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/2012/01/photos-to-compare.html
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