What is the origin of the sweat lodge?

Answer 1

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The sweat lodge is a ceremonial sauna used by North American First Nations or Native American peoples. There are several styles of sweat lodge including a domed or oblong hut similar to a wickiup, a teepee, or even a simple hole dug into the ground and covered with planks or tree trunks. Stones are heated in an exterior fire and then placed in a hole in the middle of the floor.

Traditions

Rituals and traditions vary from region to region but often include prayers, drumming and offerings to the spirit world. Some common practises associated with sweat lodges include:

• Placement - The lodge is placed in a location that will facilitate communication with the spirit world.
• Orientation - The location of the door may be based on the purpose of the sweat lodge.
• Construction - The lodge is generally built with great care and with respect to the environment and to the materials being used.
• Offerings - Tobacco and other plants are often used as an offering. They can be smoked in a traditional pipe, sprinkled on the hot stones or offered to the fire.
• Dog soldiers - Sometimes one or more persons, called 'dog soldiers', will remain outside the sweat lodge to tend the fire, place the hot stones, protect the ceremony and assist the participants.

History of the Sweat Lodge

Use of the sweat lodge was chronicled by the earliest settlers in America. In 1665, David DeVries of New York observed Indians "entirely clean and more attractive than before" while sweat bathing.

Roger Williams of Rhode Island wrote in 1643: "They use sweating for two ends: first to cleanse their skin; secondly to purge their bodies, which doubtless is a great means of preserving them, especially from the French disease (probably influenza) which by sweating and some potions, they perfectly and speedily cure."

George Catlin wrote a lengthy description of the Mandan's sweat lodge in 1845, ending with the comment: "Such is the sudatory or vapour bath of the Mandans, and, as I before observed, it is resorted to both as an everyday luxury by those who have the time and energy to indulge in it; and also used by the sick as a remedy for nearly all the diseases which are known amongst them.

Our family has a Cherokee heritage, where sweat lodges are certainly used. I have observed this ritual throughout several other tribes as well. This includes the Sioux, Blackfoot, and Chippewa Plains Indian trribes, as well as the Pueblo tribes in the Southwest (such as Navajo, Havasupai, and Paiute), all the way to California Chumash tribesmen.