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A sweat lodge is used for healing and communicating with the spirits. It is designed to be a resemblance of the mothers womb. It is primarily used by Native Americans.

Has anyone been in a sweat lodge?
What are your experiences?
Share your knowledge.


I have not been in one but am interested. I know a lot of people that are Native American. I can't seem to find a tribe that will allow a white skin like me in.

alixaryon

some do and some don't

some had told me that some white skins have abused the privilege

well I have been in sweat tent and it was the best experience in the world, My family is amer.indian and to me it was an enlightening and cleansing experience for my body, mind and soul.

plus I smoked Peote LOL which gives you the whole euphorium experience of the spirits and otherwold. I have done it 3 times now and it is always a refreshing feeling afterwards.

I've never heard of that.
And I'm supposing they won't let white people in because we've screwed them over. We took their land, oil, etc. I could confidently say that the Native American tribes hate us.

I don't think it has anything to do with someone having white skin; moreso the individual being "non-native". Where I live there are many people with Native blood in them, but are "white" by appearance.

Usually the requirement to participate in a sweat is that they be a member of the tribe. There are sweats that only certain tribal members are allowed--depedant on the type of Ceremony. The reason that non-natives are, for the most part, not allowed to attend or participate in And the reason behind that is because they often fail to understand the Ceremony's religious significance.

One way of non-natives being allowed to observe a Sweat is to be invited by a Tribal Member. Another is to contact a Tribal council in your area and find out if they would allow a non-native to observe or participate.

For those who cannot prove American Native heritage and are not related by blood or legal ties to an American Native member, some Tribes allow Membership by adoption if the interested person can establish that they follow American Native teachings in their lifestyle and are "American Native at Heart".

Most do not allow it because it is part of their spiritual journey (at least in some tribes). Many people are not allowed to take communion in a religion that is not their own, so it is expected that those that are not of that form a spirituality not be allowed in.

I was in one for what seemed like an eternity. Peyote would have helped. Don't mind sweating, but hated the immobility. Prefer to earn my sweat.

good catch Psi.... right... it is more so the not native thing.. however how many not whites do you see or hear trying to get into a sweat lodge, i have never hear of it myself.... quite possible that there has been black, yellow, brown, tan or even purple skins in the sweat lodge

Peyote is always a plus same as mary jane LOL and I am also Amer. native Indian and I have seen alot of different nationalities try the sweat tents LOL I feel everyone should try at least once or even twice. It can be a very cleansing and enlightening experience for most in my opinion .... No matter whom you are... get in tune with ones spiritual self as it were...

I have never attemted to either observe (other than at Pow Wows where they allowed the public to see how a Sweat Lodge was was set up), nor have I even thought of participating in a Sweat. But, I think I'd have taken a different approach had I wanted to.

In your first post, you didn't mention what steps you did take when persuing this venture and who it was (and their status) in the Tribe that told you that you could not participate. You also did not mention whether it was to actively participate or just observe.

Where I live there are several Native Tribes and there are always Pow Wows that are being held. You can look up the Tribes in your area and ask for more information--or if you have access, go to a Pow Wow and see if anyone there might be willig to sponsor you.

I am a tribally enrolled member and regarding my tribe, we do not discriminate against anyone, Non-Native or otherwise from joining in a Sweat Lodge. All that is asked, is that one is humble, has humility, and is genuine in their need to come into the Sweat Lodge.

Sweat Lodges, by my people, are used as a cleansing ceremony, a way of releasing all those things in one that is negative and toxic, spiritually as well as physically.

Although it is a very spiritual experience, we don't use the Sweat Lodge as a means of communicating with the spirit world. However, that doesn't mean other tribes don't use it in that sense. I can only speak for my tribe.

I have been in a sweat lodge many times in my life. It is a very calming, and wonderful experience. I always have felt more balanced, clean, and whole when I have come out of one. Often, prior to holy ceremonies, or other spiritual/physical undertakings, sweat lodges are an integral aspect to begin with. It prepares one for whatever hardship they are going to be going through, whether that is physically, mentally, or spiritually.

Also, after reading a few of the other threads, I'd like to add that we DO NOT use peyote in the Sweat Lodge. In fact, only members of the Native American Church use peyote, and that is during a Native American Church Ceremony.

In Native American Church Ceremony, we do not smoke peyote. There are several ways it is given, yes, but we never smoke it. It is never used recreationally, either.

Peyote, and the Native American Church are entirely seperate from Sweat Lodges. Neither have anything to do with the other. It is like comparing Catholicism with the FLDS - sure, they both believe in God, but that is about ends their similarities.

I have been to a sweatlodge twice in this life, We live near two reservation and I became very good friends with different people. and then there is also a sweatlodge at Starwood outside of Sherman NY

i would have to say that alot of native americans have away of doing things..and really i know alittle because of the fact that well i have a native american friend, and i live close a indian resavation, sorry for spelling, but the way i see it they all have away of doing things, and well if some dont want certin people in they have the right to not let them in or let them know about what is going on at the time.

Im sorry im not that familer with everything here but i do know some things that might make your go huh..lol

i honestly dont blame native americans for not letting white people in remember what happened last time? theirland was taken away and their land is like their mother. but i actually am native american but in south america, & im basically albino lol

As I LIVE on a Native American indian Reservation, I've heard all about them. I've never actually been to one myself, mostly out of fear, but I HAVE heard they are an interesting experience, sometimes good, sometimes bad. It depends on the person

I've had one and I found it to be too much for me to handle, and I had to get out.
I have been around a few others and everyone else has always found them to be a positive experience.

Been there, & enjoyed it. Check on the web.,many do it from home and all are welcomed. You will notice a warm feeling of many around you. You are a tribe for a little while,a peak at the inside view.

dabbler do you know this from experience

I am not sure how sweat lodges work for detox purposes. But it could be similar to the steam rooms they use for detox purposes at a rehab center that I used to work at. They called it Sauna Treatment.

As I had said earlier (and i do wonder if people read prior posts), a Sweat Lodge is a cleansing ritual. Cleansing you from the negative and toxic, physically as well as spiritually - so yes, people who are attempting to detoxify, a sweat lodge is good for such.

And I would like to reiterate, although there may be some tribes who may discriminate against having a Non-Native attend a sweat lodge, my tribe which is a part of the Three Affliated Tribes of Fort Berthold reservation, does not. And I can honestly say that of the plains tribes up here which include the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, and Yankton Sioux , as well as the Chippewa and Ojibewas, not to mention the Crows, do not discriminate against Non-Natives from attending.

Here (Sho-Ban) you generally have to be invited by a tribal member if you are not a tribal member regardless of your skin tone. There are a few sweats that are ceremonially closed to certain people. Like before the Sundance, for example, it is especially prepared for the participants.

Exactly, no one is shunned here, either, do to skin color.

But naturally, you do have to either be invited, or ask in a good, and humble way. You can't just see a one happening and wander on in, heh.

i found this article on sweatlodges and thought it to be interesting,especially the part where the native americans were not allowed to use them for a time...



In one form or another, the sweat bath pervaded cultures from the Alaskan Eskimo south into the land of the Mayans. The purpose, in most cases, went beyond getting the body clean. The sweat bath provided a cure for illness, revitalization for aching muscles, and a sense of racial identity. A Navajo who fought in World War II told me he came back for a sweat bath "to rid himself of evil accumulated during war."

EARLY CHRONICLES

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. Fevers are very rare, and in fact almost unknown amongst these people: but in the few cases of fever which have been known, this treatment has been applied, and without the fatal consequences which we would naturally predict. This custom is similar amongst nearly all of these Missouri Indians and amongst the Pawnees, Omahas, and Punchas and other tribes."

In his book, Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America (1766-68), Captain J. Carver, observing Native American customs, wrote: "Pains and weaknesses in the stomach and the breast are sometimes the result of their long fasting and consumptions of the excessive fatigue and violent exercises they expose themselves to from infancy, before they have strength to support them. But the disorder to which they are most subject is plueresy; for the removal of which, they apply their grand remedy and preventative against the generality of their complaints, sweating."

Nevertheless, the white man saw the sweat lodge, with its sacred and religious implications, as a threat. Even after the Indians were subdued, Christian missionaries and government officials systematically denied use of the sweat lodge, interrupting a continuity that lasted thousands of years. Enforcement depended upon how great a threat they felt from a particular tribe.

The Sioux, who stubbornly fought white man's attempt to "civilize" them, were punished by Indian police for simply entering the sweat lodge. More docile tribes gave up sweat lodge rituals voluntarily. In other regions, such as Mexico, sweat bathing continued without interruption as long as certain elements offensive to the Spanish conquerors were abandoned. In areas where influence of white culture was less intense, a more tolerant attitude prevailed and sweat bathing continued. This explains the integrity of my experience with the Navajos, and why the Crows of Montana, who served as scouts for the Army, have continued the practice without interruption to this day. (A present day Crow ceremony is described by Reginald and Gladys Laubin in The Indian Tipi. )

CULTURAL REVIVAL

My experience with the Ogala Sun Dance ceremony grows from a cultural revival now sweeping the Native American community. Wounded Knee, Alcatraz, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs takeover come to mind as urgent manifestations of this need for identity. Many Indian groups, such as the National Indian Unity, are reviving use of the sweat lodge in their annual conferences.

Three basic forms of the sweat bath are indigenous to North America: the hot rock method, used by the Navajos and Sioux; the direct fire chamber, heated by blazing logs; and a more sophisticated type relying on a heating duct system believed to be of Mayan origin.

http://cyberbohemia.com/Pages/historysweatlod.htm

i have been in a sweat lodge and also in a mineral bath and i am 1/2 NA and 1/2 white. Can tell you they do heal.

One would prepare a body to heal its self. Relieve some symtoms perhaps as well, but other things encrease the bath, a diet, eaten in preparation, or even fasting.. depending on the Sweats purpose.. what is done after a sitting is just as ritual as the sweat.

for about 20 dollars you can get a day pass at a 24 hour fitness, this will give you a sample of a sweat lodge in the sauna.. splashing down in cool water after is a part of the sweat.

Sorry but a sauna is not the same. You have a whole different feeling in a tent with others. Some even cry to let out all the emotions they are feeling. I felt relaxed in the mind, something I never got out of a sauna. It's more like a great meditation.

I don't feel that a sauna even slightly represents what a Sweat Lodge is like. Even the level of heat is much, much different.

I did say as a way to introduce someone to the effect. So why are you so out to correct me all the time.. are you claiming to be all knowing on sweat lodges as well?

Actually, dabbler, I am not the only one to say this. If you look at the thread above mine, you will see someone else who also feels this way.

And yes, I do know a lot about Sweat Lodges. Being raised by a very traditional Hidatsa/Mandan family on the reservation does that.

So very happy for you, yet once again you have fixed upon something I stated in a limited context, even with the word for example of what a sweat lodge is like, you both respond with reactionary comments.

Not everybody is able to stroll on down to the local reservation and sign up for a sweat, I noticed someone asking about benifits to sweats and a sweat or steam bath.. I may have used suana instead of steam bath, so a polite correction would have been less reactionary.

You are so combative, dabbler. All that I said was that I didn't think it was anything like a sauna/steam bath. You seem to fixate on anything I post in these forums, and usually attempt to argue with me about whatever I have to say, such as your statement about asking me if I also am "all knowing about sweat lodges too". That was not necessary.

Being a person who has attended sweat lodges the majority of her life, being not just Native, but also knowledgable about her tribe, and being raised by traditional people does give me more knowledge of what I am talking about then your general person.

If you need to be argumentive, combative, or whatever it is you feel the need to be, do so elsewhere. Thanks.

Dabbler- hope you didn't take it mean, but there is something so different about a sweat lodge. For others I'll tell you.Sauna or steambath can help you but Inside a tent with others for the purpose of a mental cleaning & closeness to spirit world brings you together. While in a spa its more physical and there is not that bond of the old ways.

I did not take yours as mean, or dismissive. Vespers Is more reactive, and authorative in nature. There are theraputic values to a plan steam bath as well. Not much spritual though, it is a way to invigorate a person. Ritually it is up to the person.. but I would doubt a spritual event will occur in a steam bath.

they are right dabbler..... a sweat lodge is different... how many time do you see them actually having to heat up the rocks in a sauna..... and in a sauna the lava is never white like the rocks of a sweat lodge......


the peace pipe would not be able to be used in a sweat lodge either

all spiritual purposes of a sweat lodge are ripped away when made into the americanized sauna

Once again HHW, you have embarked on a very interesting topic.
Being Cherokee and Seminole, the sweet lodge is way of cleansing the mind, body, and soul. Like a form of relaxation. I also agree with Vespers though as to the ways of the sweet lodge.
I unfortunately do not remember whether or not if the Cherokee allow the white skin into the sweet lodge and I am still learning the Seminole ways. I have some links that I will post here for you and any others that are interested.

Ok forgive me everyone for my spelling mess up.

Here is a link and a little information about the sweat lodge from about.com.

"Every sweat lodge experience is different. Ceremony themes will vary depending on the season or intention. Before agreeing to do a sweat it is good to know what rules there may be and what is expected of you. You may be asked to fast or refrain from consuming caffeine or alcohol for a day before the sweat. "

http://healing.about.com/cs/native/a/sweatlodge.htm

Here is another that might give you some more information.

"From the Great Spirit there came a great unifying life force that flowed in and through all things - the flowers of the plains, blowing wind, animals - and was the same force that had been breathed into the first man. Thus all things were kindred and were brought together by the Great Mystery."
Chief Luther Standing Bear, Teton Sioux

Information link

Well it would help if I was awake enough to post the link. :-)

http://www.enota.com/Events.htm

i have a native american friend who does sweat lodges for all peoples no matter what color skin he charges people to help them get in touch with spirit worlds /healings/ spirit guides

he is to worried to let me in one of the lodges as i have lung disease and it gets hot and smokey he fears i could not take the intencity of it all as weak as iam

i am pat cherakey and black foot.my grandmother is full bloded indian i have heard of this while growing up.
she would tell me storys about them but that was so long ago but it did inspire me.
my dream is one day to be able to visit a sweet lodge,
i know the experience would be great help to me physically and mentally.
i hope some day this dream will come true.

How does everyone feel about charging for the use of the Sweat Lodges?

I personally feel it is up to the individual.

i dont have a problem with it , i think it would be a great oppertunity to all to share in something that most cant

Personally I would think that is up to the individual or to the tribal nation that you are dealing with.

i do not think i would ever pay to go in a sweatlodge..i think its wrong to charge for something thats supposed to be spiritual but i now times have changed and everything,sadly to say...is about money.

i have been in a sweat lodge before one of the best experances i have had

I talked to a Indian last night, as his wife showed us how to read tea and coffee grounds. His tribe in which I cannot remember and if I could most likely could not spell it right. The elder is the one who decides if you can go in a sweat lodge or not. He said those who charge money are just making a profit. Before asking the elder you must take a gift of some type tobbacco or food. Many has come across giving his elder just a pack of cigarettes which is basically a insult to the elder. Skin color is not a issue for we all need to retrieve our spiritual journey.

Mysticwinds is right here. As with anything that you do concerning a Native American tribe you must always ask the approval of the elder, with out the elder you won't get far at all.

What if it is not a tribe you are dealing with? I have met a lot of great Native Americans that did not even talk to their tribe but did have a sweat lodge. Are they allowed to set things as they want them.

Went to a sweat lodge a long time ago.. Had a friend of a family member who owned a native American shop. I know i hated it.. Might have been cuz i was young and immature to enjoy it.

HHW, I would think that if they are not in a tribe and still are using the sweat lodge then it would be up to the one that has set up the lodge. It would be one of those scenarios to where its their choice as to who to let in and who not to let in. If that makes since.

See this is why I just mentioned the Steam bath.. I mean to get a peek at what it is like, I mean all the pious crap really discourages a person, the physical benefits are to be found in part in a steam bath. All the spiritual stuff can hold.

I know the mineral baths, helped me get over chicken pox quickly, also poison oak and ivy. loved to go as a kid. the baths are made for people over 6 feet tall.

I disagree Dabbler. I don't believe that the spiritual part of sweat lodges can hold. If you ignore the spiritual you would completely miss the point of the sweat lodge.

I apologise in advance for being somewhat rude with this post, and will understand completely if it has to be removed but I really have to say this.

Dabbler, you truly do come across as an arrogant and ignorant jerk, even if you do not necessarily mean to. You are arguing the toss with someone who has had a lot of experience and knows what they are talking about. Why would you keep hammering on with your point? It doesn't reflect well on you at all.

Well put DuCroix, and Irony. I thank both of you for your insight.

A Sweat Lodge is a spiritual journey. You are embarking on the task of ridding yourself of emotional negativity. The physical merits are just a small part of the whole.

If all you are concerned with are the physical aspects of profuse sweating, than open a new thread, and discuss the merits of a steam bath. Do not associate it with a Sweat Lodge as you are misrepresenting what a Sweat Lodge is, and what the point of a Sweat Lodge is about which is spirituality.

i have not been in one yet,i am partially cherokee indian so i would have to have my blood tested before they would let me in to the sweat lodge or anywhere else.if you have indian blood in you i would suggest asking for an appearance with the council.

Native ethnicity or lack of, at least regarding Plains Tribes, does not affect whether or not one is allowed into a Sweat Lodge, as I had stated earlier.

Testing and DNA proof of Native blood (which, by the way, does not give information as to what tribe you are, just that you have Native DNA which is shown by having the Q3 marker) for many tribes does not constitute tribal enrollment.

You have to have a tribally enrolled mother or father, as well as have a certain percentage of that particular tribes blood in order for you to be enrolled. As of right now, you have to be a 1/4 or more to be enrolled as a tribal member in my tribe. However, we are trying to pass a law lessening that amount to 1/8 as many of our new generation of children are quite mixed.

With most people not being of whole Native American blood, and most being Americanized, do you think the true meaning of the Sweat Lodge is being washed down with the bloodlines?

HHW. I don't think that its being washed away with the bloodlines. I think that most are putting it to one side or the other because some are still afraid of being who they are. The native American people..... well you know the story. When you do one thing for so long I believe that the other is just simply put to one side.

I for one believe that the Sweat Lodge tradition should be carried on rather than pushed to a side. It has too many good things about it.

Perhaps after another few hundred years of oppresion, depression, alcoholism, and suicide, it could be a possibility.

But then again, we have had a few hundred years of the above and the majority of us are still learning, practicing, and understanding the ways of our ancestors. Not to mention, for over two hundred years, our ethnicities have already been mixing with Non-Native blood, so in my opinion, the mixing of ethnicities has little do with the loss of culture, or identity that we may have seen. It has more to do with what I already have mentioned.

When something as important as culture, tradition, spirituality is at stake, and when that is all that you really have left, you hold onto it with all of your might. It is partially what makes you who you are, and who we are is a part of who we had been. Our ancestors are extremely important to us. To continue with our ways, is honoring our ancestors, but since this is a modern world, we have to marry these two things together which isn't as difficult as it seems.

Since we haven't yet wholly lost who we are after all the genocide, after all the massacare, slaughter, and destruction of our people, after everything that has been done to make our people lose their ways, languages, cultures, spirituality, and traditions, I, again, honestly don't think the mixing of ethnicities is going to make much of a difference.

We, as Native American people, despite all that has happened to us throughout the history of the United States, and all that continues to happen to us, are a very resilient people. In fact, if anything, there as has been a renewed interest in our more ancient ways by the younger generation. On my particular reservation, Hidatsa as well as Mandan is offered to high school students as a language option, in the same sense that Spanish, French, and German are, and, it is the most popular language course taken. That, alone, to me, says a lot. Plus, there are many other tools that are being utilized for the next generation to continue to learn the ways of our people.

No, I am confident that our tribal customs will continue, with the Sweat Lodge just being one of them.

I sure hope so, seems to be that Native Americans make a lot of sense. Most of what I have read about or heard about from Native teaches is a great read.

I am native american and well as to letting the whites in a sweat lodge.. let them in they may learn something I feel... I have friends who have no Amer. Indian and they have also had the experience of the sweat lodge, one they say that changed their out look on life completely.

It is a very spiritual thing if you just allow yourself to be one with the spirits and learn from what you see and go through, I mean there is not much more that they can take away from us yet... we as the younger generation I feel should carry on old traditions and learn all we can of our ancestors before us.. To me the Indians are the wisest of man, and it is not because I am indian yet the things that they endured and accomplished before they were destroyed and herded up as cattle in this nation.

Grant it there are many wise nationalities yet they are all the ancestors I feel and with the new generation of all nationalities, they have lost alot of knowledge over the years.

My mom was always teaching us old ways and encouraging us to learn everything of old we could and I have passed it on and so on...

It had been explained to me there were multiple reasons to call the spirits in the tents. One of which was to give an child coming of age their spirit guide, another would be to locate the origin on malicious energy surrounding a person while another explanation was some shamans were able to meditate until they became one with their spirit guide whom through which they'd (for the closest word I can think to explain the action) scry for a multitude of things.

Just reflecting on the comment about not being allowed in because of your white skin...

Keep in mind, you are a stranger asking about the most personal aspects of a culture that, in this day and age, still weaves its heritage and most ancient beliefs through their daily life. You can't possibly expect to just receive an invitation as an eager observer. You would have a better chance if you were in need of real protection from something believed to be remedied in this manner. Of course, who has any idea what would be a prerequisite for that?

I suggest developing some relationships within a tribe -- from there, you can only hope to earn enough trust and respect for them to share some information...still, not necessarily partake in actual events.

Well put CryingDutchess.

HHW, I do not want the ceremonies and teachings to stop and waste away either. Its just sometimes that is where things are pushed if that makes since.

Been in a Lakota Sweat Lodge twice now. Looking forward to another. Sorry but ..."What happens in Sweat Lodge - Stays in Sweat Lodge."

I personally haven't been in one myself yet. I have american indian in my blood. My aunt who is very in touch with her heritage who is also american indian has been in one several times. I asked her a while back what it was like all she said to me about it was that, each experince is different an that I need to find out on my own.

I have heard before it is a very cleansing process of the body, soul an mind.