Sweat Lodge Research Paper

Jolene Prince is a pipe carrier for a sweat lodge, she helps run the ceremonies for a sweat lodge. The ceremonies of the sweat lodge include rites of preparation, prayer, and purification. Many Aboriginal people claim it as an important spiritual tradition, widely shared and important for their aboriginal identity. The sweat lodge plays a very significant role in the lives of Aboriginal communities in their efforts to bring about personal and social healing, having participants emerge from the sweat lodge proclaiming, “All my relations!”
A sweat lodge is typically in a dome shape, made with natural materials, and used for prayer. In a sweat lodge there is a pipe to be passed around, poles to make the frame, a blanket or a piece of fabric to go over the frame making the inside pitch black, rocks that needs to be heated, and water. …show more content…
Each Sweat lodge may have a different door open or all the doors open. In the center of the roof of the sweat lodge is a star and on the ground in the center there is a pit. With the dirt they dug up from the pit they make a mound or belly button, outside the sweat lodge and further down east. A few feet away from the belly button they build a home fire, the home fire should not have any garbage or unwanted things thrown into it. Over the home fire they build a table and place rocks on top of the table. There should be twelve rocks and the rocks have to roast until it is time to start. The way they tell it is time to start and everyone has to go inside is when the table drops three times, although it is hard to tell when the table will