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| Sweat Houses old-picture.com |
The old -one taught the people how to sweat- bathe and make sweat houses. The children wash and bathe themseleves,draw sickness from their bodies,and heal their wounds.The person who leads the sweat houses is responsible for the saftey of everyone in the lodge.There is a long standing tradition of giving gifts to a medicine person or to someone who is asked to help with a heading sweat.
Research: www.secwepemc.org/adc/sqlye.html/ Posted by Group M3
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ReplyDeletePosted by Mrs. Rogers - How often does a person go to a sweat lodge? Is it done at a specific time each year, or only when needed?
ReplyDeleteMost Arapaho people have spent time in a sweat lodge. Sweats can heal wounds. Someone in the group is a host for that specific sweat. At the door of the lodge; this person is called the doorman or the waterman. They are responsible for closing the door and bringing the rocks and water into the lodge. The “necii” (water in Arapaho) is passed around to each member of the group before the door is closed. First, you pour a little on the ground and then, you can drink the rest in the ladle.
ReplyDeleteOnce the door closes, it’s dark except for the glow from the rocks in the pit. We use river rocks for medicine sweats and sand rocks for regular sweats. The rocks are heated in a big fire that’s started a couple hours before the sweat. When you put many rocks and then pour water on them it gets really hot. During the sweat, we pray and sing Arapaho songs.
The door to the lodge faces east. Women always sit on the right side of the lodge. Most sweats have four rounds. After each round, the door is opened and more rocks are brought in. At the end of the sweat, we all exit the lodge and shake the leader’s hand and say Hohou (thank you in Arapaho). It is also our way to give the leader a gift. Usually we share a meal together after the sweat. People sweat every day of the week. Most children have been going to sweat lodges since they were little kids.