Sweat lodge

A sweat lodge is a low profile hut, typically dome-shaped or oblong, and made with natural materials. The structure is the lodge, and the ceremony performed within the structure may be called by some cultures a purification ceremony or simply a sweat.

Traditionally the structure is simple, constructed of saplings covered with blankets and sometimes animal skins. The induction of sweating is a spiritual ceremony – it is for prayer and healing, and it is only to be led by Indigenous Elders who know the language, songs, traditions, and safety protocols of their culture's inherited tradition. Otherwise, the ceremony can be dangerous if performed improperly.

The ceremony is traditional to some Indigenous peoples of the Americas, predominantly those from the Plains cultures, but with the rise of pan-Indianism, numerous nations that did not originally have the sweat lodge ceremony have learned the ceremony from other Nations. Sweat lodges have also been imitated by many non-natives in North America and internationally, resulting in responses like the Lakota Declaration of War and similar statements from Indigenous Elders declaring that these imitations are dangerous and disrespectful misappropriations and need to stop.