PREPARATIONS
Text
for this page is excerpted from Rob Savoye's how-to site, "A Sweat
Lodge," which you can find at http://www.welcomehome.org/rob/sweat/sweat.html
The frame [can be] made out of green aspen trees with their bark peeled
off. The frame is about 10 feet in diameter, with a shallow depression
6 inches deep, and 2 feet across. The ends of the trees were buried
in the ground, and bent over and then tied with cord. The frame is pretty
sturdy, though [not sturdy enough to] sit on.
[The frame has] three horizontal sets of additional sticks tied on for bracing. The center hub is also tied together. Tied at random intervals throughout the sweat are little pinches of tobaco in cloth scraps. These are offerings. The door of the sweat lodge often faces to the northwest.
The idea is to build a fire for the coals, as you want to really cook the rocks. The bottom layer becomes the coals that the rocks sit in. The fire has to burn around a minimum 3 hours for the rocks to get good and cooked. The sweat has been covered while the fire burns.
The sweat [frame] is first covered with a layer of sheets, then blankets, and finally tarps. The bottoms of the layer should lay on the ground for about 6-8 inches. We pile rocks on the bottoms, all around the sweat lodge. This is to seal the bottom up from drafts. The door is several folded blankets wider than the opening. The jugs are for drinking water to be used during the sweat, and the blue bucket is for splashing on the rocks.
