The Lakota ritual of the sweat lodge
Subtitle: history and contemporary practice
By: Raymond A. Bucko.
Series: Studies in the anthropology of North American Indians
Publisher: Published by the University of Nebraska Press in cooperation with the American Indian Studies Research Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Lincoln
Language: eng
Number of pages: 336
Subjects: Dakota Indians -- Rites and ceremonies.; Dakota Indians -- History.; Sweatbaths -- Great Plains -- History.
Description: For centuries, a persistent and important component of Lakota religious life has been the Inipi, the ritual of the sweat lodge. The ritual held within, the "sweat," consists of songs, prayers, and other actions conducted in a tightly enclosed, extremely hot and stifling environment. Participants who "sweat" together experience moral purification and even physical healing.

This study is the first in-depth look at the history and significance of the Lakota sweat lodge. Bringing together data culled from historical sources and recent fieldwork at Pine Ridge Reservation, Raymond A. Bucko provides a detailed discussion of changes that have occurred in the structure and function of the "sweat" ritual over time.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-309) and index.