Sweat lodges are structures built to contain steam, and they play an important role in the spiritual practices of Colorado’s Native American peoples. The Arapaho, Cheyenne, Navajo, Shoshone, and Ute are historic Native American groups in Colorado who use sweat lodges as a method for cleansing and purifying the body. No clear evidence for the use of sweat lodges in Colorado prehistory has been reported.
Sweating is the body’s method of regulating its temperature, and it is controlled by the hypothalamus. When the body gets too hot, it releases fluids through sweat glands. There are two types of mammalian sweat glands: apocrine and eccrine. The apocrine glands are located in the armpits, and around the ears, navel, and genitals; they are scent glands that secrete very little fluid. The eccrine glands are found everywhere on the surface of the body and extend from the inner to outer layers of skin. Even on a cool day, an individual will lose from one to three quarts of fluid per day through sweating. When environmental conditions are especially hot or humid, or during periods of exercise or emotional stress, the output of sweat exceeds the rate of evaporation and the body may lose up to twenty quarts of fluid per day. The fluid is composed primarily of water along with some dissolved minerals and urea. The urea is the source of the saltiness in sweat.
In addition to helping regulate temperature, sweating is also considered by many cultures to be a means of ridding the body of impurities or toxins. Besides hot springs, saunas and spas, the use of sweat lodges to purify the body is part of many cultural traditions around the globe.
Indigenous Sweat Lodges
The dome-shaped sweat lodges constructed by the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Shoshone, and Ute are remarkably similar in appearance. One Arapaho informant referred to the sweat lodges as “balloon-tipis.” They are approximately eight to eleven feet in diameter and four to five feet in height, not quite tall enough for a person to stand up in. A hole to contain heated stones is first excavated in the center of the sweat lodge. Willow saplings are then placed in holes excavated in a circle around the pit and then bent over and tied into a series of arches (Arapaho) or bent toward the center of the lodge and tied (Cheyenne, Shoshone, and Ute). Willow saplings are also tied around the exterior of the sweat lodge to stiffen the structure. Next, the domed frame is covered with bison hides, old tipi canvas, or blankets. The soil from the excavation is packed around the base of the lodge. A blanket is used to cover the hole left for the door. Heated stones are brought from outside the lodge with a shovel and placed in the central pit. Water is then sprinkled or poured over the stones to produce steam and increase sweating.
Sweat lodges are used by the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Shoshone, and Ute as components of important ceremonies and for general or personal health and welfare. Lodges are usually owned by the individual or family who constructed them. Customarily, groups of the same gender use a sweat lodge, but men and women may also use a sweat lodge together. The use of sweat lodges in Shoshone and Ute communities was in decline during the early twentieth century, but more recently use has increased as part of the Sun Dance, Bear Dance, and other public ceremonies and as part of a personal spiritual practice. Recently, sweat lodge rituals have also been used to treat both native and nonnative combat veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Navajo Sweat Houses
The Navajo of Colorado refer to sweat lodges as “Sweat Houses.” Sweat houses have been associated with eighteenth-century and later Navajo occupations. Navajo sweat houses are constructed by clearing a circular area between six and eight feet in diameter. However, much smaller sweat houses for individual use are also constructed. First, three large branches with forks located at one end are collected, then interlocked in a tripod shape. Smaller sticks and branches are leaned against the interlocked branches leaving an opening, usually facing east, which serves as a doorway. Last, the structure is covered with soil. Construction using three interlocking forked logs is the same technique used to construct the forked-stick type Navajo hogan, the earliest variety of Navajo residential architecture. Sweat houses are located between 150 and 500 feet from residences. A pile of fire-altered rocks is usually present near the sweat house, representing the clean-out of stones from previous use of the structure. A specially made wooden fork or tongs are used to move the hot stones into the sweat house. Unlike the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Shoshone and Ute, the Navajo generally do not pour water on the heated stoned stones, resulting in a dryer heat within the Navajo sweat house.
Sweat houses are owned by individual women or men or are “built for the people” so that anyone can use them. Navajo men and women use sweat houses but not at the same time. All uses of the Navajo sweat houses are considered to have a spiritual component. However, sweat houses constructed for ceremonies require the use of specific types of wood to be used for the forked sticks, plants used to cover the floor, and the creation of dry paintings within and outside the sweat house.