Sweat lodge: 

Inipi is the Sweat Lodge, the most ancient ritual and the most common amongst the American Indian, in fact it is one tradition widely held throughout North America. Origins get lost in prehistory. Inipi, in the Lakota language means to be re-born. The sweat lodge was built from a ritual that was well defined according to the Indian practice. 

The structure made of willows is covered with almost air tight materials. There is only one opening which faces west. This opening is meticulously closed at the beginning of the ceremony. Cedar as well as a pinch of sweet-grass is sprinkled on the hot rocks before water is added to produces steam. A hole in the center of the lodge is filled with hot rocks that are outside heating in a blazing fire, built according to specific ritual standards. The woodpile that will become the blaze is connected to the lodge by a pathway of approximately 6 meters. Once the fire is lit, no one can disrupt the energy flow created by the fire and the lodge. 

The participants enter the lodge and crawls clockwise to sit next to the host. The rocks are first heated on a fire outside the lodge and then brought inside gradually. The red hot rocks are brought in by the guardian of the fire and are placed in the hole dug in the center of the lodge. The host starts to toss water on the hot rocks producing hot steam.  

There are 4 phases in this ceremony that ceases when the flap is opened. Every time the host opens the flap he says ‘Mitakaye Oyasin’, which means ‘For all my family or for all of mine’ which covers all of mankind, animals, minerals, vegetation and all that is created by the Great Spirit. In native ceremonies, it can happen that the host passes the Sacred Pipe from one person to the other. The Sacred Pipe purifies and provides a sense of brotherhood. With each opening of the flap, it also happens that the host chants Indian chants accompanied by the sound of his tam-tam or other sacred instruments.  

In the Inipi, surrounded by purifying vapours, a person is reborn to a new universal awareness, in connection with their role and universal destiny. The ceremony is completed when the vapours evaporate, after which the participants leave the sacred lodge and go outside.