The Lakota ritual of the sweat lodge : history and contemporary practice / Raymond A. Bucko.
Material type: TextSeries: Studies in the anthropology of North American IndiansPublication details: Lincoln : Published by the University of Nebraska Press in cooperation with the American Indian Studies Research Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, ©1998.Description: vii, 336 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmISBN:- 0803212720
- 9780803212725
- 0803261659
- 9780803261655
- E99.D1 B88 1998
Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Books (30-Day Checkout) | Nash Library General Stacks | E99.D1B88 1998 | Available | 33710001154165 |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 295-309) and index.
Entering the Lodge -- 1. Ethnohistorical Accounts of the Sweat Lodge -- 2. The Contemporary Lakota Sweat Lodge -- 3. Continuity and Change in the Sweat Lodge -- 4. Language and the Sweat -- 5. Stories of Power and Weakness -- 6. Personal Accounts of the Sweat Experience -- 7. Harmony and Alliance versus Discord and Separation -- Leaving the Lodge.
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.