On Friday my friend and I went to our first sweat lodge. The sweat lodge was located in the Lower Similkameen Reservation (west of Penticton) and the views of surrounding hills and the valley were absolutely gorgeous that day. My friend is Metis and he is currently discovering his roots and I thought this would be a good chance for the both of us to experience Aboriginal spiritualism.
The sweat lodge is run by someone we met in Penticton and he is a sweat lodge keeper and has been operating the lodge for many years. The sweat lodge was an incredible experience, one that will stay with me forever. There were 5 of us in the lodge and we did the sweat for about 3 hours or so (I totally lost track of time during the sweat).
When we arrived a fire was going and the rocks inside the fire were nice and hot. One of the participants picked up the rocks with a pitch fork and then someone else would hit the rocks with a branch to knock off the dust and dirt before the rock was placed inside a pit in the sweat lodge. The hot rock pit is located on the left side of the sweat lodge which represents your heart (located on the left side of your body).
We crawled inside the lodge and sat in a semi-circle. At first the sweat lodge keeper put smudge (herbs such as sage or sweetgrass) on the hot rocks to purify the air. The smell was wonderful and so natural, and is apparently very healthy. It was pitch black (and I mean pitch black!) inside the tent which was very strange at first. The atmosphere inside the lodge represents a return to the womb and when someone emerges from the sweat lodge it means they are re-born like a child. In the lodge all I could hear was the sound of the sweat lodge keeper’s voice as he talked about Aboriginal history, culture and spiritual beliefs. It was by far the most spiritual experience I’ve had in my life.
We went through 4 rounds in the sweat lodge. The first round we
honoured Mother Earth and all the spirits in nature. During this round 2 of us said prayers to The Creator and did our “confessional” which was a time to thank the sweat lodge keeper and The Creator and pay respect to Mother Earth. It was also a time to talk about anything in your life that is bothering you or anything you want to get off your chest. “What is said in the sweat lodge stays in the sweat lodge,” as the sweat lodge keeper told us and and we found ourselves talking about many things. I opened up and talked about some very personal things about our family. Everyone listened and everyone grunted in support of my story (“ho,ho,” they kept saying).
After the first round we crawled outside of the sweat lodge and poured warm water over our bodies. The water was filled with different natural herbs and medicines, again to purify ourselves. The sweat lodge was right beside a small river too. One person sat down in the river to cool himself off and I tried to follow him in but only got up to my waist. The river was running very fast and it was so cold!! My legs went numb immediately but it felt fantastic to pour the ice cold water all over my body. I managed to squat down a bit in the river but couldn’t bring myself to do a complete dunking! Sweat lodges are held all year round and I cannot imagine what one must be like in the middle of winter!
During the second round we honoured all sisters because woman are important in Aboriginal culture since they bring life into the world. The third round focussed on our ancestors, and the last round centred on ourselves. During these rounds we prayed silently and also out loud, and I found myself drifting far, far away to another place and another time. My friend and I were beginners so the sweat lodge keeper was very careful not to heat up the sweat lodge too much. We were told if for any reason we felt uncomfortable we were free to leave the sweat lodge for a break. Before leaving the sweat lodge it is protocol to say “all my relations” and this is also said after you say your prayer out loud.
First Nations people have been doing sweat lodges since the beginning of time and I felt so very honoured to be a part of it. I also discovered it is natural for Aboriginal people to share everything and they had absolutely no reservations about me participating in the sweat. However, being white, I was an outsider looking into their culture but at the same time I was openly accepted and the sweat lodge keeper taught me the correct protocol and happily told me everything about the sweat lodge and native spiritual beliefs. I cannot wait to go again and bring others to this very special and sacred event.
