Sweat Lodge Project

Recently we constructed a domed frame for a sweat lodge on our property.  Nearly every culture in the world has some sort of sweat lodge or sauna ritual or tradition.  Commonly in the Pacific Northwest lodges were rectangular and built from cedar planks.

We followed a smaller design that is similar to those used elsewhere in North America.  The sweat lodge or Inipi is a sacred ceremony for many people.  We were not constructing a blessed lodge in this case but nevertheless we were sure to approach the project with a great deal of respect and humility for the ancient tradition.

We began by clearing and leveling the ground at our building site, followed by digging a pit to receive the stones in the center.

Following that we headed into the woods to collect the poles that we would need.  In our area hazelnut trees provide the most abundant long straight poles and we would be able to harvest them while also “pruning” the landscape to allow room for other plants to grow.  As we headed down the trail we found an unusual scat.  It was an indistinct mass about 5 inches across.  It looked a lot like a miniature bear scat.  We had some discussion of who might have left it there, was it a very large deer, or a very small bear, or even an elk which we have never seen signs of near our house?  It was more homogeneous than any deer scat I have ever seen and we speculated that if it was a deer it may have been eating a lot of mushrooms.  Our answer came soon thereafter when we spotted some cloven hoof tracks in the leaf litter that were far too big for a black tailed deer.  Apparently we have elk around our property, cool.

After that we cut 8 hazelnut poles and carried them back to our site.  The core of our structure was made up of 4 arches.  We arranged them so that it would look like a tic-tac-toe board if viewed from above.  In order to anchor the poles securely we pre-drilled holes for them by pounding a stake into the ground.  Some poles were long enough to form the entire arch on their own and for others we drove two poles opposite each other and lashed them in the middle.  After that was in place we added several more poles arched over to fill in the gaps as well as a sill over the doorway.

All of our lashings were done with natural materials.  Mostly we used cordage that I had made from cattail, new zealand flax, and dogbane but some of the lashings were tied with strips of yucca leaves.  In the end the structure was very sturdy.

We plan on covering our sweat lodge with blankets for the time being and so we didn’t worry about cross bracing to support our covering.  However, in the future we may decide to cover it with natural materials in which case we will add several rows of horizontal branches around the structure to support the coverings.  Also, this structure design could be used to make a long-term primitive living shelter.  It could be easily waterproofed by thatching or covering with cattail mats or even just piling on lots of debris.  In that case you would keep a small fire pit in the center and leave a smoke hole open in the top.  Be sure to allow for the necessary in-draft of air to support your fire as well or you will be smoked out.