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Native American Sweat Lodge Rituals

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Native Americans’ customs and religion relies on oral transmission rather than written texts. This allows for fluidity, as the customs can change and evolve over time along side with new technology and innovations. When Europeans first came to the Americas, they force the Natives to convert to a from of Christianity, thus, creating the long struggle as Native Americans battles with their beliefs and this new world religion. In modern times, the struggles still continue and Native Americans are still fighting to protect their customs. One such ritual that many Native Americans participates in is the sweat lodges. Sweat lodges are distinctively Native American and it highlights the Native Americans’ identity. Sweat lodge is an important ritual because it purifies and heal the mind and body and acts as a rite of passage, however, it now also acts as a space for a pan-native identity, connecting many Native Americans from different tribes together, but it must also contend with the government, and the appropriation of their ritual and the problems that arises from non-native participating in their rituals. One of the most …show more content…

Before, they had been force to convert, and they fight to retain their beliefs, and now the fight continues with many sacrifices along the way. The sweat lodge is one such ritual that many Native Americans are ferociously defending. The sweat lodge ritual is more than a ritual for purification and for change. It evolved into becoming a space for Native Americans to create a pan-native identity that unites all their struggles. Unfortunately, it also becomes a new mean of profit and many are selling the ritual for monetary gains. With Native Americans fighting for the sweat lodge under one intertribal identity, how many unique and different tribes’ rituals are lost and forgotten along the way as a new identity emerges from the

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