DCHP-1 Online
sweat-bath 
1 n. a bath such as that taken for reasons of health by certain Indians, the bather sitting naked in a hut or lodge and perspiring freely in the steam caused by water being dripped onto hot rocks, the process sometimes being completed by a plunge into an adjacent lake or stream.
- 1800 (1820) [They sweat themselves in this manner, they say, in order that their limbs may become more supple, and they more alert, in pursuing animals, which they are desirous of killing.]
- 1940 "I am at least clean again, bodily clean, I mean. I've been having sweat-baths."
- 1952 They [Swampy Cree] used the sweat bath in cases of illness.
2 n. a hut, wigwam, etc. used for taking sweat-baths (def. 1), originally a practice of Indians.
See also: sweat-bath (def. 1) sweat-house
- 1958 Having seen the Indian Village with its longhouse, torture stake, sweat bath, and storage pits, all maintained, except for the vermin and filth, exactly as they would have been maintained in Champlain's day, the visitor should then proceed to the Huronia House Museum.
- 1965 At nearly every Indian camp you will find a sweat bath, Built like a tiny tent with its frame of willows covered by skin or blankets, it is usually located close to a small creek or river.
- 1800 (1820) [They sweat themselves in this manner, they say, in order that their limbs may become more supple, and they more alert, in pursuing animals, which they are desirous of killing.]