The Lakota term for sweat lodge is
Inipi which means ‘to live again’. Inipi is a purification rite and is necessary in order to help the vision quest seeker enter into a state of humility and to undergo a kind of spiritual rebirth.The sweat lodge is central to Inipi. Prayers offered there draw on all the powers of the universe – Earth, Water, Fire and Air. In the old days, Inipi was done before any major undertaking to purify the body and gain strength and power.