To prepare the sauna, we heat special rocks and cover the entrance with blankets, skins, or mats to trap the heat inside. Once it is warm inside, everyone is ready to enter. It is important to note that we do not mix genders in the sauna. Men use the sauna in their own groups, while women do the same.
When we conduct rituals involving the sauna, we build a male-only structure for women’s rituals and a female-only structure for men’s rituals. We make sure to acknowledge gender roles in every aspect of our rituals. Men will enter the women's sauna and women will enter the men's sauna, but there will never be any joint lessons.
Men must prepare differently when entering the sauna. I have explained this to many different groups, including Jews, and they understand my explanation. So if you are from our tribe and are listening, remember that men have their own approach to entering the sauna.
We start by calling "hotel J" to the east, then saying "touch a was J" to the south. Next, we repeat the same phrase to the west and finally shout "touch a was J" to the north. We shout loudly to invite the ancestors and the gods to join us in the sauna.
Inside, we sing four songs. Everyone is naked during this time, and while sitting, we sing and discuss various ritual matters and songs. There are topics that we can only address in the sacred space of the sauna, which is a revered setting. It is believed that the sauna was the first structure created when our people moved into this world from the previous world.