Aleut banya sauna sweat lodge

Historic photo found on Ebay. 



This helps document that not all native Alaskan steams are confined to Y'upik Eskimo culture. As mentioned above, this one is Aleut in Unalaska. Unalaska is in an incredibly remote part of the world but locals had active contact with Russians during the Russian colonial era. Did Russians introduce the banya to the Aleuts or did the Aleuts share the sweat lodge with the Russians? Probably more the former, but who can say?

What remains of Aleut sweat bathing?  Anyone know?


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