| Recent popularization of alternative medicine is attracting a variety of people to traditional healing. Because of this, Southern Californian Native American sweat lodge landscapes, may be analyzed vis-a-vis dual contexts, both as therapeutic and tourist sites. This burgeoning health-tourism relationship merits investigation because comprehensive research on the topic has yet to be undertaken. The purpose of this study is to analyze the principal question: How do the practices and spaces associated with Native American sweat lodges produce landscapes of health, healing, and leisure within modern-day California? The study employs participant observation, post-sweat experiential recording, and media analysis as methods. Findings suggest that sweat lodge spaces are organized around leisured consumption at three scales of healing in both natural and built environments. Moreover, sweat lodge operators use media, such as the Internet and radio, to construct these spaces of health and tourism. |
