how did eskimos bathe?

Question

especially in winter... how was it done in the coldest parts of the year. (I am talking about times before they encountered Europeans...)

Answer 1

Being an Inupiaq Eskimo living on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, this is the way we bathed...We have small huts halfway into the ground and half above ground built with drift wood and whale bones, covered with sod. The floor is planked with wood with a drainage hole leading outside to dispose used water. There is a place to melt snow to use, and a fire pit which would heat rocks that are collected from the beach and used. Little bit of water is used to create steam...Then we used little buckets of water to wash our bodies and also to rinse. Both women and men would bathe together....we are not ashamed of our bodies and did not sexually engage with each other at such places.. Or sometimes only men would bathe together during ceremonial preparations before whales hunts or even before spiritual dancing. Today we have modern homes (western style) which have replaced our steam bathes and also has changed our way of life in the far North...I hope this answers your question....

Answer 2

Since the Bering Straight is at one point only 67 miles across (from Alaska and Russia) they took vacations each year and bathed in Russian Bath Houses. Then they brought back Vodka, which helped for the rest of the year.

Answer 3

Igloos, believe it or not, was warm on the inside, so I guess they bathed using melted water and animal fur. Good question.

Answer 4

They rubbed themselves down with snow and dried off with furs.

Answer 5

Bathe..What for?

Answer 6

They did it very quickly !