Tobacco has been used in most of the Indigenous cultures for centuries. According to the First Nations Health Authority, traditional tobacco is regarded as a sacred medicine. It was utilized in ritual, offering, and communication with the Creator.

Different methods of tobacco consumption, both traditional and commercial, have evolved over time. We have listed below some ways of use. Some of them have a strong cultural basis, and others exhibit more contemporary trends.

Smoking native cigarettes

The most obvious is simply smoking native cigarettes. In Canada, native cigarettes commonly mean tobacco-based products that are sold within or on the Indigenous reserves. These often contain fewer additives than commercial cigarettes.

In most instances, the user smokes the cigarette, they puff the smoke into the lungs or mouth, and then out. It is a recreational method, unlike most of the traditional purposes, where the smoke is hardly inhaled into the lungs.

As one of the First Nations elders said, ‘’We would hardly puff tobacco smoke, and the smoke would be blown out of the pipe, as smoke was not designed to enter into our system.’’

Although smoking native cigarettes is a widespread way of consumption today, it is not in line with traditional uses and is equally dangerous as commercial cigarette smoking.

Sniffing or dry snuff

The other way of smoking is by way of dry snuff. Finely ground tobacco powder is snorted lightly through the nose. In the past, some Indigenous cultures also sniffed or inhaled ground tobacco or used alternative plant mixtures as a ritual. Snuff is not as common as smoking or chewing, but it is also a well-known pathway of nicotine consumption.

Pipe smoking

Pipe-smoking is closely associated with traditions. Many Indigenous peoples in Canada use the ceremonial pipe to make prayers, bring smoke to the spirit world, or celebrate significant occasions.

The major distinction: instead of breathing deeply, the smoke can be pulled in and pushed out or presented to the sky in the form of an offering. The consumption is symbolic and spiritual, and not necessarily to achieve the nicotine effect. But nowadays, pipes may also be recreational and smoked using commercial tobacco or native blends.

Chewing tobacco

Another form of use is chewing tobacco or shredded tobacco in the mouth/cheek. In the past, Indigenous peoples occasionally chewed or took tobacco leaves as poultices or as medicines.

Although less apparent nowadays than smoking, chewing is also a pathway of nicotine consumption and a cultural rite.

Other traditional uses

Notably, not every native tobacco use is related to drinking or smoking. Tobacco is commonly given as a gift or offering or used in the ceremony of smudging/cleansing by the indigenous. Tobacco can be burnt in a fire, on the ground, or put in the water, or in a pipe, but not primarily inhaled.

These applications highlight the fact that the purpose of tobacco in most of the Indigenous cultures is sacral and symbolic and not recreational.

The wrap-up

In brief, native tobacco is utilized in numerous forms: the inhalation of cigarettes, the snuff sniffing, the smoking of pipes, chewing, and other traditional uses. Regardless, the risks of tobacco to health are serious.