Tobacco as Sacred

Historically, tobacco has been used among most Indigenous Peoples in the Americas for thousands of years. For many First Nations, it is sacred and used in ceremonies, prayers and offerings. Tobacco was never meant to enter our bodies, and we must respect it and not abuse it: to do so endangers our lives and the lives of the future generations.

The following quote from a Saskatchewan Elder, Danny Musqua, illustrates a First Nation worldview and explanation of the sacredness, use, and abuse of tobacco:

Tobacco was seen by our people as a gift from the Creator which would enable us to communicate with him. We were given tobacco because it affected the way we were able to think… We were given knowledge to fashion a pipe with which we could take very small puffs of tobacco smoke. We would only take small puffs, and then we would immediately blow out the smoke because smoke was not meant to be taken into our body and held there. The smoke needed to leave us in order to rise to the Creator with our prayers and thoughts. If we held it in our body, it would be an unnatural presence there. Immediately after taking the puff of smoke, our minds would race, and our whole body would be affected by this smoke since tobacco is a very powerful medicine. It has a specific purpose which must not be abused

Elder Danny Musqua, Wunska. First Nations Youth Inquiry into Tobacco use: Final Comprehensive Report to Health Canada, [Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, April 1997], p.52).