Tribal Words for Tobacco
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Traditional UseThere are currently 564 federally recognized tribes in the United States today. Each tribe has their own distinct culture, traditions, languages, value systems, and teachings. (8)Historically, many American Indian and Alaska Native nations used tobacco for spiritual and ceremonial purposes, unlike the use of tobacco cigarettes today. Tobacco is still being used for both traditional and ceremonial purposes in AI/AN communities today. In the AI/AN culture, there is a strong belief that when tobacco is used to make smoke, it provides a balance between the world of humans and spirits. (1)Nicotiana tabacum, is the scientific name for the plant used in commercial tobacco.Nicotiana rustica, is the scientific name for traditional tobacco. (2)There is no known risk of cancer or other health effects associated with the use of traditional tobacco. (9)
Cancer and AI-AN
American Indians and Alaska Natives and TobaccoAmerican Indians and Alaska Natives (32.4%) have the highest percent of cigarette smokers than all other ethnic groups in the U.S. (3)The leading cause of death for American Indians and Alaska Natives is heart disease. Cigarette smoking is a major cause of heart disease. (4)The second leading cause of death for AI/AN is cancer.Cigarette smoke is the main cause of lung cancer. Lung cancer is linked to many other cancers such as; mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, breast, and cervical. It is estimated that 544,000 AI/AN that are currently under the age of 18 will become regular smokers.270,000 of those smokers will die from diseases related to cigarette smoking. (1)Commercial tobacco companies target AI/AN communities to avoid paying taxes on tobacco products. They also fund powwows and rodeos to build their image in American Indian communities, often using imagery to sell the products.American Indian youth smoke because:Reasons very similar to the general populations.Fitting in with peers, mood management, image, addiction, family influence, and sensory pleasure. The influence of culture and family tradition. (6)
Lung Cancer
Traditional PurposeSince tobacco use varies from tribe to tribe, there is no single way to portray its ceremonial use. Below are some of the reasons some tribes use traditional tobacco.To Honor and Welcome Guests: Tobacco is given to people as a sign of respect and honor; tobacco serves as a simple, but meaningful gift.For Blessings and Purification: Tobacco is burned in homes and at ceremonies to purify and bless the home, lodge or food crops, and to ward off harmful spirits or energies.For Prayers: Tobacco smoke carries prayers up to the Creator and the Spirit world. Tobacco is burned and offered to the Creator and the Spirit world as a sign of thanks.As Payment to a Healer: Healers have a special connection with the Creator and the Spirit World. A healer is often given tobacco as a form of payment.
Signs of Lung Cancer
How Traditional Tobacco is UsedTraditional tobacco is used in many different ways today: Smoked in a pipe or corn husk (and rarely inhaled); the smoke carries peoples prayers to Creator and the Spirit world.Placed in the open fire of a sweat lodge, giving thanks to Creator.Used to invite good spirits into ceremonies and as a form of protection against bad spirits.Used in prayer ties.Used to smudge people, drums, and sacred and ceremonial objects.Placed on drums at Powwows to give thanks to Creator for allowing the nations to come together and to ask for a good, safe dance.Given to elders, healers, and others as a sign of respect.Put in a sacred fire at the end of a ceremony to take all that has occurred to Creator and the Spirit world and as a sign that the ceremony has ended.
Risk Factors
Commercial MisuseCommercial tobacco is not like traditional tobacco: Commercial tobacco is manufactured for recreational and everyday use such as smoking cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and snuff in order to make a profit; this is not the traditional way to use tobacco.Commercial tobacco is made to be addictive and can lead to horrible diseases and death.Cigars, pipe smoking, chewing tobacco, and snuff are consumed at higher rates for AI/AN than other ethnic groups. (3, 8)Smokeless tobacco consumption is the highest among AI/AN men in the Northern Plains (24.6%) and lowest in the Pacific Northwest (1.8%). (8)Carcinogens: A carcinogen is any cancer-causing substance.Cigarettes and commercial tobacco contain over 4,000 harmful chemicals, many that would not expect to find and 50 of them are known carcinogens. (1)Some carcinogens found in cigarettes: Acetone (nail polish remover) Ammonium (floor/toilet cleaner) Arsenic (poison, also used in pesticides) Benzo [a] pyrene (found in coal tar) Carbon Monoxide (car exhaust fumes) Cadmium (found in rechargeable batteries) Formaldehyde (preserves dead bodies) Hydrogen Cyanide (gas chamber poison) Nitrobenzene (gasoline additive) Toluene (found in paint thinner) Cigarette smokers also have a much higher risk of developing several health diseases and disorders, including:-COPD -Several Types of Cancer -Heart attacks -Stroke -Emphysema -Chronic Bronchitis
Treatment-Survival-Support
Sacred ExpressionsAll Nations Breath of Life supports the use of traditional tobacco for spiritual and ceremonial purposes. Sacred Expressions provides participants and viewers with quotes from Spiritual Native Leaders. Each quote illustrates the importance of the Pipe and tobacco in Native traditions and ceremonies."For us Indians there is just the pipe,the earth we sit onand the open sky.The spirit is everywhere.Sometimes it shows itself through an animal,a bird or some trees and hills.Sometimes it speaks from the Badlands,a stone, or even from the water.That smoke from the peace pipe,it goes straight up to the spirit world.But this is a two way thing.Power flows down to us through that smoke,through the pipe stem.You feel that power as you hold the pipe;it moves from the pipe right into your body.The pipe is not just a thing,it is alive."John Lame Deer (Lakota) - Rosebud (7) "When the native people first discovered tobacco it was believed it was from the creator it was a sacred plant. From then on it was used for medicine and ceremonial purposes. Not only the South Eastern but almost all tribes used tobacco. What was passed down to me was that tobacco was first discovered on an unmarked native grave- this was the sign it was from the creator. The tobacco was and is still being used today as a peace offering among native people- the tobacco used was of the purest form (no additives). It was blessed and put into a peace pipe to be shared among the Native people."Sam Proctor Muskogee (Creek) (5) "The equivalent of Christian sinin the Indian traditional senseis breaking ones commitment to the Pipe.When one prays with the Pipe, he is obliged to do it in a good way, not for evil purposes. The Pipe brings harmonybetween menwhen they smoke it.You cant lie through the Pipe.To go against these things is a sin."Richard Moves Camp (Lakota) - Pine Ridge (7)
References
1. ANBL Pamphlets. Traditional Tobacco Use. University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, 2007.2. The California Rural Indian Health Board (CRIHB). Community Tobacco Educator Training Guide. 2007; http://www.crihb.org/files/tobacco_101_traditional_module.pdf. Accessed June 9, 2009.3. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association. A broken promise to our children: the 1998 state tobacco settlement eight years later. Washington, DC: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; 2006. Available at http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/2007/fullreport.pdf.4. National Cancer Institute. Cigarette smoking and cancer. 2004; http://cancertrials.nci.nih.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/cancer. Accessed June 10, 2009.5. Sam Proctor Muskogee (Creek)6. Kegler MC, B. Kingsley, et al. The functional value of smoking and nonsmoking from the perspective of American Indian youth. Family and Community Health. 1999;22(2).7. Steinmetz, P. (1984). Mediations with Native Americans-- Lakota Spirituality. Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Company, Inc.8. Department of Interior website www.bia.gov for the 564 federally recognized tribes data, updated on 06/28/10)9. Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium, American Indian and Alaskan Native. http://www.ttac.org/resources/pdfs/Traditional_Tobacco_Pamphlet.pdf
What Is Cancer
Cancer and AI-AN
Lung Cancer
Signs of Lung Cancer
Risk Factors
Treatment-Survival-Support
References
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