What did Indians smoke

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trouttimes

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
5,169
21,491
Lake Martin, AL
Another post talking about possibly running out of tabacco got me thinking, what did the American Indians smoke? Did they grow tabacco in the west or Southwest before the Europeans?

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,249
108,349
They were growing tobacco before there were Europeans.
http://westerndigs.org/ice-age-hunting-camp-replete-with-bird-bones-and-tobacco-found-in-utah-desert/

 

huntertrw

Lifer
Jul 23, 2014
5,219
5,338
The Lower Forty of Hill Country
What did Indians smoke
This native of Delhi appears to be smoking a pipe:
man-smoking-a-pipe-in-delhi-india-G2280H.jpg


 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Europeans were introduced to tobacco by the tribal nations, but I assume, only certain nations, since they were spread across the country with widely different cultures and languages. Some Europeans found frequent recreational tobacco use with some of the Plains Indians, like the Blackfoot, in addition to ceremonial use. But I think many tribes smoked a mixture of herbs. I wonder if the nations have ever gotten into pipe making, other than souvenir peace pipes type items (other than pipes done for their own use in the traditional way). You'd think they might gain some benefit from pipe smoking since they invented it, but I don't think they'd like any advice from me whatever.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,568
27,074
Carmel Valley, CA
They were growing tobacco before there were Europeans.
http://westerndigs.org/ice-age-hunting-camp-replete-with-bird-bones-and-tobacco-found-in-utah-desert/
Interesting that the chief archeologist was named Duke, the first name in American tobacco business.
I thought tobacco was indigenous to the Carolinas/Virginias. If so, finding seeds thousands of miles away says cool things about mobility and trade over 10,000 years ago.

 

5star

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 17, 2017
727
2,018
PacNW USA
Fascinating subject that I’ve just recently begun to explore. All I’d read placed tobacco usage going back just a few thousand years with Nicotiana Rustica in Peru and Ecuador. The article above blows that timeline completely out of the water. - - I also read that various native peoples in the Americas made pipes out of clay, stone, and wood.

 

donjgiles

Lifer
Apr 14, 2018
1,571
2,522
I work in the museum world and several years ago I had the pleasure of meeting with the Tuscarora tribe as they recreated their freedom walk from North Carolina to Washington DC. Part of what we do are install historical markers at significant sites across Pennsylvania. One of these markers celebrated their journey and some of our staff met the tribe at that marker. At that meeting we were honored to take part in their ceremony which involved sharing a pipe in the sacred circle. The experience is one I will never forget and I feel very blessed to have been included. One question I asked was about their tobacco. They were very proud to tell me they grow their own crops using heirloom seeds. The tobacco was strong and very earthy, not sweet or flavored in any way. If I had to guess, I would say it was blend of burley and virginia tobaccos. The pipe was later gifted to our museum.

 

retrogrouch

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 16, 2017
168
170
There is a tobacco varietal called, "Isleta Pueblo Rustica." Here in New Mexico we have the Isleta Pueblo. I do not know how old the varietal is but the names suggest a connection. A quick search showed the following.
https://www.victoryseeds.com/nicotiana_isleta-pueblo.html

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,249
108,349
The article above blows that timeline completely out of the water.
I would bet it goes back much further.
https://www.google.com&s/www.independent.co.uk/news/science/north-america-first-humans-colonist-evidence-scientists-alaska-genetics-a8140231.html%3famp

 

pipestud

Lifer
Dec 6, 2012
2,010
1,749
Robinson, TX.
I work in the museum world and several years ago I had the pleasure of meeting with the Tuscarora tribe as they recreated their freedom walk from North Carolina to Washington DC. Part of what we do are install historical markers at significant sites across Pennsylvania. One of these markers celebrated their journey and some of our staff met the tribe at that marker. At that meeting we were honored to take part in their ceremony which involved sharing a pipe in the sacred circle. The experience is one I will never forget and I feel very blessed to have been included. One question I asked was about their tobacco. They were very proud to tell me they grow their own crops using heirloom seeds. The tobacco was strong and very earthy, not sweet or flavored in any way. If I had to guess, I would say it was blend of burley and virginia tobaccos. The pipe was later gifted to our museum.-donjgiles
That is one cool story. I wish I could have been a part of that. Thanks for sharing!

 
Funny... I grow tobaccos, along with some Rustica and a few other heirloom varieties. I have quite a few Native American jewelers in my list of Facebook friends, because of my job. One day, I saw one asking if anyone knew of anyone who grew Native varietals of tobaccos. I responded, and have been supplying at least three tribal gatherings with tobacco for a few years now. But, when they talk about it in their groups they say, "this tobacco was grown by Native Americans using ancient seed and ancient techniques..." I have to laugh, knowing my redheaded white ass ain't nothing close to Native American. Like anything, don't rely on "anyone's" marketing for ancient wisdom or history... especially our own.

 

jaytex1969

Lifer
Jun 6, 2017
9,517
50,591
Here
this tobacco was grown by Native Americans using ancient seed and ancient techniques
It's a typo. They meant to say "this tobacco was grown by ancient Americans using native seed and native techniques"
:lol:
jay-roger.jpg


 

jitterbugdude

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 25, 2014
993
8
what did the American Indians smoke

The North Americans in the Eastern and southern parts smoked Rustica. The Plains and somewhat to the Northwest smoked a different strain which I can't recall(there's 2 actually). The South Americans smoked a combination of Rustica and what we now know as Burleys and Virginia (emanating from the Orinoco Valley area).

 
The South Americans smoked a combination of Rustica and what we now know as Burleys and Virginia (emanating from the Orinoco Valley area).

But, just to add a tad of clarification to what Jitter says, There were no Virginias before the 1850's. This was all discovered in a fluke. He means to say that the originating varietal called Orinoco. He said it all correctly, I just wanted to reiterate for clarification. Native Americans were not smoking Virginias.
The development of Virginias (or bright leaf) and flue curing process has a very interesting history.

 

5star

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 17, 2017
727
2,018
PacNW USA
Fascinating subject !
As pipe smokers, all of us have likely run into some negativity from non-smokers when they found out we smoke tobacco. It may have only manifest in a raised eyebrow or disapproving frown. WE know pipesmoking isn’t the same as cigarette smoking, even if they don’t.
Getting back to the thread topic - - what impact did tobacco smoking have on the health of native peoples ? Not those people today who are smoking modern commercial cigarettes, but the native populations from previous centuries who grew & smoked their own tobacco. I wonder if anyone has conducted a study of this

 
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