Evening star., 1897-04-16
Indians All Smoke From Their Early
Childhood.
PLAYS A PART IN THEIR RELIGION
How the Red Man Regards the
Sacred Soother.
CORN HUSK RETTE S


found him smoking a pipe. and thinking
that he was on fire. threw a bucket
of water over him. he inaugurated that dis
comfort which. il is said all users of the
weed must undergo by way of preliminary
training. yes. oddly enough, in the home OF
tobacco among the Indian tribes. no such
preliminares are undergone by neophytes.
/; is no unusual thing to an Indian
mother smoking a cigarette and OCCASION
ally allowing her child. still in arms to
take a puff two. The average Indian
commences to smoke when he is less than
year old. and continues the practice until
he dies; but he seldom smokes to excess,
and he can hardly he said to smoke reg
ularly in the way that we do. y report by
the Smithsonian Institution, now in press.
contains some information on the subject
of smoking among the Indians which Is of
interest.
The Indians 10 not regard tobacco as We
do. nor do they use il in the same way
While there is social side TO their sn.ck-
Ing the principal use of the leaf is cere
monial and religious 1t has always been
go with them, and even now when the ma
tive preparations are largely replaced by
the cheaper and more convenient supply
at the traders stores. the OIL religious ceeI-
ing IS still there. There is something about
TOBACCO which turns the mind Of the
smoker into contemplative moods. the saw
age mind not less than the mind of the
poet.
when he has money-suGar. coffee, calico
or what-aot-but he canrot bring himself
to buy tobacco; he cannot profane the
Sacred SOoIher' by buying it he wouiu
horse Yet smoke is an Indispensable
part of every transaction whether it be a
reiiS-ons ceremony, a declaration of war
or the purchase of yard of calico. The
traders have come to recognize this, and
in every store there is little tin basin on
the counter tald generally nailed to it, |
containing tobacco. cigarette papers and
nlltslpsS- palN nv all nm
ers Even the worst beats" are sensitive |
to any remark about their Use of this free
tobacco. end any alluson to it will drive |
them out of the place and keep them away |
for days
Ready for a Smoke.
In its present forms tobacco has far out
grown the early preparations. Originally |
the leaf was merely dried and crumbled in |
the hands. and the native tobaccos still |
in use by the Indians prepared in this |
simple way today In me early part of the |
seventeenth century the Virginia tobacco |
was impOr I'd into England in the leaf anl |
was rubbed snail for use in a pipe. but the |
Spanish tofs eco came in the form of tight |
ly rolled balls. nearly the size Of Il mans |
head. Tais tobacco was cut into small |
p-ec-s on n rEiple block. and, the pipes be- |
ing filled. were Hente1 with embers from a |
fire of Juniper wood. taken from a chafng |
dish with silver tongs- This araphernaIia |
was an indispensable par of 4 smokers |
outfit.
Among the Indian tribes of the north |
. west, where the tobacco plant Is not in |
disenous, various preparations took its |
place before The advent of the traders |
Among these were the leaves OF the su- |
E4ac. which We're dried for use ard after
ward. wneE needed. were cr.I:nilIed in The
hands Mich more prevalent. however, |
was the use OF the bark of the red osier. |
known among irontiersmen as killikinik or |
kinnikinik. which name is said 10 have been |
derived from the language of the Dakota. |
This materia is the tnin, somi-tTansDarent !
bark or iiTer skin OF the young shoots |
which are available so long as they retain |
their red outer skin
For a long tine after its introduction |
into Europe tobacco smoked only in |
pipes, as il is now among the northwestern |
Indians Oddly enough the early European |
pipes closely resemble the present Indian |
forms. being s3crt and straight in the |
stem. and higher and narrower in the |
bowl than the pipes OF today. The In |
dianS much prefer their own pipes. if they
can get them. 5It pipes of native manu- |
fSctUrc are now seldom found in use, al
though numbers OF fine specimens can be |
seen in the museums The favorite ma
teria1 was catIinife. or red pipestone; and |
although this material is found only near |
the prssen- town of Pipestone, Mimi SO !
bighly esteemed vas It that il passed by |
barter from tribe TO tribe. and has been |
found over thousand miles from the |
place where it quarried. When first |
taken out this stcne is soft and easily |
carved; af-erward it becomes quite hard |
and takes on fine polish. Sometimes the |
or lead, forming elaborate and beautiful |
designs.
Indian Etiquette.
In social or in ceremonial smoking the |
pipe is never actually put into the mouth |
but Is pressed between the lips. and the
ToIthpiece remains dry In taking the
smoke the lips slightly parted at the
corners Of the mouth. and the air which
Is sucked in mixes with the smoke and is
VT nj he To he
fait this must be done with considerable
noise; according TO Indian etiquette such
noise Is necessary in order to indicate sat
isfacJiOn.
arctic may be handed to the right-h nd
neiShbor TO light. but in sntOking IL must |
always pass To the left. from hand to hand. |
This is the true ceremonial direction |
the path Of the sun" During a ceremon-
ial smoke silence is maintained, and if any
conversation becomes necessary it is con-
Quoted In a whisper. At intervals puffs
o: smoke are directed toward the six car
GlTLal points of the Indian system wuicu
are the same as ours. but include. in ad-
o.ti0n. the zenith the abode of the wind |
godsi anu the Tadir, the home of the dead I
Among the southwestern tribes the piot.
is seldom seen; smoking is universal, but
tobacco is used in the form of cigarettes
consisting of a few grains rolled in a piece
OF corn husk- In former times every In
dian carried some Of the latter in his
pouch, and when he met a white Traveller
MS first inquiry was always for tobacco
PI"S was preferred, ana chipping off few
grains with his thumb nail he carefully
wrapped them in, the o=n musk: tney never
rolled "a cigarette. but always wrapped H.
He would light one end of it in the fire or
with 4 match and proceed to enjoy it, Such
cigarettes are hardly as thick as a match
but. judging by appearance and noise, they
yielded the smoker an immense amount Of
satisfaction and pleasure.
In Praise of Nicotine.
The smoker. says Thtckeray. has great
physical advantages in conversation
Breaks never seem isasreeabe when filled
up with puns of smoke Il have no
doubt he adds. that IT is from the hapit
Of smoking that the Turks and American
Indians are such monstrous well-bTed men
The pipe draws wisdom from the lips Of the
philosopher, and shuts up the mouth Of the
foolish. II generates style OF conversation
coEtemplatiye, thoughtful. benevolen; and
unaffected
Carlyle goes further and suggests the
great advantages Of introducing the prac-
tiCc Of smoking into parliamentary assem-
blies- Tobacco smoke" he says. lis the