Smudge Sticks

Lore & Background

The use of burning herbs for ceremony is an element common to many different cultures worldwide. In some Indigenous American and Canadian ceremonies, certain herbs are traditionally used to purify or bless people and places. For instance, some cultures use the smoke of burning red cedar as part of their particular purification and healing ceremonies. Sometimes this is done in hospitals to 'cleanse and repel evil influence.' However, the same herbs that are burned by one culture may be taboo to burn in another, or they may be used for a completely different purpose. When specific herbs are burned ceremonially, this may or may not be called 'smudging', depending on the culture. Traditionally, when gathering herbs for ceremonial use, care is taken to determine the time of day, month, or year when the herbs should be collected; for example, at dawn or evening, at certain phases of the moon, or according to yearly cycles. Gertrude Allen, a Lumbee, reported that her father, an expert in healing with plants, stated that sage varies in potency at different times of the year.

In Their Own Story

While sage is commonly associated with smudging and several Native American, First Nations, Inuit or Métis cultures may use forms of sage that are local to their region, the use of sage is neither universal, nor as widespread as many believe. Its use in regions that have not traditionally used sage for purification is largely a result of the Pan-Indian movement, rather than traditional practice. In some cases it may be in direct opposition to what is traditional for that region. Likewise, not all Native American or Indigenous Canadian cultures that burn herbs or resins for ceremony call this practice 'smudging.' The herbs used in commercial 'smudge sticks' or 'sage bundles,' and the rituals performed with them by non-Natives, are rarely the actual materials or ceremonies used by traditional Native Americans. Use of these objects have also been adopted in some forms into a number of modern belief systems, including many forms of New Age and eclectic Neopagan spirituality. This has been protested against by Native activists as a form of cultural misappropriation.

Reader's Guide

Smudging 'kits' are often sold commercially, by companies such as Anthropologie, Sephora, World Market, and Walmart, despite traditional prohibitions against the sale of spiritual medicines like white sage. These may include bundles of a single herb or a combination of several different herbs; often these herbs are not found bundled together in traditional use, and their use is not universal to all, or even most, Native cultures. In some Native American cultures the burning of these herbs is prohibited. Other commercial items may contain herbs not native to North America, or not indigenous to the region where they are being used, as well as substances that are toxic when burnt. Native American and First Nations students in college dorms have at times faced harassment and been forbidden from burning herbs for ceremonial reasons due to university fire prevention policies that prohibit the burning of candles or incense in college dorm rooms. This has raised issues around the religious freedom of Native Americans. In another account, a Native American in Cincinnati became ordained by the Universal Life Church in order to fulfill the requirement that only clergy members could perform smudging ceremonies as part of the prayer ritual for other Native Americans in area hospitals.

Did You Know?

• The herbs used in commercial 'smudge sticks' or 'sage bundles' are rarely the actual materials used by traditional Native Americans.
• In some Native American cultures the burning of certain herbs is prohibited.
• Some commercial smudge items may contain substances that are toxic when burnt.
• Native American and First Nations students have been forbidden from burning herbs for ceremonial reasons due to university fire prevention policies.
• A Native American in Cincinnati became ordained by the Universal Life Church to perform smudging ceremonies in area hospitals.