Feb. 22, 2021
How to understand Blackfoot perspectives on gifting tobacco
For Indigenous nations across North America, tobacco has deep-seated sacred and ritual roots. Although protocols and medicines may differ from region to region, the majority of nations uphold thesignificance of tobaccoas a sacred plant used as an offering for knowledge and as a relational act of reciprocity, something that continues to be practised to this day.
Since ii’ taa’poh’to’p, ɫ Indigenous Strategy, launched in 2017, its aim has been to Indigenize ways of knowing, doing, connecting and being on our campus. One of the many ways we can achieve this collective goal is by understanding and embedding ceremonial activities and Indigenous protocol, like offering tobacco, into our operations here at the University ofCalgary.
Sharing knowledge
To understand the significance of tobacco from a traditional Indigenous perspective, it is important to understand the meaning of ceremony. According to UCalgary Elder in Residence Reg Crowshoe, a Traditional Knowledge Keeper andceremonial leader,“Ceremonies arelegal proceedings basedon respect and truththat validate and protect oral traditions.”
A request for wisdom and a transfer of knowledge from an Elder/Traditional Knowledge Keeper often includes and begins with the offering of tobacco, he says. Although the offering of tobacco is embedded in an oralsystem, it is the action of donating tobacco that validates the application for information.
Whenan individual wants to sharewhat they have learned from a Knowledge Keeper,Crowshoe says,“Traditionally, you respond by stating thatyou gave tobacco to an Elder, and they gave you this story—in our way, traditionally,they would respondthat yes, you heard a true story.” In a parallel context, the offering of tobaccocertifiesan oral contract.
Traditional ceremonial protocol for tobacco
There are different types of tobacco, says Crowshoe: “There isrecreational tobacco,and thenthere is the tobaccothat is planted and harvestedfor ceremonialpurposes.”
From a Piikani perspective, Crowshoe illustrates for us a traditional practice that makes ceremonial tobacco sacred to Blackfoot Peoples. “Through a process of ceremony, tobacco planters plantspecialtobacco seeds in a secret location,” he says. “Inthe fall,tobacco is harvested and thenbrought back to the communityina‘beaver bundle’ andshared among the leaders.” This series of events is an exampleof howtobacco gets used in the Piikani/Blackfoot ways of knowing, doing, being and connecting.
Crowshoe provides an example. “Letus say I wanted to make a deal with youforyour property, and I would take tobacco from the beaver bundle, mix a little with regular tobacco,fill that pipe and give you that pipeandthenmake my request.If youchooseto smoke the pipe, we have nowentereda legal,contractual agreementunder the legislation of the beaver bundle.”
According to Crowshoe,the story of the beaver bundle originatesfrom Blackfoot Country“east of the Rocky Mountains towards the SaskatchewanRiver, down to Yellowstone.”Among otherculturaluses,beaver bundleslegitimizeoral legal practices, transactions and responsibilities.
An Elder’s knowledgeis grounded intheauthority and respect of theiracquired life wisdom.
FAQ for UCalgary faculty and staff
Q: Who are Elders/Traditional Knowledge Keepers?
A: Traditional Elders (also called Traditional Knowledge Keepers) hold positions ofrespect in their communities, as they are often appointed with the roles of teachers, role models and mentors.
Q: Whereshould staff go toget tobacco?
A: “Some people get theirtobacco from the Indigenousstores that sell it,” says Crowshoe. “Ihave been offered many types of tobacco — a package, a cigarette, aleaf of tobacco. Ihave been given a pouch, which is tobaccoplaced insidea smallsheet ofcloth.I’ve received tobaccoinmany ways, butIhave always related them to the concept of an application. Get tobacco wherever you can find it.”
Q: Do all Indigenous nations use tobacco the same way?
A: “It isessentialto recognize thatthere are many nations,” says Elissa Twoyoungmen,BA’15, ɫ Indigenous cultural engagement and protocol specialist. “Some nations from different regions may speak the same language or are related somehow, but may still have their distinct practices based on connections to a specific landscape. So there maybe differences regardinghow they approach ceremony.”
For more information about Indigenous cultural education or protocol at UCalgary, including advice about purchasing and using tobacco for ceremonial purposes, staff and faculty are encouraged to contact Twoyoungmen, a key member of the ɫ Indigenous Strategy team, at etwoyoun@ucalgary.ca, or the staff at Writing Symbols Lodge.
ii’ taa’poh’to’p, the ɫ’s Indigenous Strategy, is a commitment to deep evolutionary transformation by reimagining ways of knowing, doing, connecting and being. Walking parallel paths together, “in a good way,” UCalgary is moving towardgenuine reconciliation and Indigenization.
TobaccoinBlackfoot
- 辱’kٲ ni: tobacco mixture
- 辱áá첹Ծٲ:tobacco,cigarettes plural
- saipstaahkohki vai:give tobacco out (to the individuals present at the opening of a medicine pipe bundle)
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