What did Native American smoke in their pipes ?

Mostly tobacco.. the Europeans learned it from them and brought back pipes that they modeled thiers after. I suppose paote as well in some cerinonies. Among other things depending on where they were.
 

I heard they smoked certain leaves for different purposes i.e. sumac leaves produced vivid dreams
 

I can guess a few smoked some maui wowie at woodstock.

Actually if you google "indian tobacco" you get a few different answers. Lobelia inflata on the east coast and several others west coast. so it appears location had allot to do with it.

Must have been some wicked stuff considering all the spirits they saw & Big imaginations they had on being able to make rain & Dance away diseases, & broken bones. :laughing7:

I know the Colonial records here say it had a pretty disgusting taste, compared to
what they were used to.
 

Last edited:
Tobacco was traditionally used for ceremonial, religious and medicinal purposes by Native American tribes. They smoked tobacco as well as other added ingredients. Sumac was one as mentioned above as well as Willow bark and other plant materials. Tobacco wasn't grown everywhere and it wasn't widely available to all tribes. So, 100% tobacco wasn't the norm. The tobacco back then was a much different animal compared to today also. You have to remember, the "traditional" tobacco back then wasn't processed with chemical additives like "commercial" tobacco is today. Try smoking a raw tobacco leaf right out of the barn after curing for a couple months and you'll know what i'm talking about.
 

Cut it, hang it in the barn to dry, bale it, turn it a few times, carry it into the rolling room where fine cigars are rolled on the thighs of island women. This image helps a bunch when you're paying $50-$75 or so for some authentic cubans. Ah, the good old days.
 

kinnickinic,i'm not sure if i spelled it right.A mixture of herbs,certain types of tree bark,sumac leaves(not poison sumac).The tobacco smoked nowadays didnt come into play until a little later.There were tobacco plants though but it wasnt the same type,much more harsh. The better kind was brought to england by Sir Walter Ralegh and became the main export from the americas after 1600.It was worth its weight in silver.
 

tobacco often -- at times it could alsoi be a blend of tabacco and various medical herbs * --or straight medical herbs . -- a lot depended on "why" it was being smoked and by whom and at what time and what was availble to them.
 

yes i meant ate peyote buttons, not chewed
just like i did back in the early 70's down in texas
south of san antonio and WOW!
 

Wow, indeed!:tongue3:

Smoking pipe residue analysis. There are lots of articles out there but can't access them in total..


ScienceDirect.com - Journal of Archaeological Science - Identification of Nicotine by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy Analysis of Smoking Pipe Residue
ScienceDirect.com - Journal of Archaeological Science - Evidence of early tobacco in Northeastern North America?

http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1108&context=sciaa_staffpub&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Danalysis%2520of%2520smoking%2520pipe%2520residue%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D4%26ved%3D0CD0QFjAD%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fscholarcommons.sc.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1108%2526context%253Dsciaa_staffpub%26ei%3D2_RVUKv1CYPm9ATL9oCoBg%26usg%3DAFQjCNGdq1n8QYiWqx8C1t4rs8V-ELJYbw#search=%22analysis%20smoking%20pipe%20residue%22
 

it seems there is not one answer. We were always told kinnickinnic too...here is an early description of it...


[h=4]Term: kinnickinnic[/h] Definition:
the English phoneticization of an Ojibwe word usually translated as "tobacco," but in fact typically meaning a blend of tobacco with local bark or grasses. Sometimes written as "kinickinick".
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft left this description of it in 1820: "...we here first noticed a creeping plant called kinni-kinick by the Indians, which is used as a substitute for tobacco. This plant appears to have escaped the notice of the indefatigable Pursh nor do I find any description of it in Michaux, or Eaton [19th-c. botanists]. It is a creeping evergreen with an ovate leaf, of a deep green colour, and velvet-like appearance, and is common to sandy soils. I suspect it to be a new variety of chimaphila. The Indians prepare it by drying the leaf over a moderate fire, and bruising it between the fingers so that it, in some degree, resembles cut tobacco. In this state it is smoked, and is very mild and pleasant. They, however, prefer mixing it with a portion of the common tobacco (nicotiana tobacum) or perhaps it is done with a view to economy. As the kinnikinick only flourishes on sandy grounds, it is not always to be procured, in which case they employ other substances, the most common of which is the bark scraped off the small red twigs of the acer spicatum, or maple bush. Certain species of willows are also resorted to."
 

Thanks everyone for the info.

I didn't know if tobacco was even a native plant 8,000 or 10,000 years ago.

I'm in Kentucky.

Thanks again, junk250
 

In south america yes on the 10,000 year time line. They have also found fossilized blocks in Peru. Good chance they were inhaling almost every thing back then as you lived by a fire.
 

no problem, I have the stuff growing in my yard, it is actually a pretty common ground cover and most of you would recognize that you have seen it before and never knew what it was.
 

This is going to sound like a joke, but I'm serious. They never smoked marijuana ? And is their any signs of them using hemp fibers? I don't know first hand, but some one told me marijuana makes you think deep and hungry enough to eat a buffalo. I was told, don't know!Lol! Seems like one would need to be a pretty deep thinker to innovate a rock to the point of being able to kill a buffalo with it.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

New spot is pretty hot

⬅️ Previous Thread

possible axe or just a rock?

Next Thread ➡️

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Steve's Detector Rods

Latest Discussions

Back
Top