And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: tabacco (none) sent you the following article from the News & Observer on the Web (http://www.news-observer.com). This article is protected by copyright and should not be printed or distributed for anything except personal use. --------------------------------------------------------------- Comments from none: contact him: Larence Shorty, [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------- [4/17/99] Old culture's new look at tobacco By YONAT SHIMRON, Staff Writer http://www.news-observer.com/daily/1999/04/17/nc00.html HOLLISTER -- A group of American Indians eager to promote healthful habits planted a field Friday morning with a seed they say is sacred to their people: tobacco. This, however, was not the tobacco cultivated for Marlboros or Camels. It was "nat'oh," the sacred leaf Native Americans once smoked during prayer and healing rituals. The early morning planting ceremony in Warren County was part of an effort to reacquaint American Indians with lost traditions. Organizers also hope that if American Indians understand tobacco's place in their culture, it will discourage habitual smoking. Nearly 40 percent of American Indians smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than any other ethnic group. By reclaiming tobacco as a sacred leaf smoked only during religious ceremonies, some American Indians hope to cut the use of commercial tobacco. "The old Indians didn't use tobacco every day," said Jesse Richardson, the vice chief of the Haliwa-Saponi, who donated a quarter acre of his land for Friday's planting ceremony. "You get addicted to anything you use every day. It can wreck your health." During the ceremony, tribal members offered a prayer, rubbed their foreheads and tongues with corn pollen and smoked a special species of tobacco wrapped in corn husks. They then set out to scatter tobacco seeds across the field. Moving in a line, they crossed the field four times to correspond with the four cardinal points of the compass. Half a dozen public health officers, excited by the initiative, looked on. "We've taken a more traditional approach to educating people about the consequences of smoking," said Tim McGloin, a research associate with the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Culturally appropriate strategies are also needed. We want to diversify our work and reach more communities." The planting ceremony is the brainchild of Lawrence Shorty, a graduate student in public health at the University of New Mexico. Shorty said he got interested in Native American smoking habits after his Navajo grandfather asked him to bring back some North Carolina tobacco leaves cured by his African-American grandparents in Person County. Each year, after summering in North Carolina, Shorty would pack a bag of leaves to take to Albuquerque, where Dooley Shorty would smoke them whenever he prayed for his family. "Native Americans have a saying: We learn not from books but by example," said Shorty, who flew to the Triangle for the weekend. "If elders can show young people how to use tobacco as a sacred leaf, that will change people's perspective of it." Last year, Shorty met Greg Richardson, executive director of the state Commission of Indian Affairs, and told him what he was doing in New Mexico. The two then decided to hold a similar ceremony on Richardson's father's land in Warren County. "We hope this will take off -- tribe by tribe, region by region -- and that Indians will talk to elders about the history of how tobacco is used," Richardson said. There are 80,155 American Indians in North Carolina, more than in any other state east of the Mississippi River. They are organized in six tribes: Lumbee, Coharie, Waccamaw-Siouan, Haliwa-Saponi, Meherrin and Eastern Band of Cherokee. Bernard Richardson of Hollister said American Indians are finding ways to incorporate their traditions with their Christian faith. "It takes us back to the biblical days when the Israelites offered sacrifices by sending up smoke to God," he said. "Everywhere they went, they worshiped God in their own way. We also worship God through our traditions." Yonat Shimron can be reached at 829-4891 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------- This article is protected by copyright and should not be printed or distributed for anything except personal use. Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
