Renewing Traditions to Rebuild Our Communities: Using Ceremonial Tobacco Gardens as a Method of Commercial Tobacco Prevention

Background: There is minimal access to ceremonial (traditional) tobacco in Indian Country. Many people do not know how to cultivate and grow traditional tobacco. For these and other reasons many American Indians use commercial tobacco (Nicotiana tobaccum) in ceremony rather than the traditional plant used in the past. The Wisconsin Native Youth Tobacco Survey found that youth who used cigarettes in ceremony were more likely to have “ever smoked” recreationally and were more likely to have “smoked in the past 30 days”, while youth who used traditional tobacco in ceremony were less likely to have “ever smoked” or “smoked in the past 30 days.” Methods: As part of the CDC's “Communities Putting Prevention to Work” grant, five Wisconsin Tribes were given traditional tobacco (Nicotiana rustica) seeds, technical assistance, cultural knowledge, and funding to cultivate traditional tobacco. Results: Some Wisconsin Tribes cultivated ceremonial tobacco in tobacco gardens. This increased access to traditional tobacco, provided a learning opportunity for the community, and provided an opportunity to shift the functional meaning of commercial tobacco from a sometimes sacred substance to a solely negative addictive substance.