The Cultural History of Tobacco in the Americas

      Tobacco proved to be the factor behind the success of one of the first English colonies in the Americas- Jamestown. After John Rolfe introduced the colony to tobacco in the early 1600s, the tobacco economy boomed, and the demand for more workers increased the population on the American coast. Tobacco, however, was a crop that drained the nutrients of the soil- and a rotation time of 3 years was needed for the land to become fertile again. As a result, the need for more farmland pushed the frontiers of the colonies in search for the expansion of the industry. The colony also began to grow with the arrival of indentured servants. Signs were even posted in England to promote individuals to move to  the Americas for work in return for 50 acres of land after their indentured work.  But, although tobacco and its history became prominent during the early colonial period, it was actually cultivated and used by natives hundreds of years before. Although colonists saw tobacco as a strictly profitable good, American Indians use and relationship with the crop was vastly different. 

    While we correlate tobacco's prominence in the Americas with the Southern colonial period, its usage has been around for centuries. Indeed, according to stogiefresh.com, “The earliest tobacco in eastern North America dates to Middle Woodland contexts as early as the first century B.C. in west-central Illinois. Its more widespread occurrence postdates A.D. 300. (Wagner, 1991)." But even before that, historians have questioned how native Americans learned the use and cultivation of the crop. Studied have suggested that because tobacco was originally a prominent plant in the West Indies, Mexico, and  Central America,  seeds were carried north by wandering Mayans. As time progressed, different cultivation techniques developed in different regions- as did different means of consumption and usage. Although many tribes did not document how exactly they grew and utilized the crop, historical accounts, science, and art have allowed historians to hypothesize how tobacco impacted society. 

     Native people within the Americas saw tobacco as a gift from the Great Spirit. Indeed, the story behind how it came to be is the following: when the Great Spirit was sleeping, his arch enemy rolled him towards the fire. As a result, he rose up when his hair was caught ablaze and ran through the woods. His burning hair fell off in pieces, and those pieces took root in the ground and became what we know as tobacco! Tobacco was never consumed unadultrated by American Indians, instead, various plants and dogwood were often added before it was smoked. The ratio of tobacco to an additional plant was around 1:2, so pure tobacco was rarely smoked. Depending on the region, squaw bush, poplar, birch, cherry, arrowroot, laurel leaves- and even buffalo excrements were added to the tobacco! The usage also differed based on region. Tribes living in the Southwest and in the Great basin rolled the tobacco into cornhusks, and smoked it like a common day cigar. However, within the 18th century, the expansion of Europeans to the Great Lakes region, and the Ohio and Mississippi river basins drew reports of tribes using pipes being used. They were actually using them for religious rituals- as the pipe was a symbol of "hospitality and amicable intercourse". Pipes would only be used when important business was being conducted. In addition, the pipe was actually buried with the individual upon their death. The story of the development of the pipe also comes from the Great Spirit. They say that he called all of his people together, and kneaded a pipe from "Pipestone Rock". This pipe was then smoked by him and the people on the "four corners of the globe". Although this is one derivation of the story, the Arapaho, Sioux, and Blackfoot Tribes all have different accounts of what truly happened. 

    Every time tobacco was smoked in early Indian Society, it was seemed to have been done with a religious and ritualistic purpose. Taking into account the different Indian cultures and society- often times, the tobacco was put on the ground, into a river, waterfall, or other natural area as a gift to the Earth. It was also smoked through a primitive cigar or cigarette to get in touch with the spirit world. Fumigation was also an important use of the crop- either on the body of a dead chief or a large animal. Tobacco was tied onto prayer sticks, and even used in liquid and solid forms as medicine. I thought the most interesting use was when tobacco was thrown into the fire and the smoke was believed to be a hidden God. Ultimately, the rich history and use of tobacco in Native American societies is usually lost when compared to the economic success of the Southern colonies- prominently Jamestown. However, the beauty and rich culture of native societies help to illustrate the foundation of tobacco, and its intimacy to everyday life.  


Sources:
http://www.stogiefresh.info/edu-tobacco/articles/native-american-tobacco.html
http://www.intheknowzone.com/substance-abuse-topics/tobacco/history.html
http://healthliteracy.worlded.org/docs/tobacco/Unit1/2history_of.html
http://www.ushistory.org/us/2d.asp