 | Home page |  | Text size |  | E-mail this page |
One plant, two meanings Elders council make distinction between cultural and commercial tobacco use
Laura Busch
Northern News Services
Published Friday, June 7, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
First Nations have a strong spiritual connection to the tobacco plant, but cigarette smoking is not part of traditional aboriginal culture.
Francois Paulette feeds a ceremonial fire an offering of organic tobacco as Mary Rose Dryneck, cultural liaison worker with Stanton Territorial Health Authority, and approximately 60 participants look on during a ceremony at the legislative assembly on May 31. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo |
The importance of knowing the difference between traditional tobacco use and commercial tobacco use was the main message given by members of the Dene Nation Elders Council with the Stanton Territorial Health Authority during a World No Tobacco Day at the legislative assembly on May 31.
"Traditionally, tobacco was used in the past, before Europeans came here, to pray with. It was a gift from God - to make offerings," said Francois Paulette, chair of the elders council. "When you pray with tobacco, the smoke would rise to the heavens, thanking the creator and asking for blessings."
Tobacco is used in prayer and is often left on the land as a repayment for whatever is taken, be it berries or cord wood. It is also used in prayer ceremonies, often mixed with other medicinal plants such as bearberry.
However, traditionally it was rarely smoked and during ceremonies, one would be exposed to a very minimal amount of smoke from organic tobacco leaves. Over time, tobacco was colonized and commercialized until it became the cigarette products of today with their many chemical additives that harm human health, according to educational material assembled by the elders council and unveiled at the May 31 event.
Nonetheless, statistics indicate more aboriginal Canadians smoke than their non-aboriginal counterparts. In the NWT, aboriginal residents are three times more likely to smoke tobacco. Territory-wide, the percentage of smokers aged 18 and up - 36 per cent - is nearly double the national average of 19 per cent, said Health and Social Services Minister Tom Beaulieu, adding more than half of NWT adults in the 1990s were smokers.
"In my opinion, the NWT should not be any different than the rest of the country," he said.
The negative health effects of commercial cigarettes and chewing tobacco are well known, said Sandra Lockhart, the co-ordinator for the aboriginal wellness program with Stanton.
"Tobacco use is the single (largest) preventable cause of death globally," she said, adding the products kill roughly one in 10 adults worldwide.
This is why it is especially important for aboriginal people to get back to using tobacco in a traditional way, she said.
Paulette said commercial tobacco should be classed in the same category as alcohol and drugs.
"Traditional tobacco, it's a medicine," said Paulette. "Commercial cigarettes are always combined with alcohol (and) drugs."
Staff at Stanton Territorial Hospital have been working with the elders council as the territorial hospital transitioned into a smoke-free facility in February 2012, said Kay Lewis, CEO of the health authority. Tobacco is still allowed for traditional ceremonies, but the use of commercial tobacco is no longer supported at the facility, she said.
"When people come to the hospital, we want them to feel that we are respectful of their beliefs," said Lewis.
The biggest concern for elders is the health of their grandchildren and future generations, and so they decided to work on this project to share their knowledge and hopefully raise awareness that smoking cigarettes is not part of their culture, said Paulette.
"Our elders, we love our grandchildren so much that we want to teach and learn and educate the people - especially the young people - about tobacco. The use of traditional tobacco and the abuse of commercial tobacco because we want our grandchildren to be healthy in the future," he said.
| 
