I start most mornings by smudging [for non-Natives: info here]*. I love how the smell lingers on me and in my home and I love that the smell reminds me of Native spaces. It makes me feel safe. The medicines I use were all gifted to me by friends or colleagues, or I have a few special ones that I gathered myself–a sweetgrass braid I made with my students while we were with Oneida tribal members on their lands, a bundle of sage gathered at Sacred Stone Camp with my friend from Standing Rock while we were participating in the movement in 2016. When I burn them, I remember where they came from or who gifted them to me, and that’s important to me and my practice as well. I also smudge when things are hard, or when something has happened and I need to cleanse or re-center. Smudging is grounding to me. It’s centering. It’s personal.
So when I see things like Sephora selling a $42 “Starter Witch Kit” from the brand Pinrose that includes a bundle of white sage, I have…thoughts.
To understand this kit you need to understand that this, like all instances I write about here, is not new. From the earliest contact with Columbus, Christianity and suppressing Native religions was a tool with which colonizers enacted their violent genocide. There are thousands of examples. In the 1500’s, Spanish colonizers operated under “the Requirement,” which forced Natives to convert to Christianity or else, “We shall take you and your wives and your children, and shall make slaves of them, and as such shall sell and dispose of them as their Highnesses may command; and we shall take away your goods, and shall do all the harm and damage that we can.” The California Mission system has a similar history. Mandatory Government boarding schools and mission schools had the explicit mission of christianization and suppression of traditional Native spirituality. The Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee. On and on and on.
In addition to the violent and bloody suppression of Native spirituality through these tactics, our ceremonies were explicitly made illegal, with punishments ranging from fines, to prison sentences, to being sent to asylums for “insane Indians”. This wasn’t just a threat. It was written into law. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs wrote these “Rules for Indian Courts” in 1892:
“Dances-Any Indian who shall engage in the sun dance, scalp dance, or war dance, or any similar feast, so called, shall be guilty of an offense, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished for the first offense by with holding of his rations for not exceeding ten days or by imprisonment for not exceeding ten days; for any subsequent offense under this clause he shall be punished by withholding his rations for not less than ten days nor more than thirty days, or by imprisonment for not less than ten days nor more than thirty days.
Medicine men–Any Indian who shall engage in the practices of so-called medicine men, or who shall resort to any artifice or device to keep the Indians of the reservation from adopting and following civilized habits and pursuits, or shall use any arts of conjurer to prevent Indians from abandoning their barbarous rites and customs, shall be deemed guilty of an offense, and upon conviction thereof, for the first offense shall be imprisoned for not less than ten days and not more than thirty days: Provided That, for subsequent conviction for such offense the maximum term or imprisonment shall not exceed six months.”
Read that closely–Native peoples would have their rations withheld or would be imprisoned for up to thirty days for simply practicing their ceremonies or being a medicine person.
Lakota medicine man, arrested for practicing traditional sweat lodge healing ceremonies by Father Francis M. Craft, 1880's. Photographed here in iron shackles, ball and chains. pic.twitter.com/r2QdqWRlii
— Matt Remle (@wakiyan7) March 10, 2018
It wasn’t until 1978–a mere 40 years ago–that Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. The Act declares that “henceforth it shall be the policy of the United States to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions of the American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Native Hawaiians, including but not limited to access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites.” (For a good summary of the history of Native religious suppression and resistance, I found this piece by Lee Irwin very helpful)
The fact that our ceremonies even still exist and are actively practiced today is testament to the resistance and resilience of our communities. Our not-so-distant ancestors had to go underground with our spiritual practices, hide them from authorities, or mask them with a veneer of Christianity (see Pueblo communities or Oklahoma Indian Churches for great examples of that). Once, my Auntie mentioned that her Grandpa (my great-great grandpa) was a “nighthawk”–she didn’t know what that meant other than he supposedly snuck off at night a lot. After asking and reading around, I learned that the Nighthawks were the Cherokees in Indian Territory (what is now Oklahoma) who were committed to revitalizing traditional ceremony post-Trail of Tears. They held stomp dances and ceremonies deep in the forests of Oklahoma, and were committed to a return to traditional “old ways” in the same period of time where the Dawes Commission was dividing up communally held lands to encourage assimilation. These were not casual gatherings. They were dangerous and had dire consequences if discovered. This is the legacy I carry on when I practice my own spirituality.
Smudging and other Native spiritual practices are still not openly supported in spaces we occupy. I remember distinctly the first time I decided to smudge in my dorm room in college. I sat on the floor and nervously struck a match. I quickly smudged, concentrated not on my thoughts but on my smoke alarm–which decided that even my small amount of smoke was too much. The alarm began to blare as I waved my hands and a file folder frantically trying to disperse the lingering smoke. Then, with horror, I began to hear doors slamming progressively down the hall–BAM–BAM–BAM–BAM–and realized my hallmates doors were automatically slamming shut to contain the “fire” in my room. I ran out into the hall and shouted, “It’s ok! There’s no fire!” as folks came to investigate. My neighbors accused me jokingly of smoking too much pot. I had to nervously explain to everyone what I was doing, showing my shell and medicine. Everyone shrugged and went back inside. Once the smoke alarm stopped blaring the doors were able to be propped open again, and my pot smoking neighbors delivered a gift–a shower cap to place over the smoke alarm the next time I wanted to burn anything.
I was lucky. My dorm staff didn’t care, I didn’t have to go explain myself to the administration, and I wasn’t shamed for my spiritual practices. But it was still traumatic, and I didn’t smudge for a long time. There are Native students on college campuses across the country who are not as lucky. They are kicked out of housing for smudging, have roommates that “report” them to dorm staff, or are explicitly prohibited from practicing their spirituality in their homes on campus. Administrators tell them to “go outside” (where you’re subject to the stares and ridicule of passers-by) or force them to deliver “proof” from their tribe that this is something “cultural.” When Native campus communities want to bless spaces or smudge before events, they have to go through layers of bureaucratic BS to get permission from those in power. (I asked on Twitter for experiences from Native students, you can read some of the heartbreaking and heartening responses here. I think this might have to be a whole separate post.)
I am going so in depth here to show you–that smudge stick is not benign. It’s not about “ownership.” That smudge stick represents the deep pain, sacrifice, resistance, and refusal of Native peoples. It represents a continuing legacy of marginalizing and punishing Native spirituality. So when our religious practices are mocked through these products, or folks are commodifying and making money off our ceremonies it’s not about who has the “right” to buy or sell. It’s about power.
This problem isn’t limited to Pinrose or Sephora. Selling smudge “kits” is a thing. I tweeted about Urban Outfitters selling a smudge kit in 2015, which they pulled, but the company that made the kit still sells white sage on their site with the disclaimer, “Burning sage is a sacred practice, please be respectful when using sage.” Riiiight.
“When you search “smudge” on Etsy, the search immediately autofills with several options, none of them good.
Search “smudge kit” and the results return over 2000 options.
The sale of Native spirituality is easily a million dollar industry–not even including all the culture vultures and white shamans who sell fake ceremony. Who is benefitting from the sale of these products? Not Native peoples.
Finally, we need to unpack the “witch” part of this particular Pinrose kit in question. Remember back when I was writing all about JK Rowling’s “Magic in North America”? Here’s what I said about having Indigenous “magic” in the Harry Potter world of Witches and Wizards, and tied in the selling of these “kits” too:
The problem, Jo (can I call you Jo? I hope so), is that we as Indigenous peoples are constantly situated as fantasy creatures. Think about Peter Pan, where Neverland has mermaids, pirates…and Indians. Or on Halloween, children dress up as monsters, zombies, princesses, disney characters…and Indians. Beyond the positioning as “not real,” there is also a pervasive and problematic narrative wherein Native peoples are always “mystical” and “magical” and “spiritual”–able to talk to animals, conjure spirits, perform magic, heal with “medicine” and destroy with “curses.” Think about Grandmother Willow in Pocahontas, or Tonto talking to his bird and horse in The Lone Ranger, or the wolfpack in Twilight…or any other number of examples.
But we’re not magical creatures, we’re contemporary peoples who are still here, and still practice our spiritual traditions, traditions that are not akin to a completely imaginary wizarding world (as badass as that wizarding world is). In a fact I quote often on this blog, it wasn’t until 1978 that we as Native peoples were even legally allowed to practice our religious beliefs or possess sacred objects like eagle feathers. Up until that point, there was a coordinated effort through assimilation policies, missionary systems, and cultural genocide to stamp out these traditions, and with them, our existence as Indigenous peoples. We’ve fought and worked incredibly hard to maintain these practices and pass them on.
So I get worried thinking about the message it sends to have “Indigenous magic” suddenly be associated with the Harry Potter brand and world. Because the other piece I deal with on this blog is the constant commodification of our spiritual practices too. There is an entire industry of plastic shamans selling ceremonies, or places like Urban Outfitters selling “smudge kits” and fake eagle feathers. As someone who owns a genuine time-turner, I know that marketing around Harry Potter is a billion dollar enterprise, and so I get nervous thinking about the marketing piece. American fans are going to be super stoked at the existence of a wizarding school on this side of the pond, and I’m sure will want to snatch up anything related to it–which I really hope doesn’t include Native-inspired anything.
Positioning Native spirituality as “witchcraft” was also part of the tactics of oppression I listed early in the post. So along with placing Native peoples as fantasy creatures, it also draws upon that painful history and collapses diverse Native spiritualities onto the same level as magic crystals.
I’m not going to get into Wicca or Neo-Paganism and marginalization of these spiritual practices. I have some feelings about the ways appropriation runs deep for many individuals in those movements which will have to be another essay. But if self proclaimed “witches” want to get on board with helping stop Native spiritual oppression, cool. Just remember your own Wiccan Rede: “If it harm none, do what you will.” Clearly this harms.
Here’s the thing. “Smudging” is a practice that is from Native North American spiritual traditions. Yes, burning herbs, resins, roots, specific woods, incense, etc as cleansing or for prayer is something shared across many spiritual traditions. Across Native communities, we use different medicines for smudging depending on where we’re from. Not all communities use or used white sage or even smudge. They may call it other things as well. In Cherokee we also “go to water” for cleansing, and I didn’t learn to smudge until later in life.
Despite this diversity, the idea of “smudging” is distinctly indigenous to the Americas. White sage, the plant in question, grows in California. The plant itself is not endangered in the US-stamped-on-a-list kind of way, though many online are saying that, but what is endangered is Native peoples’ ability to access and use wild white sage in the ways that they and their ancestors have done for thousands of years. The habitats of white sage in California are threatened by development and increasing wild fires, and now wannabe “witches” and others who don’t know the proper protocols to sustainably harvest and protect the plants could do irreparable harm to an already threatened medicine.
All of this is to say: find out what your own ancestors may have burned for cleansing, and use that. Unless you’re Native, it probably wasn’t white sage. Sorry. I know you’re not used to hearing you can’t have something. But you can’t have this. Before you storm off in an entitled huff, I honestly don’t care what you do in the privacy of your own home. If you’re gifted medicines by Native folks and are taught how to properly use them, more power to you. Just don’t turn around and sell them or sell ceremonies.
What I care about is the removal of context from conversations on cultural appropriation, the erasing of the painful and violent history around suppression of Native spirituality, the ongoing struggles Native students and peoples have in practicing their beliefs, and the non-Native companies and non-Native individuals that are making money off of these histories and traditions without understanding the harm they’re enacting.
So yeah, won’t be shopping at Sephora anytime soon.
For a similar context-filled post about the misuse of warbonnets: Dear Christina Fallin
(Wanted to give a shout out to @xodanix3 who has been tweeting out some great threads about this in the last few days. Give her a follow or support her on Patreon.)
(Also, Hi. I’m back. I missed you all.)
*I wrote about the mechanics of how I smudge here but took it out after thinking about it. I don’t need to provide folks a “how to” guide for cultural theft.
Comments
My great-grandmother, Míísinsskiaakii (Badger Woman) died in 1976, two years before the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. My father (also passed) remembered her using her medicine and practicing culture in secrecy. The only time my father learned his language was by accompanying her to her friend’s house where they would play cards and speak explicitly in Blackfoot. Because I am mixed and not raised on the reservation with my family a lot of my culture was not passed on to me. I had to seek out knowledge and guidance from family and other Natives to learn our culture (I still am). Every time I see the exploitation of our culture — medicine, regalia, dwellings (I could go on). I am deeply affected. These things were lost to me because of colonialism and now they are repackaged and sold to non Natives by the very people that took them away. I appreciate your work in educating others. nitsíniiyi’taki.
I am registered with the Miami Indian tribe 💜 I’ve receently learned about smudging and am excited to take part in this cleansing ritual 🧚🏻♂️
Thank you for all the valuable information I learned a ton!
Thank you for these informative words. I will no longer use sage in my practice and I’m pleased to have your work as a resource.
I first heard about this from here: https://bewitchedmusing.wordpress.com/2018/09/01/cultural-appropriation-and-colonization-in-magic-and-how-to-hopefully-avoid-it/comment-page-1/#comment-53 I always appreciate your insight and clarity. Thank you for what you do, and for contributing to the education of this white lady.
I honestly had no idea. I have used sage and even sold “house blessing kits” without realizing I was abusing a sacred indigenous practice. And I’ve been using it for 30 years. I am so sorry.
I will cease this abuse immediately. As a contemporary American (and witch) who has not had my DNA tested, I have only vague ideas about my ancestors and cultural history. However, there are basic incenses that have become meaningful to me over the years, and I can easily use those instead.
I do have a question or two. What about sandalwood and sweetgrass? I would not be surprised to discover Native American history with these herbs, either. What about forms of salvia that are not white sage? I don’t smudge, but I have cleansed spaces with these herbs – is this also appropriation? My practice is centered on spirit work – helping people work with familiar spirits that emerge in their lives (never anything like “totems”). I would like a way to continue my work knowing I am not appropriating indigenous culture, and to advise my clients on how to cleanse their homes in an ethical way. I’ve used herbs so long that I’m hesitant to make adjustments without knowing I’m not treading on dangerous ground.
Witchcraft has long included both herbal and water cleansing. How do we determine what is proper to do?
Thank you.
I read your post on the same day I took my daughter to 5Below only to see bundles of white sage sold along with their DIY dreamcatchers and so-forth.
My writings have specifically focused on researching the stereotypes affixed to indigenous peoples and the mass propagation of inaccuracies in the consumer industry. It does not seem to have enough attention brought to it and the exploitation continues.
Thank you for your excellent, informative post! Sephora’s appropriation of Native American spirituality is utterly wrong, totally disrespectful, and I’m glad that the criticism they have received has caused them to think twice about this awful product.
In the British druidic and witchcraft communities, the reaction to this pack has been overwhelmingly negative. Although it purports to be a “beginner’s witch kit”, it offers no genuine grounding in witchcraft. It doesn’t provide any advice on the basics of our practices (grounding, honouring genius loci etc.), and the fragrances included have no spiritual significance, so the suggestion that the Tarot cards should be used to choose which one to try first (what?) is frankly bizarre. They’re just using witchcraft as a 2 dimensional buzzword to flog perfume. Consumerism at its most crass.
But the offensiveness of the misuse of witchcraft in this product, is clearly small potatoes compared to the use and sale of white sage by non-Native people. As you rightly point out, smudging with white sage is not actually a part of British traditions – in Wicca and Druidry one purifies a space with fire and water, or by sweeping with a broom, burning mugwort and rosemary, or scattering sea salt. But the use of white sage is lamentably common in Britain, particularly amongst less experienced practitioners. People aren’t aware of their own spiritual traditions, but they are aware of the racist stereotypes you discuss above – so they gravitate towards appropriating indigenous customs.
The use of rose quartz is also hugely problematic. Although stones play an immensely important role in British practices (they symbolise the power of the dead and allow us to access Annwn – the Otherworld), using crystals that have been unsustainably mined and then sold for profit is totally wrong. A British witch will gain far more strength from a pebble found in a river sacred to her patron deity, than she will from a bit of quartz picked up from a shop somewhere.
As you point out, cultural appropriation is, unfortunately, deeply ingrained for many individual spiritual practitioners in the witchcraft and Druidic communities. It’s shameful, and I acknowledge my responsibility to speak out against it.
A growing number of us are very much on board with combatting spiritual oppression of indigenous peoples, and are challenging appropriative practices in our own communities. The main issue I’ve had in the past is tracking down good sources – authored by indigenous people – articulating why the kinds of appropriation that take place in Druidic or witchcraft contexts in Britain are so problematic. Most indigenous authored articles I’ve found, including the ones on your site, deal with American or Canadian contexts (for obvious reasons), which aren’t often directly applicable to how appropriation manifests elsewhere.
Therefore, I’m really looking forward to any future articles you might write exploring appropriation in witchcraft and pagan contexts. If you’d like some examples of the kinds of thing that occur in the UK, I’ve had some first hand encounters with appropriators that may prove useful for exploring appropriation outside the Americas. And if there’s anything else I can do to help, let me know!
I know this is extremely late, but if anyone is wondering about European traditions of smoke cleansing, it was called “saining” in Gaelic and “recaning” (pronounced “reekening”) in Anglo-Saxon, and involved the burning of juniper and/or mugwort. Both rituals were used for healing as well as purification.
That’s okay with the timing; the internet is forever. 😉
Saining can also be done with water. One would preferably use water that comes from fresh water out in the world (creek, lake, river, etc), and a sprig or small branch from an appropriate plant. I typically use a sprig of mistletoe, which is easily obtained from the many oak trees in my area.
The water goes in some kind of container and one dips the sprig in the water, then shakes it to spatter the water over the person, item, or location being cleansed.
The water can be consecrated to a deity, spirit, etc; and a drop or two from a special location can be added in for another layer of energy. (Ex: I could get water from the bayou near my house, and mix in a drop of water from, say, Brú na Bionné ([Newgrange, in Ireland] if I had some).
Jade–Very true! I was given water from a spring which has been dedicated to my deity; I use it to purify myself before tending my shrine. One can also sain with fire, as with the old practice of driving the cattle between two bonfires at Midsummer. In my practice, I carry the flame from my shrine clockwise around my living space to bless and protect it.
Thank you for this post. I always learn so much from your writing.
Thank you for writing on this, and thank you to those commenting with more appropriate alternatives to white sage. I’m a mixed person who’s non enrolled and also not 100% certain what exactly my ancestors were (Appalachian mixed race on my mother’s side and northern on my father’s). I’m drawn to spiritual practices that incorporate herbalism and rootwork for health and self care. I don’t want to be one of “those people”. I grew up being told our ancestors were Native but I know that’s not the same as actually being Native, especially with how many generations have passed. I want to engage and connect with my heritage, but I want to do so in as respectful a manner as I can manage. I also want to engage in a way that’s uplifting to my relations, or at the very least doesn’t actively harm the community. Thank you for everything you do.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a full and considered post about this. I really appreciate it.
How to boycott Etsy when there are a lot of Native owned shops on there that I support? I wish Etsy would have better policies on cultural appropriation. Anyone want to start a petition?
I asked a new friend (white friend…I’m white also)“why do people burn sage? What is the history and reasons? “ because he had a sage bundle in his car console. He said that he doesn’t understand exactly why , but that it removes bad energy and has healing properties. I told him that I think it’s important to know why we do anything. He thought that I was talking about science 🤦♀️ I am white and was raised as a Christian…yeah my ancestors used the papal bulls against your ancestors…I think Jesus was an awesome person, from what the Bible says, , but I do not believe He is the only one and true way to “Heaven.” Why? Because I have studied history. And history is painful. Most recently the history of the slavery of Africans in America , with some mention of Native Americans…but the university class was about Africans. Anyhow…my friend with the sage bundle could not explain. Red flag for me. So I googled until I found an author (You) who is a native of the land now called America. Thank you for your article! I have never burned sage because I only have heard of it from white people, and I don’t do things like this unless I understand. Now I know that I never will, unless I become very close with a native who teaches me, and I understand. And even then…probably not. I would let THEM do it. Thank you for your article.