Tobacco has been used by American Indians for millennia. It is used as an offering to Mother Earth. Burned as a prayer to the Great Spirit and used for healing, tobacco is sprinkled upon the ground as an offering of thanks. It is burned as a prayer, either rolled in cigarettes or smoked in the Sacred Pipe, Peoples Pipe or Personal Pipe.
It is spread as an offering upon the Sacred Fireplace as an offering to the Spirit World.
In essence tobacco is and will always be an integral part of American Indian worship and ceremony. Tobacco ties have been used a sacred prayer for centuries (one inch squares of cloth in which tobacco is placed as a prayer), which are then used as an offering in the Sweat Lodge, Sacred Fireplace or hung on trees, or other sacred objects. Tobacco has been protected for use by American Indians, by the passage of State and Federal laws and is a respected part of American Indian ceremony. And though laws have been passed prohibiting the use of tobacco in certain areas, its use in American Indian Ceremony has been protected.
Not only in the Sweat Lodge, but also for use in the making of tobacco ties and as a burnt offering either in a Sacred Pipe or rolled in cigarettes. American Indians enjoy a Nation to Nation status with the American government allowing American Indian rights and ceremonies to be protected. Ameri can Indian sovereignty has been respected for centuries, first by the British, then the American Government to this day.
