Sage, Cedar, Sweet Grass, and Chaga

Our people got religious freedom back in 1978. Some of the practices went underground and were not ever talked about. Families in certain communities continued those practices, the best they could.

Ceremony, ritual, and spiritual practices took years to come above ground. And some will probably never come above ground. I started with the women's full moon ceremony in about 1979 or 1980.

It was a cruel twist of fate that our religious freedom was taken in the first place. So much of our practice is so helpful for our people. The wiping of tears and the cedar ceremony are really just now happening more regularly in my home state. They really do help with our grieving process.

When I was a preteen of perhaps eleven, I smudged with a group of hippies. The leader said, "It cleans your aura, man!" I had no idea what an aura was, but I knew I liked smudging, and it felt so good to me at the time.

In 1978, I started to smudge regularly. Because it was no longer illegal. And by 1984, I was smudging at work with the Native American program participants.

Many of our people are now Christians. That is what was given to our people through the boarding school.

A friend of mine just mentioned a Catholic boarding school she attended that was in South Dakota. She said, "We would get up and pray, go for breakfast and pray, go to church and pray, go to school and pray, go to lunch and dinner and pray, and pray when going to bed."

"Up and down on our knees all day long. And we dare not do anything wrong, or we would get hit by the nuns. There were some mean nuns. And I was a good girl and would still get hit."

Many have begun to go back to ceremony, get involved in Midewiwin. Some weren't so sure about the cultural teachings and were even told by some religions that it is witchcraft.

In 1984, I was told to use 4 medicines when facilitating a talking circle or ceremony. Those medicines are sage, sweetgrass, cedar, and chaga. Sage takes the bacteria out of the air, says scientists, for 24 hours or more. I was told sage takes the virus and bacteria from the air for 36-48 hours.

Then sage and sweetgrass used together have a mellowing effect. Cedar has been used as a women's medicine over the years. Taking a bath in cedar water after menstruation was common. And drinking cedar tea (heat only until the water starts to turn color), and using cedar in smudging. (ground or not) And it is used to wash our deceased after death.

People have cedar trees growing by their house. Do not use that cedar if you kill your dandelions. The poison gets into the cedar trees. And finally, chaga is grown on birch trees and looks like charcoal on the outside. It can be harvested by cutting into the chaga, not the tree.

Chaga is considered a cancer medicine and has been used similarly to having your house blessed and for protection. When using chaga for cancer treatment, it is best used in a tincture under the tongue. To drink chaga as a tea, it is boiled for a very long time. In Ojibwe, chaga is called feel good medicine.

If you have an autoimmune illness, it is suggested that you not use chaga with those conditions. I was told to use the four medicines in the smudge during the talking circle and for any ceremony I facilitate. Then, if someone is crying to keep the smudge going.

The medicines are grief medicines. I have used them as such for over 40 years now. Depending on where I've lived, it is harder to find the medicines. It is best if local. But that is not always possible. A friend just gave me a box of sage from South Dakota, as she picked two boxes while there.

South Dakota and further west have white sage, and some people say that it is better in a smudge. I prefer local and Minnesota sage, but I will use either.

~~~~