Smudging

Smudging, and other rites involving the burning of sacred herbs (e.g., white sage) or resins, are ceremonies practiced by some Indigenous peoples of the Americas. While they bear some resemblance to other suffumigation ceremonies and rituals involving smoke (e.g., Indigenous Australian smoking ceremony, some types of saining) from other world cultures, notably those that use smoke for spiritual cleansing or blessing, the purposes and particulars of the ceremonies, and the substances used, can vary widely among tribes, bands, and nations, and even more so among different world cultures. In traditional communities, elders maintain the protocols around these ceremonies and provide culture-specific guidance. The smudging ceremony, by various names, has been used by people outside of Indigenous communities as part of New Age or commercial practices, which has also led to the over-harvesting of some of the plants used in ceremonies. Indigenous people in the US and Canada have argued against appropriation and against over-harvesting of white sage.