COMMUNITY & TOBACCO

Yairi Sanomaa
...But is it not like sacred tobacco, once used for ceremonies with respect? When the respect was lost, did it not become a dangerous addiction? I admire the ways of the hunter with respect, who practises the dance. I pity the hunter who doesn't know the dance, and I distain the hunter who mocks the dance and the traditions, and kills only for pleasure. My heart is wounded to see a mutilated carcass. I must nevertheless try to forgive all, because something made a creature of God, a human, an upright animal take pleasure in killing. This is not the way. I say this with respect and know in my heart you will agree, that when we hunt, or eat the flesh, we must be mindful of the sacrifice.

My skin is white, and I must call back to ancestors from long ago who also knew the dance. All humans once knew the dance.

I speak with great respect to all people. I must have courage to speak. All plants of the forest and field are sacred. Tobacco grew wild before cultivation and people, the upright animals, knew it was sacred. They began to ... See Morecultivate it, but they kept their respect. In my past I was a tobacco picker, but by then the respect had been lost. The sacred plant was harvested in kilns and shipped to Imperial Tobacco. I had the addiction then, and did not pay respect. I had to learn it.
 
I learned from a friend, another tobacco picker from the Mohawk nation, that tobacco was sacred, not an industrial product. We smoked unpolluted tobacco, from the kiln. Imperial Tobacco poisons the tobacco with chemicals. They make it more dangerous, and addictive. I respect all those who are able to grow their own natural tobacco.

I know communities rely on the trade in tobacco. I respect these communites and will support them, not with the purchase of tobacco, for my addiction is broken, but by my words that I speak openly. I know the people of this land have many unsettled land claims. I know the history of European conquest. And I honour the people of this land and have stood beside them at the barricades in Caledonia, Ontario. Their cause is just. I respect the elders who know and teach the old ways. They know the truth. And I speak with great respect and with a small voice. I do not speak casually in this forum, but with care. If I misspeak, please forgive me, give me time, and teach me. Thank you. Aho.

Moon Red Thunder
The dance is what's important more than where you come from. IT's where you're going and who you are that counts. Such a great day today; enjoying light and blessings.

Gregory E. Woods
“Yairi, your Life has connected with Tobacco, the Hunt, and the Sacredness of those relationships. That relationship holds life, and traditionally held community intact in some tribes like one of mine. Rebuilding community in our lifetimes does reach backward. The Sankofa Bird teaches the value of a historical perspective in decision making, and Children hold us in the present in such a way we find ourselves shaping the future for them with an awareness we had not known lived within us. This circular capacity to create is natural. It is born from an aspect of our wholeness. Our wholeness needs practicality. Without the practicality of the linear approach to living we are outside of the what brings us together as a community. We are all dancing somewhere in the Circle, along the lines, and from within ourselves together, and separately in the present held by the breath of our Ancestors who dreamt of our futures.”