What did Native Americans smoke in their peace pipes?

Factual Questions
1

What did Native Americans smoke in their peace pipes? Tobacco? Marijuana? Opium?

Have any archaelogical digs found any peace pipes with residue in them, or are we just going by word of mouth?

2

I know that the Lakota smoked pipes to seal peace treaties and dispute negotiations, and am pretty sure they used willow bark, and sometimes tobacco.

3

Tobacco is native to North America, marijuana and opium are not. Tribes in the eastern U.S. cultivated Nicotiana rustica for use and trade and that was the preferred smoking media, when it could be acquired. Nicotiana tabacum, the primary cultivated tobacco of today, originated in Mexico and Central America.

  • Tamerlane
4

Tobacco, mainly, but they did mix their own mixtures. I once smoked a pipe with an Iroquois chief, and he said as much, but wouldn’t tell me what was in it.

5

Indians smoked tobacco in their medicine pipes, peace pipes, and war pipes. Native Americans smoke tobacco and marijuana in theirs.

6

Last time I smoked a peace pipe, it was stuffed with sage.
My gramma told me not in inhale cause that stuff is harsh! cough

7

You guys have it mostly wrong. As a pipe carrier I can tell you that we smoke a combination of tobacco and other herbs, roots, barks and leaves called kinnikinnick. kinnikinnick...
Anyone who has taken a vow to hold a real pipe in the Native traditions would NEVER smoke marijuana in it. The pipe is SACRED. It is a covenant between the pipe holder and the Great Spirit.
We use the sage as a plug when the pipe is put to rest AFTER we have smoked. That is never smoked either. Your gramma was right to tell you not to inhale, Peach. She should have told you not to light it!
Finally, to Church Key Kid…We’re still smoking our sacred pipes so there is no need to ask archeologists what we smoked, we can tell you ourselves!

8

You have a lot more things available to you now to smoke (as we all do).

I believe the point of the OP was what precolonization natives of this continent smoked.

9

Welcome to the Boards, CircleDancer. The culture of the Board is to not reopen or post to threads that are eight years old. If you reallly need to, just start a new thread and link to the old one. I’m gonna close this one.

Also, as Covered in Bees said, the OP was looking for what was smoked 600-2000 years ago. I’m not sure your present-day testimony is much help.

samclem Moderator, General Questions