Kinnikinnick
Encyclopedia
Kinnikinnick is a Native American
smoking
product, typically made of mixture of various leaves or barks with other plant materials.
/kələkːəˈnikːan/, "mixture" (c.f. Ojibwe giniginige "to mix together something animate with something inanimate"), from Proto-Algonquian
*kereken-, "mix (it) with something different by hand".
By extension, the name was also applied by the European hunters, traders, and settlers to various shrubs in which the bark or leaves are employed in the mixture, most often Bearberry
(Arctostaphylos spp.) and to lesser degree, Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea) and Silky Cornel (Cornus amomum
), and even to Canadian Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis
), Evergreen Sumac (Rhus virens) and the Littleleaf Sumac (Rhus microphylla
).
quotes Trumbull
as saying: "I have smoked half a dozen varieties of kinnikinnick in the North-west,—all genuine; and have scraped and prepared the red willow-bark, which is not much worse than Suffield oak-leaf.
Eastern tribes traditionally used Nicotiana rustica
in their peace pipe but western tribes used kinnikinick. Cutler cites Edward S. Rutsch study of the Iroquois
, listing ingredients used by other Native American tribes: leaves or bark of red osier dogwood
, arrowroot
, red sumac, laurel
, ironwood
, wahoo, squaw huckleberry, Indian tobacco
, Jamestown weed, black birch
, cherry
bark, corn
, mullein
; along with muskrat glands or oil, and other animal oil or rendered fat.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
smoking
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
product, typically made of mixture of various leaves or barks with other plant materials.
Etymology
The term "kinnikinnick" derives from Unami DelawareLenape language
The Delaware languages, also known as the Lenape languages, are Munsee and Unami, two closely related languages of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family...
/kələkːəˈnikːan/, "mixture" (c.f. Ojibwe giniginige "to mix together something animate with something inanimate"), from Proto-Algonquian
Proto-Algonquian language
Proto-Algonquian is the name given to the proto-language from which the various languages of the Algonquian family are descended. It is generally estimated to have been spoken around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, but on the question of where it was spoken there is less agreement...
*kereken-, "mix (it) with something different by hand".
By extension, the name was also applied by the European hunters, traders, and settlers to various shrubs in which the bark or leaves are employed in the mixture, most often Bearberry
Bearberry
Bearberries are three species of dwarf shrubs in the genus Arctostaphylos. Unlike the other species of Arctostaphylos , they are adapted to Arctic and sub-Arctic climates, and have a circumpolar distribution in northern North America, Asia and Europe, one with a small highly disjunctive population...
(Arctostaphylos spp.) and to lesser degree, Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea) and Silky Cornel (Cornus amomum
Cornus amomum
Cornus amomum is a species of dogwood native to eastern North America, from Ontario and Quebec south to Arkansas and Georgia. Also found in other parts of North America....
), and even to Canadian Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis
Cornus canadensis
Cornus canadensis is a herbaceous member of the Cornaceae family...
), Evergreen Sumac (Rhus virens) and the Littleleaf Sumac (Rhus microphylla
Rhus microphylla
Rhus microphylla is a species of sumac in the family Anacardiaceae, native to North America, in the southwestern United States and northern and central Mexico, from central and western Texas, southern New Mexico, central and northern regions of the Mexican Altiplano-, and extreme...
).
Preparation and use
The preparation varies by locality and by Native American tribes. BartlettJohn Russell Bartlett
John Russell Bartlett was an American historian and linguist.-Biography:Bartlett was born in Providence, Rhode Island...
quotes Trumbull
James Hammond Trumbull
James Hammond Trumbull was an American scholar and philologist.He was born in Stonington, Connecticut. He studied at Tracy's Academy in Norwich and at Yale University from 1838, but ill-health prevented his graduation, he was enrolled in 1850 and received an honorary LLD in 1871...
as saying: "I have smoked half a dozen varieties of kinnikinnick in the North-west,—all genuine; and have scraped and prepared the red willow-bark, which is not much worse than Suffield oak-leaf.
Eastern tribes traditionally used Nicotiana rustica
Nicotiana rustica
Nicotiana rustica, known in South America as Mapacho and in Vietnam as Thuoc Lao , is a plant in the Solanaceae family. It is a very potent variety of tobacco. The high concentration of nicotine in its leaves makes it useful for creating organic pesticides.Rustica is also used for entheogenic...
in their peace pipe but western tribes used kinnikinick. Cutler cites Edward S. Rutsch study of the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
, listing ingredients used by other Native American tribes: leaves or bark of red osier dogwood
Red Osier Dogwood
The Red Osier Dogwood is a species of dogwood native throughout northern and western North America from Alaska east to Newfoundland, south to Durango and Nuevo León in the west, and Illinois and Virginia in the east...
, arrowroot
Arrowroot
Arrowroot, or obedience plant , Bermuda arrowroot, araru, ararao, is a large perennial herb found in rainforest habitats...
, red sumac, laurel
Laurel
-Botany:* Laurel family , a group of flowering plants** Azores laurel ** Bay Laurel , also called True Laurel** California Laurel ** Camphor Laurel...
, ironwood
Ironwood
Ironwood is a common name for a large number of woods that have a reputation for hardness. Usage of the name may include the tree that yields this wood...
, wahoo, squaw huckleberry, Indian tobacco
Lobelia inflata
Lobelia inflata is a species of Lobelia native to eastern North America, from southeastern Canada south through the eastern United States to Alabama and west to Kansas.-Growth:...
, Jamestown weed, black birch
Black Birch
Black Birch may refer to:* Betula lenta* Betula nigra* Black Birch Ridge outside of Blenheim on the South Island of New Zealand* the Black Birch Astrometric Observatory at Black Birch Ridge...
, cherry
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
bark, corn
Corn
Corn is the name used in the United States, Canada, and Australia for the grain maize.In much of the English-speaking world, the term "corn" is a generic term for cereal crops, such as* Barley* Oats* Wheat* Rye- Places :...
, mullein
Mullein
The Mulleins are a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the figwort family . They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region.They are biennial or perennial plants, rarely annuals or subshrubs, growing to 0.5–3 m tall...
; along with muskrat glands or oil, and other animal oil or rendered fat.
Historical references
- "At thls moment the Indians were in deliberation. Seated in a large circle round a very small fire, the smoke from which ascended in a thin straight column, they each in turn puffed a huge cloud of smoke from three or four long cherry-stemmed pipes, which went the round of the party; each warrior touching the ground with the heel of the pipe bowl, and turning the stem upwards and away from him as "medicine" to the Great SpiritGreat SpiritThe Great Spirit, also called Wakan Tanka among the Sioux, the Creator or the Great Maker in English, and Gitchi Manitou in Algonquian, is a conception of a supreme being prevalent among some Native American and First Nations cultures...
, before he himself inhaled the fragrant kinnik-kinnik." — N. Y. Spirit of the Times.
- "I at this moment presented to the Duke the Indian pipe, through which he had smoked the day before, and also an Indian tobacco-pouch, filled with the k'nickk'neck (or Indian tobacco) with which he had been so much pleased." — Collin's Travels in Europe.
- "There ore also certain creeks where the Indians resort to lay in a store of kinnikinik, the inner bark of the red willow, which they use as a substitute for tobacco, and which has an aromatic and very pungent flavor." — Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 116.
- "While I am writing, I am smoking a pipe filled with kinnikinick, the dried leaves of the red sumac — a very good substitute for tobacco." — Carvalho, Adventures in the Far West, p. 36.
- "The older hunter watched the sigular preparations of his silent son, and suspecting that he had discovered signs of an enemy, arose, and saying he would go and cut a few sticks of the red willow [Kinnikinnick] to smoke, he left the lodge to go and see with his own and more experienced eyes, what ere the signs of danger." — Warren, History of the Ojibway people
- kinnikinic, n. caŋṡaṡa. — Williamson. An English-Dakota Dictionary
- "Tobacco used in the early day consisted of the inner bark of red dogwood—Inidans on all reservations called it 'red willow.' An informant removed the outside bark of a twig with her thumbnail and noted that the remaining layer of bark when carefully shaven off served as tobacco, so-called kinnikinnick. Today kinnikinnick is a mixture of finely crushed inner bark of the red dogwood and shavings of plug tobacco. The mixture is worked with a mortar with pestle, both mortar and pestle being of wood. This mixture, too, is used today for ceremonial smoking." — Hilger, Chippewa Child Life
Native names
- AlgonquinAlgonquin languageAlgonquin is either a distinct Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language or a particularly divergent Ojibwe dialect. It is spoken, alongside French and to some extent English, by the Algonquin First Nations of Quebec and Ontario...
: nasemà, "tobacco" (mitàkozigan, "unmixed tobacco"; apàkozigan, "mixed tobacco") - DakotaDakota languageDakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Dakota people of the Sioux tribes. Dakota is closely related to and mutually intelligible with the Lakota language.-Dialects:...
: caŋṡaṡa, "tobacco" - LakotaLakota languageLakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. While generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually understandable with the other two languages , and is considered by most linguists one of the three major varieties of the Sioux...
: cansasa, "tobacco" - MenomineeMenominee languageThe Menominee language is an Algonquian language originally spoken by the Menominee people of northern Wisconsin and Michigan. It is still spoken on the Menominee Nation lands in Northern Wisconsin in the United States....
: ahpa͞esāwān, "kinnikinnick" - OdaawaaOttawa languageOttawa is a dialect of the Ojibwe language, spoken by the Ottawa people in southern Ontario in Canada, and northern Michigan in the United States. Descendants of migrant Ottawa speakers live in Kansas and Oklahoma...
: semaa, "tobacco" (mtaaḳzigan, "unmixed tobacco"; paaḳzigan, "mixed tobacco") - OjibweOjibwe languageOjibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...
: asemaa, "tobacco" (mitaakozigan, "unmixed tobacco"; apaakozigan, "mixed tobacco")
External links
- Traditional Tobacco pamphlet by the Urban American Indian Tobacco Prevention & Education Network
- Patterns of Tobacco Use Among American Indians in Minneapolis-St. Paul presentation by the University of MinnesotaUniversity of MinnesotaThe University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
School of Public Health - Kinnikinnick by Jim McDonald, Herbalist
- Smoking and Pipes informational page by the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People
- Daniel E. Moerman. "Arctostaphylos uva-ursi" in Native American ethnobotany, pages 87–88. ISBN 0881924539.
- Daniel E. Moerman. "Cornus (Cornaceae)" in Native American ethnobotany, pages 176–180. ISBN 0881924539.
- Daniel E. Moerman. "Rhus (Anacardiaceae)" in Native American ethnobotany, pages 471–475. ISBN 0881924539.