The Overuse of White Sage Debate: Smudging & Cultural Appropriation

This is a bit of a longer & heavy read, but very important issue, so grab a cup of tea or coffee and strap in! Written so you can skip to different sections if you want a brief explanation only…😊

Now….

White Sage has become a controversial topic and many don’t understand why, so let’s dive into it! Now even I have sold white sage in the past (up to late 2024) – but only because this was sourced correctly! “What do you mean correctly?!” You ask well – it was sourced from and given blessing by a Native American community. On the promise of promoting good practice, hence why I have always been saying that it needs to be treated with respect when selling and explaining its usage to people, as they purchased.

Buying correctly – Only….

“Why is that important?” Well by only buying from Indigenous local communities you’re not only buying sage that has been harvested correctly, but it has also given blessing to be used. This means giving thanks for the bountiful harvest, plus ensuring that the plant itself has not been killed and is allowed to grow back, reproducing as it should. That’s because Native Americans have been taught by generations on how to do this, it is their ancient culture, and smudging has been their practice, amongst many other rituals.

Unfortunately, lately it has become a fast-growing western trend, and even I have noticed people lack understanding about the practice, or care of its origins. So, I’ve stopped selling this beautiful herb for two reasons – Harvests haven’t been great currently due to weather changes, and illegal farming is growing, so Natives currently only have enough for themselves. The other reason – it’s now become a trend, and it isn’t being treated with respect anymore.

If you look online it’s so easy to see that you can buy white sage from many different places. For businesses it’s very easy to buy mass wholesale packaged bundles. But if you stop and think about it you have no idea where they are coming from and they’re often from mass illegal farming in the wild. This is resulting in the plant itself being killed. Cultural appropriation also needs to be considered, which for many it isn’t, and this statement goes to other small businesses as well…

The term Smudging & Cultural Appropriation

This is being hugely discussed on social media currently, and I have tried to do as much research as possible as well to fully understand and spoken to some of the Indigenous community. The use of White Sage and smudging has become an adopted trend by the “white westerners” (sorry for the term, but it’s the easiest way to describe it, and hard hitting to try to make you understand…and hopefully make you read on…) you only need to scroll on TikTok, Instagram or Facebook to see this. ‘Smudge my crystals or space with me’ videos have become widespread.

This boom of interest has caused bundles of Sage too appear in many different shops worldwide; once again this is without any acknowledgement of where the sage has been sourced from fully, often leading to it being bought in cheaply thus fuelling illegal farming. However, the biggest fact is that Native Americans themselves have not been allowed to practice their own culture, and it often even caused to them be killed because of it in recent history.

It’s shocking to look back at history and see the sheer number of different acts passed since the 16^th Century when white Western-Europeans settled in what is now the USA. This was done to try and force Natives to change and fit the narrative of the coloniser’s views, and way of life. Indigenous peoples were referred to as savages – their white colonisers felt it was their duty to ‘domesticate’ natives.

Think that’s a bold statement? Well let’s back this up with some of the facts from history…

The Colonisers were brutal and cruel to Native Americans (and still are under a certain government!) especially whilst establishing their version of America in the beginning. Some of the most brutal acts passed were:

The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 – gave the US Government the right to purchase or forcibly take lands from the Indigenous Peoples. The War of 1812 only helped sped up this land grabbing. Veterans of this war were often given land due to lack of available government funds. Many were offered land in Illinois, Arkansas and Michigan – all from lands occupied by Natives.

One of the most damning Acts passed by the US Government when establishing America was the ‘Indian Removal Act, 28 May 1830’ which began the forced relocation of thousands of Native Americans, which is now known as the Trails of Tears. This was a massive push to remove tribes from East of the Mississippi River. Thousands died on the three-month journey! This opened the land that Indigenous peoples had called home to White Settlements. It also expanded slavery, and even further codifying injustices at the federal level that had been long underway.

The Dawes Act in 1887 – allowed Federal government to break up tribal lands. Driving them onto “individual plots”. Only Native Americans that accepted the divisions of the tribal lands were allowed to become US citizens. Over 90 million acres of tribal lands were stripped from the Natives and sold to non-native US citizens. Again forced “Assimilation – which is the process of taking individuals or groups and force absorbing them into mainstream culture”. – If Indigenous Native Americans practiced their culture or did not ‘follow rules’ this land was taken from them.

The Dawes Act followed many after many of The Homestead Acts which were laws passed by the US government to promote expansion to the White settlers – again at massive costs to the Natives.

Even though there was significant resistance from Native Americans throughout history, they even tried to aid the British in wars in attempts to stop the US territory expansion, the earlier efforts at ethnic cleansing had been successful. Colonisers were then allowed to ‘adopt’ natives, in an attempt to force upon them different beliefs. However, this also just ‘normalised’ the rape and forced dilution of Indigenous blood over time. Many Indigenous Peoples also lost their lives due to the disease’s invaders brought with them. Natives were not allowed to practice their Indigenous rituals, they were seen as evil – often punishable by death.

White Settlers established schools even in reservation areas forcing Native children to attend many punished were or often died for trying to practice their native cultures, such as smudging. Legal documents show 900 children have been buried in unmarked graves, but even the government acknowledge the actual number is much higher.

As modern America has been established, many of the horrors of the past have been glorified, and often forgotten, even celebrated in named holidays.

But have we really learned from history…?

The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 was finally introduced to allow Native Americans to be able to practice their traditional beliefs and customs without legal interference! Which isn’t even 50 years ago – by this point many generations of Indigenous Natives have grown up disconnected from their heritage and their main frame of culture.

Due to this many see their cultural heritage as a sign of strength, resilience, and wish to learn and keep their practices very much within their own. Free from discrimination, and forced boundaries ♥

So, to keep in mind how Native Americans have been treated in history it gives even more importance not to be swept up in “Western Trends”, after all Indigenous peoples have been suppressed and killed for their practices, as white people saw it as evil, and savage. So, unless you’ve personally been introduced, blessed and allowed by Native Americans the practice the art of smudging it should be considered a closed practice.

What can you do & use as an alternative?

Many different cultures have their own practices or herbs, and rituals used for cleansing. For example, throughout Europe Pagans often burnt rosemary or resins in a cast iron or other heat proof vessel, using the smoke to cleanse in rituals. Churches – for example have burned frankincense and myrrh to clear energies and connect to the Holy Spirit.

In Asia cultures have for centuries burned dried flowers, woods and resins and herbs during rituals and ceremonies, and even producing incenses with these to use with ease.

Dried herbs such as Rosemary, Cedar, Juniper, and Pine are fantastic cleansing tools – again make sure you’re getting from sources which aren’t overharvesting, make sure you source from good sources. And remember, you aren’t smudging, you are cleansing. Please allow Native Americans to practice their culture in peace, giving them the respect they have deserved. Working with energies is all about intention after all 😊