Use of Tobacco Among North American Indians is a 1924 booklet written by Ralph Linton and published by the Field Museum of Natural History. It’s part of a series of booklets on the origins and spread of tobacco across the world that the Field Museum published mostly in 1924, but completed in 1930.

Title Page of Use Of Tobacco Among North American Indians

Linton writes that tobacco is definitely native to the American continents, and smoking has its origins in the Americas. “At the time of the discovery of America, tobacco was in use over the greater part of the continent.”1 Interestingly, he notes, “The North American Indians used at least nine species of Nicotiana, most of which were cultivated. Nicotiana tabacum, the species to which practically all the modern commercial tobaccos belong, was grown throughout Mexico, the West Indies, and in northern and eastern South America. It was unknown north of Mexico until its introduction into Virginia by the English colonists.”2 The native populations in the eastern United States and Canada grew Nicotiana rustica. The native populations in the southwestern United States grew Nicotiana attenuata. Other species were grown in other parts of North America, including Nicotiana quadrivalvis and Nicotiana biglovii.

Tobacco was planted separate from the rest of the crops, as it was thought to spoil those it was too near. Most native populations grew enough tobacco for themselves, though the Tionantati grew enough for export that they “were called Tobacco People (Nation de Petun) by the French.3 When tobacco was smoked, it was often mixed with other herbs.

Of cigars, Linton writes that “The natives of northern and central South America and the West Indies were cigar smokers”4 and “Aboriginal cigars were practically identical with those now in use and were smoked in the same way.”5

A number of spiritual purposes are ascribed to tobacco by the native populations:

  • It was used as an offering to the supernatural powers
  • Ceremonies needed to include it in order to take place
  • Certain sacred places required tobacco offerings be left
  • Tobacco was “thrown into lakes and rivers to appease under-water powers”6
  • Smoking occurred with every solemn occasion, often in a formal and ritualistic manner

The short booklet contains a lot of information about pipes as well. It provides a glimpse into early uses of tobacco, some of which may have gone far back into history.

Use of Tobacco Among North American Indians can be read for free at the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

  1. Ralph Linton, Use of Tobacco Among North American Indians, 1924, pg. 1 [↩]
  2. Ralph Linton, Use of Tobacco Among North American Indians, 1924, pgs. 2 & 3 [↩]
  3. Ralph Linton, Use of Tobacco Among North American Indians, 1924, pg. 4 [↩]
  4. Ralph Linton, Use of Tobacco Among North American Indians, 1924, pg. 8 [↩]
  5. Ralph Linton, Use of Tobacco Among North American Indians, 1924, pg. 9 [↩]
  6. Ralph Linton, Use of Tobacco Among North American Indians, 1924, pg. 23 [↩]