a stick of plants bundled up with blue and green string
Burnt to purify or bless people or places in Native and Indigenous cultures. Which herbs can and cannot be burnt due to taboos vary with different tribes and their specific cultures, as well as the purposes of burning certain herbs. The time of day, month, and year in which the herbs are collected for ceremonial use is determined specifically. Not all Indigenous cultures which burn herbs call this practice smudging, and there is some debate about whether this English label should be used instead of Native names, considering the potential negative connotations of the word “smudge” as dirty contrasting the understanding of the practice being that of a cleansing nature.
