In 1891, the ethnographer James Mooney watched a Cherokee medicine man pass a woman through a cloud of smoke from burning cedar. The smoke was not decoration. It was the boundary between the sick and the well. Smudging is the ritual burning of medicinal plants to cleanse a person, object, or space of negative energy, illness, or spiritual impurities. Its origins lie in thousands of years of Indigenous ceremonial practice across North America, though the English word “smudging” is a modern gloss that obscures a much older, more specific tradition.
The practice has become a fixture of New Age and mainstream spirituality. But the cultural origins of smudging are not a single story. They are a constellation of distinct ceremonies, each with its own plants, prayers, and protocols, rooted in the land and languages of the people who carried them.
What Counts as Smudging? A Definition with a History
The word “smudging” entered English through early anthropological accounts of Indigenous rituals. The Oxford English Dictionary records its first use in 1889, in a report on the “smudge fires” of the Great Plains: fires built not for warmth but to produce thick smoke for insect repellent and, later, for ceremony. The verb “to smudge” originally meant to make a smoky fire, and only gradually took on the spiritual meaning we associate with it today.
For the peoples who practice these ceremonies, the act is not called smudging. The Lakota call it waŋyéyaŋka (to purify with smoke). The Ojibwe use anokii (to work with the spirit of the plant). The Diné (Navajo) perform níłchʼi (the wind ceremony) with sage and juniper. Each term carries a different weight: a different relationship to the plant, a different expectation of the smoke.
We cannot speak of “the” cultural origin of smudging because there is no single origin. There are many, and they do not converge.
The Pre-Columbian Roots: Archaeological Evidence of Plant Use
The oldest physical evidence of ritual smoke cleansing in North America comes from a cave in central Texas, where archaeologists found charred remains of sage and juniper dating to 3000 BCE. The site, known as the Hinds Cave, shows a consistent pattern: the plants were burned in small, controlled fires, not for cooking or warmth, but in a way that suggests intentional fumigation.
At the Lovelock Cave in Nevada, bundles of sage and sweetgrass were found tied with cordage, dating to about 1000 BCE. The bundles were wrapped in a way that suggests they were lit and carried, not burned in a hearth. The implication is that the smoke was directed: fanned over a space, a person, or a grave.
By the time of the Mississippian cultures (800–1600 CE), the use of smoke in ceremony was widespread. Shell cups, copper plates, and ceramic effigies from Cahokia and Moundville show figures holding smoking bundles or fans. The plants used varied by region: white sage (Salvia apiana) in the Southwest, sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata) in the Great Lakes and Plains, red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) in the Eastern Woodlands, and tobacco for the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) in the Northeast.
The Lakota waŋyéyaŋka ceremony begins with the lighting of a braid of sweetgrass. The fire is not a flame. It is a smolder, ignited by a coal from the council fire. The smoke is directed with an eagle feather, first to the four directions, then to the earth and sky, then to the person being cleansed. The person inhales the smoke, draws it over their body, and offers a prayer. The whole sequence takes about a minute. The fire is not decoration. It is the altar.
The Diné (Navajo) use sage and juniper in a different way. The smoke is not fanned. It is allowed to rise, and the person passes through it. The Diné call this níłchʼi bahastʼiʼ, “the wind ceremony.” The smoke carries the person’s words to the Holy People. The Diné do not use sweetgrass; that is a plant of the northern plains.
The Ojibwe anokii (also called “smudging” in English) involves a shell, a feather, and a braid of sweetgrass. The shell is an abalone, a gift from the West Coast. The feather is from an eagle. The sweetgrass is braided, and the braid is lit at the end, then blown out so the smoke pours. The smoke is drawn over the head, the heart, the hands, and the feet. The intention is to clear the mind before ceremony.
The Cherokee use cedar (Juniperus virginiana) for purification after a funeral or before a council meeting. The smoke is believed to carry the spirit of the deceased away from the living. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) use tobacco as their primary offering, not for smoke cleansing but for gratitude and prayer. The smoke carries the words to the Sky World.
The choice of plant is not arbitrary. Each plant has a specific relationship with the land and the people.
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White sage (Salvia apiana): native to Southern California and Baja California. Used by the Chumash, Tongva, Cahuilla, and other tribes of the region. The leaf is pale green, covered in fine hairs. When burned, it gives off a sharp, camphor-like smell. Its primary function is purification: removing negative energy, illness, or the presence of death. The Salvia apiana has a spiritual status that is not transferable to garden sage (Salvia officinalis), which is a Mediterranean plant with a different chemical composition and a different cultural history.
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Sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata): native to the northern regions of North America, from the Great Lakes to the Arctic. The grass is braided into three-strand braids, representing the connection of mind, body, and spirit. It smells of vanilla and coumarin. The smoke is considered gentle and inviting. It is used to attract positive energy, not to banish negativity. The Lakota say that sweetgrass is the hair of Mother Earth, and that burning it is an act of love.
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Cedar (Juniperus virginiana, Thuja plicata, etc.): used across North America for protection and purification. The Diné use juniper for the níłchʼi ceremony. The Haudenosaunee use red cedar in their longhouse ceremonies. The smoke is considered a protective barrier, a shield against harmful influences.
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Palo santo (Bursera graveolens): not native to North America. It is a tree of the tropical dry forests of South America, used by the Quechua and other Indigenous peoples of the Andes. Its introduction into the North American smudging tradition is a recent phenomenon, post-1990s, driven by the New Age market. The wood is harvested from fallen branches, not cut from living trees. The smell is sweet and citrusy, with notes of pine and mint.
The practice of smudging entered mainstream American culture through the 1970s New Age movement, which borrowed heavily from Indigenous spirituality without permission or context. Books like The Sacred Pipe (1952) by Black Elk, a Lakota holy man, and The Book of the Hopi (1963) introduced smoke ceremonies to a white audience, but stripped them of their tribal specificity.
By the 1990s, “smudge sticks” were sold in chain stores, usually made from dried white sage or cedar, sometimes with added lavender or rose petals (which are not Indigenous). The term “smudging” became a generic label for any act of burning herbs for spiritual purposes. The plants were harvested unsustainably, leading to a decline in wild white sage populations. The California sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) was sometimes substituted, confusing the tradition further.
Today, many Indigenous elders and activists speak out against the commodification of smudging. They argue that the practice is not a “tool” to be purchased and used at will, but a ceremony that requires training, permission, and relationship with the plant and the land. The Lakota scholar Vine Deloria Jr. wrote in 1973 that “the white man’s fascination with Indian religion is a form of theft, a way of taking what is not offered.”
We do not take a side in this debate, but we note it. The cultural origins of smudging are not a closed tradition, but they are a specific one. The plants, the prayers, and the protocols belong to specific peoples. To use them without understanding that context is to miss the point entirely.
That smudging is a single, universal practice. It is not. The Lakota, Ojibwe, Diné, Cherokee, and Tlingit all have different smoke ceremonies, using different plants and different methods. The word “smudging” collapses them into one.
That you can use any sage. Garden sage (Salvia officinalis) is a Mediterranean herb used in cooking and European folk magic. It has a different chemical profile and a different history. It is not a substitute for white sage.
That palo santo is Indigenous to North America. It is not. It comes from South America, where it is used by the Quechua and other peoples. Its adoption into North American smudging is a modern phenomenon.
That smudging is just about burning herbs. The ceremony requires intention, prayer, and often a specific protocol (the direction of smoke, the use of a feather or shell, the recitation of words). Without those, the smoke is just smoke.
Is smudging the same as energy cleansing? Not exactly. Energy cleansing is a broader category that includes smudging, but also includes methods like sound baths, salt baths, and visualization. Smudging is just one specific technique within this larger tradition.
Can I smudge if I am not Indigenous? Many Indigenous elders say yes, but with conditions: learn the proper protocol from a recognized teacher, source your plants ethically from Indigenous sellers, and understand the specific meaning of each plant. Simply burning a store-bought sage bundle without context is not smudging in the traditional sense. For more on respectful practice, see our guide on smudging protocol.
What is the oldest known smoke cleansing ritual? The Hinds Cave site in Texas, with charred sage and juniper dating to 3000 BCE, is the earliest physical evidence found so far. But oral traditions among Indigenous peoples describe practices that predate any archaeological record.
The cultural origins of smudging are not a single story. They are many stories, each tied to a specific landscape, a specific language, a specific set of protocols. The smoke that rises from a braid of sweetgrass carries thousands of years of relationship between humans and plants. It is not a magic trick. It is a prayer.
We do not own the tradition. We document it, and we practice it with care, when we are invited to do so. The next time you see a smudge stick, ask yourself: who made it, and where did the plant come from? The answer will tell you more about the practice than the smoke ever will.
For more on the broader practice of energy cleansing, see our vertical hub. For a deeper understanding of the sacred plants used in ritual, visit our glossary of sacred herbs. And for a step-by-step guide to performing a respectful smoke cleansing ritual, read our guide on smudging protocol.