Smudging

Smudging, or other rites involving the burning of sacred herbs (e.g., white sage) or resins, is a ceremony practiced by some Indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Gertrude Allen, a Lumbee, reported that her father, an expert in healing with plants, stated that sage varies in potency at different times of the year.

Likewise, not all Native American or Indigenous Canadian cultures that burn herbs or resins for ceremony call this practice "smudging".

However, the herbs used in commercial "smudge sticks" or "sage bundles," and the rituals performed with them by non-Natives, are rarely the actual materials or ceremonies used by traditional Native Americans.

[8][3][4] Smudging "kits" are often sold commercially, by companies such as Anthropologie, Sephora, World Market, and Walmart, despite traditional prohibitions against the sale of spiritual medicines like white sage.

Other commercial items may contain herbs not native to North America, or not indigenous to the region where they are being used, as well as substances that are toxic when burnt.