Name: Devereaux Old Elk
Tribal Affiliation: Crow
Interview No.: CR033DOE033004
Topic: Anthropology: The Crow Man – The Making of Drums, Religion: Sweats, Smudging, and Sun Dance
Language: English
Time Code In: 02:07:09:07
Time Code Out: 02:10:09:26
Tape 2 of 2 - Original
Q: “We’re going to talk about smudging now, and we’ll conclude after that with some more artwork. Most Crow families smudge their homes as a matter of practice. Do you do the same, or is more a ceremonial smudging that you personally do?”
A: “I do both. Um…I smudge every morning before I go to work or before I go to meetings to open up my mind and ask for good thoughts to come in and ask for a good day. Others will smudge their house when they’re having bad dreams or bad feeling. A young couple, prior to moving into a house, may come and ask that we smudge their house inside and to purify – to bring in the good thought, the joys, and exclude the negativity that may have once lingered. There may have been something bad that had happened or there might be…or bad spirits that still linger in that area. So by clearing the path, and having something new come in, we smudge and we purify. And you look at that is almost universal among native people today, as you smudge yourself in the morning or before you’re gonna dance…before something big is going to happen. It’s not uncommon that I go by the locker room during a basketball game and I smell cedar. That’s for one, to protect themselves against those bad thoughts – those bad feelings. Or the negative side of spirituality that’s still out there.”
Q: “What kinds of smudge do you use?”
A: “There’s several that we use depending on ceremony as well. The common smudge would be a braid of sweetgrass, which we get through our trade routes from our friends in Canada. And that’s common, everyday smudge. And then there’s those that have certain rights to use sage, flat cedar, and ii-see, which is bear root.”