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OK, I'm a Smoker Myself

I've huffed and I've puffed just like the big bad wolf

by David Pego, NAV and Career Center Contributing Editor

[Today is 2/4/04.]

Pass the word, please! If you want to make traditional American Indian smoke signals, you don’t have to puff on a cigarette.

Try an open fire and a blanket. And if you need a wet blanket, call me. I’ve been told that I’m a wet blanket, especially when it comes to parties. Ok, so I’m boring and usually don’t let people smoke cigarettes in my home. But that’s only because the dog I used to own would cough and her eyes would turn red when the smoke clouds billowed through the house. She also hated cats.

But, let me tell you the truth. I still smoke. My doctor told me once I have enough problems and he wasn’t going to preach a sermon on not smoking when I have that occasional beer or decide to donate money on a card table at an Indian casino. Hey, I think he smokes himself, but I liked his advice…)

Two of five Indians do

As it turns out, I’m part of a trend. American Indians often smoke – more than any other racial group, according to the federal government in results announced last week. We are the racial group most like to smoke – about 40 percent of us do.

At first, that surprised me. Then I got to thinking about every American Indian softball tournament, basketball tournament, powwow and occasional church service that I’ve ever attended. Usually, there is a main area where people frown on abuse of any kind – spousal, alcohol and self. But they didn’t seem to mind when someone took a step back and dug into her or his pocket and pulled out a pack of Marlboro’s or Kool’s. They either just looked the other way or quietly walked over to the unofficial smoking area and asked if they could bum a cigarette for themselves.

I’ve participated in these shadowy smokefests myself. I’d pull out my Custer has Lost His Luster cigarette lighter and fire up! Those sweet tendrils of hot smoke would scorch the top of my tongue and slip down past my throat and beyond. The taste wasn’t great. And neither was the smell that locked itself onto my clothing.

I forget.. why do I smoke?

So, why do I smoke anyway? During a summer of construction work in my teens, I was at my smoking peak, inhaling at least two packs of unfiltered Pall Mall’s a day. I know I wasn’t eating well in those poverty-stricken days, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t have tasted the food anyway because of my thick cigarette habit.

And later, I thought it looked so cosmopolitan to light up a cigarette in a restaurant and look thoughtfully at friends while we sucked down coffee and hash browns between cigs. I was young. I was wrong.

I enjoy the taste of the tobacco until I get halfway through the first cigarette. And then the habit is back. I reach for another and another until… I remember why I don’t smoke most of the time.

A sacred substance? A scary substance!

Why do American Indians smoke? Hmmmmm. Maybe we’ve persuaded ourselves that tobacco is a sacred substance. What many tribes would put in their pipes in the old days had nothing to do with the kind of tobacco that’s in our cigarettes these days. Rather, it was a mixture of tree bark and other herbs.

There are physical effects that modern tobacco has on the body that bring about devastating health affects and encourage addition to the habit. I’m not a doctor. My daughter is. So, I cannot give you details about why the 40 percent of us Indians who are smoking should at least think about cutting down. She can. Ask her – or another physician.

Those cigarettes sure are costly

Yes, I realize the rising price of those cigarette packs and cartons is encouraging many folks to cut down.

That’s probably a good thing in the long run. But it’s not enough. If you’re a smoker, take another hard look at your habit and see what it’s costing you now and in the long run. End of sermon.

But, I bet if the Creator wanted us to smoke as much as we do, there’d be an exhaust pipe built into our heads.

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