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If you ever bought a smudge stick, did you ask the vendor where it came from? Most people don't, including those in indigenous communities. Unfortunately, in the past few years it has come to our attention how white sage is often taken from our land and the land of our Southern California Native neighbors. White sage smudge sticks and products, unless otherwise labeled as "farmed" are often poached from wildlife reserves in Southern California. Scroll down to see how you can be an ally and how poached white sage harms the environment, the Indigenous people of the American Continent, and the body.
WHITE SAGE IS BEING POACHED
Use White Sage as it is intended: sparingly
White sage smudging should NOT be done as a regular practice. Only use white sage after a major life change, such as moving to a new home, or after very emotional life moments like the loss of a loved one. White sage is a sacred gift from Mother Earth and should be treated as such. Alternatively, incense, candles, alternative smudge sticks (such as lavender or rosemary), or even baking good food can be used as a way to improve the energy of the space and create the energy you want without overusing a precious gift.
Don't appopriate a culture that is not yours.
We understand that sage has become a popular way to cleanse spaces for non-Southern California Indigenous communities, but we ask you to please refrain from any other part of the practice unless you are actively involved in a tribe whose native territory has white sage. Do not use abalone shells or bird feathers (especially hawk) in your smudging practice. If you are indigenous to other areas of America, we suggest researching your native tribe's traditional smudging herb (such as sweetgrass) to receive stronger ancestor blessings and connections to your culture. Make sure you continue to shop sustainably no matter what!
Bring awareness and boycott the middle man.
Hold businesses accountable, and politely ask where they got their sage. If they don't know, please politely tell them why you're not buying their sage.
Please do not boycott small businesses, instead please lead them to our Instagram page or website so they can learn more.
Amazon, Five Below, Spencers, Juniper Ridge, and Whole Foods all sell "wild gathered" sage, without specifying how their sage is gathered.
Sage is a Gift not a Purchase
The best way you can smudge with sage is if you build a relationship with the plant! If you live in or around Southern California (or equivalent climate), you can grow your own white sage. White Sage is a gift from mother earth and medicine that should be shared, but buying it is not the answer!
Want to learn more and stay updated?
Watch the trailer for the California Native Plant Society documentary Sageing the World.
Indigenous Southern Californian tribes are no longer allowed to gather our own sage from Mother Earth if we don't have land to grow our own. Poached sage is brought to us, mangled and fermenting, after it has been confiscated by park rangers. It is heartbreaking. Our grandmother white sage and our mutualistic relationship with her is disappearing because of the thousands of pounds poached every year to meet the demand that overlooks our own.
Poached Sage harms immigrant communities
Poached Sage ferments and cannot be safely inhaled
When Coyotes poach sage, they stuff duffel bags as compactly as possible to reduce the number of trips into the wildlife areas they're poaching from. The sage plant stays crammed in a duffel back with very little ventilation, in the California heat, for hours or days before it is bundled by other migrant workers (who are also exploited). This sage begins to ferment and mold almost immediately, reducing the quality and medicinal benefits substantially.
Because white sage can make a good profit, when white sage is poached the whole plant is taken, often killing the sage plant. The health of the plant and the season are almost never taken into account, reducing the survival of the sage even further.
Poached Sage is never ethically gathered
Indigenous Southern Californian tribes are no longer allowed to gather our own sage from Mother Earth if we don't have land to grow our own. Poached sage is brought to us, mangled and fermenting, after it has been confiscated by park rangers. It is heartbreaking. Our grandmother white sage and our mutualistic relationship with her is disappearing because of the thousands of pounds poached every year to meet the demand that overlooks our own.
Poached Sage Harms Indigenous Communities
Poached Sage cannot give blessing
The stress and harm done to grandmother white sage when she is poached is so stressful to the plant that it can no longer give blessing. Ethical gathering should only be done to a sage plant that has been loved and tended to, and should NEVER kill the plant. Sage poaching does both of these things.
Inappropriate use of sage is cultural appropriation
Although we understand white sage has become an integral part of meditation, the use of an abalone shell and/or a bird feather is cultural appropriation to our ceremonial practices. This is a continuation of the harm of colonization and Indigenous erasure.