Why is sage or smudging sacred, and should I buy it?
For many Native people, smudging is a prayer: burning sacred plants like sage, sweetgrass or tobacco so the smoke cleanses and carries prayers.It is not a home-cleaning trend. Native groups have raised alarms that white sage is being overharvested and poached, so think twice before buying it.
1 · MindWhat people believe, and how they know
Smudging means lighting dried plant leaves or stems, putting out the flame, and fanning the smoke over a person, often with a hand or an eagle feather. One university Native institute describes the smoke as keeping bad out and good in while carrying prayers to the spirits. Practices differ from nation to nation. Not every tribe uses the same plants or the same ways.
The practice is protected by the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978. Before that law, many Native spiritual practices were restricted or banned.
White sage (Salvia apiana) grows naturally only in Southern California and northern Baja California. As smudging became trendy, demand soared. California Native Plant Society reports say about half of white sage populations have been lost to building and development, and poachers strip wild hillsides to sell the plant. Picking plants on public land in California is illegal.
What each tradition or community says
Members of the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians have described white sage as an ancestor, not just a plant. They have used it at family funerals and say poaching harms the plant, the earth and their culture.
Some Native people say sacred plants should not be sold at all, because their teachings forbid it. Others run Native-owned businesses and want control over how their medicines are shared. Many object to smudging being treated as a quick way to clean a house.
Many people who buy sage say they wanted something calming or spiritual. Native critics answer that the intent matters less than where the sage came from and whether the practice is treated with respect.
2 · HeartWhat it feels like
Imagine your family’s most sacred prayer being sold in plastic at a big-box store, next to scented candles. And the supply being dug up from someone else’s hills without permission. That is how it feels for many Native people.
If you have a bundle on your shelf right now, it’s OK. You didn’t know. Now you do.
Some things are for sale. Some things are someone’s prayer. It’s worth knowing the difference.Neighbor Radio
3 · HandsHow to be a good neighbor
Don’t buy wild-harvested white sage. Ask where it came from. If the seller can’t say, skip it.
Don’t treat it as a trend. If you’re not Native, don’t call what you’re doing a Native ceremony, and don’t use it as decor or a party trick.
Support Native-led efforts. Learn about the plants and the people of the land where you live. Grow native plants in your own yard.
If you’re invited, for example to an event where a Native host smudges, follow their lead. Ask quietly if you’re unsure.
This weekIf you have sage at home, look up where it came from. If you’re not sure, stop buying more until you know.
Four questions to take with you
From the story of the Good Samaritan, the stranger who stopped to help. We call it the Good Neighbor Test.
- Did they see? Or look right past?
- Did they stop? Even when it was inconvenient?
- Did it cost them? Time, money, comfort, reputation?
- Did they treat the person like a person? Not like a label?
Try it on: what’s one thing in your life that would feel wrong to see sold as a trend?
Quick questions
Is every kind of sage the problem?
The concern Native groups raise is mostly about white sage, which grows wild only in a small region and is being stripped to meet demand.
Can non-Native people smudge?
Native people disagree. Some welcome guests to take part when invited, and some say the practice belongs to their communities. When in doubt, be invited, not self-taught.
Is it illegal to pick white sage?
Picking plants from public lands in California is illegal. Much white sage is collected from the wild rather than farmed, and some of it is poached.
- Cal State Long Beach, Legal Resource Center: Ecological Damage on White Sage
- ABC7 Los Angeles: The white sage black market is contributing to the native plant's decimation
- Religion News Service, 2023: Witches urge alternatives to sage amid concern about appropriation, overharvesting
- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Electa Quinney Institute: Smudging
Fact-checked October 13, 2026 against University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Electa Quinney Institute and California State University, Long Beach. Written in plain words by the Neighbor Radio team. Every fact is checked against what each community says about itself, in its own official sources, plus a neutral reference. Part of this community and something doesn't sound like you, or spot a mistake? Tell us. We read every note and fix mistakes.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
