Smoke for spiritual purposes

Storm Reyes, the woman who wrote theis article, is an old friend of mine. I ask that you contact your State Legislators in support of this bill. Thanks...............PEACE...................Scott


I've been working on legislation re the smoke-free law to include an
exemption for religious purposes. Below is an article I wrote and that was
published in The News Tribune on Sunday.

Now is the time I need your help. Public hearings will be held before House
and Senate Committees next week. If the committees pass the bills out of
committees, they will go to the floors for vote. Please contact your state
legislators and ask them for support. The two bills are: House Bill 2652
and Senate Bill 6213. Also, if your legislator is one who signed on to the
bill, please thank them. The sponsors are:

House: Darneille, McCoy, Walsh, Green, Morrell, Appleton, Nixon, Upthegrove,
Miloscia, Strow
Senate: Regala, Franklin, Kline, Kohl-Welles

Here is a link to the Senate bill. The House bill has a link to it and
there are links to the sponsoring legislators.
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=6213

Indian ceremonies should be exempted from smoking ban

STORM REYES

Call me an overprotective grandma. I drive my son and daughter-in-law crazy
worrying about my two grandchildren, Lauren and Evan. I can't help it.
Visions of bandages and casts dance in my head every time I see them jump
and tumble across the floor, shouting "Look at me, Kiya! Look at me!"
So when it came to Initiative 901, it was an easy decision. Lauren and Evan
are 3 and 2 years old; they shouldn't be exposed to secondhand smoke. So I
marked my ballot "Yes" and mailed it in, not realizing that I was
endangering my own freedom to pray in the process.
You see, for Indians like myself, smoke is prayer. The smoke of cedar and
sage cleanses our homes, loved ones and us. Braids of sweetgrass are lit to
send our prayers skyward to our Creator. Our sacred pipes, filled with
tobacco and kinnickinnick, are our Bibles, our Qurans, our Torahs. Smoke has
carried our prayers, hopes, fears and thanks to Creator for thousands of
years.
And, with the passage of Initiative 901, our smoke is now illegal in public
places in Washington.
Why does this matter?
Indians don't just live on reservations. In cities and towns across the
state, we are your friends, co-workers and neighbors. For thousands not on a
reservation, we hold our weddings and funerals, family gatherings,
celebrations and ceremonies in the same places that you do.
As an ordained minister, I've performed weddings at restaurants, grange
halls, rental halls, public piers, docks, backyards, beaches, barns, homes,
hotels and even in a prison near Spokane. I've participated in countless
gatherings to celebrate victories, mourn losses, cleanse a building and
bless a new endeavor. I've given presentations in classrooms, museums,
offices and auditoriums. I've done work in jails, hospitals, hospices,
alcohol/drug recovery centers, state and federal work releases and, sadly,
at funerals.
For many years, I offered blessings for the marchers at the Pierce County
AIDS Walk. In every case, smoke was involved: to cleanse, to comfort, to
heal, to give thanks, to mourn, to pray. And under Initiative 901 as
enacted, I would be breaking the law each and every time.
Indians aren't the only ones to use smoke in prayer. This is an issue for
the entire faith community. Buddhists offer burning sticks of incense in
their temples and holy places. Catholic priests wash the faithful in white
puffs of sweet smoke. And I have non-Indian family and friends who offer
smoke when their family needs strength or healing.
That's why I asked my legislators to sponsor legislation clarifying that
religious ceremonies involving smoke are still legal in Washington. I don't
think it was the intention of the people who wrote Initiative 901 to ban
these ceremonies; I believe it was simply an oversight.
Five other states with similar smoking bans have exceptions for religious
purposes. The federal government supports this way of prayer through the
American Indian Religious Freedom Act passed in 1978.
The federal government set its policy to "protect and preserve the inherent
right of freedom of belief, expression and exercise of traditional religions
including but not limited to access to sites, use and possession or sacred
objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional
rites."
I wish to thank those state legislators who took the time to listen, do the
research and then take the risky step of signing on to the bills to correct
the situation. I'm sure it was a difficult decision, open to
misunderstandings and controversy. But it was the right thing to do for both
the state and for those who use smoke in a sacred manner.
I want my grandchildren to grow up healthy and strong. I don't want Lauren
and Evan to be exposed to secondhand smoke. But I also want to offer
blessings when Lauren goes out on the dance floor the first time at a
powwow. I want to offer prayer when Evan grows up and marries.
How do we gather as a family or as a community for strength and celebration
when our way of cleansing, giving thanks and receiving blessings is illegal?

Tacoma resident Storm Reyes is an executive assistant with the Pierce County
Library System.