Native societies from the Mogollons to the Algonquians smoked a wide variety of plants in their ceremonies and healing rituals, but of all of the various plants, tobacco was by far the most common, and, given the course of colonization, the most important for both natives and newcomers. Tobacco, a Spanish corruption of the Arawak word for cigar, grows in several different species, the most common of which was Nicotiana rustica, which came originally from the Andes region of South America. How it got to North America is unknown, but like corn and other plants it probably was carried over such great distances by traders. The frequency with which pipes are found in archaeological sites suggests the importance of the plant, but it was also used as snuff and was eaten. Notwithstanding the stimulant properties of tobacco, its smoke was considered to unite the earth...