Nawak'osis

Publication Instance Details #131

Publication Overview

Translation	Is Multilingual	Explicit Irish Context?	Ekphrasis	Has Paratext?	Reference to News, Media or Technology
No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No

Details

Human Rights Issues	HR & Colonisation/Colonial Legacies Indigenous Rights (incl. culture & language) Genocide
War / Genocide Referenced	Genocide: Genocide of indigenous people in USA (pre 20th century)
Irish Context	Other
Languages	Irish
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Paratext Text	An Luibh Bheannaithe
Notes	The speaker of the poem talks about how the 'sacred weed' of Native American peoples, the 'Nawak'osis', which was used sparingly in spiritual and community ceremonies, was appropriated and commercialised by the white man after settlers came to America. The 'Raleigh' mentioned is Sir Walter Raleigh, believed to have first brought tobacco to England from Virginia. The speaker of the poem laments how the smoking of tobacco, which was a sacred, communal ritual, was stolen from the Native peoples and is now a solitary, dangerous exploit. There is a reference to Irish tobacco labelling laws in the poem as well.