Tabako (Tobacco)

Did You Know: Tabako(tobacco) is a Taíno word. Before the arrival of Europeans to the Caribbean, tabako(Nicotiana tabacum / N. rustica) was grown near homes, dried, rolled into cigars called “tubano,” and smoked. During long walks the smoking of tabako was used to fight fatigue. The dried leaves called kohiba(cojiba) were also ground into a snuff powder or could be mixed with water for a medicinal purgative.  Additional early uses of tabako among Indigenous Peoples of the region included breathing the odor of fresh green leaves of the plant relieved persistent headaches. For colds and catarrh (mucous membranes inflammation), green or powdered tabako leaves were rubbed around inside the mouth.  According to Taíno oral tradition, while not a widespread practice, tabako was also smoked in a pipe called kachimba or kachimbo. Today, some Taíno community members still consider tabako a sacred plant and offer tabako seeds or dried, crushed leaves as an offering before picking other medicinal plants.  - UCTP Taíno News © 2012

Illustration: The first published illustration of Nicotiana tabacum by Pena and De L'Obel, 1570-1571 (shrpium adversana nova: London). The small illustration on the right of the picture shows how the "Indians and sailors" smoked Nicotiana leaves in a funnel.