The genus Hierochloe has a long association with holy ceremonies. The name comes from the Greek "Hieros", meaning sacred, and "Chloë", meaning grass or holy-grass. In Northern Europe it was placed in front of churches on Saints’ days. Throughout North America, First Peoples appreciated Sweetgrass for the scent. It was woven into baskets and mats, burned as incense, or worn in a sachet as an insect repellent. The fragrance is carried by the substance coumarin, which has the characteristic sweet scent and the effect of relaxing and lifting the spirit.

The elders tell us that it takes longer for us to heal today and the reason is because the old trails our ancestors used to use to find us have been destroyed - by colonialism, assimilation, manifest destiny, and ethnic cleansing, towns and cities where the old trails used to be...so now our ancestors are having a hard time finding us to help us heal.

So we must burn sweetgrass

~A kindness medicine...with a sweet gentle aroma when we light it. 21 strands to make a braid.

The first 7 strands represent those 7 generations behind us
~Our parents, Our grandparents.
7 generations behind us~who we are and what we are is because of them~they've brushed and made the trails we have been walking up til now...the trails have been destroyed.
The time has come to heal and connect with our ancestors. They paid a tremendous price for us to be able to speak out against injustices, we do not have the right to remain quiet.

The next 7 represent the 7 sacred teachings.
Love, Respect, Honesty, Courage, Wisdom, Truth and Humility. The elders tell us how simple, powerful and beautiful the teaching are:
Love: Unconditional affection with no limits or conditions that starts with loving yourself.
Respect: due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights or traditions of other, with consideration, thoughtfulness, attentiveness, politeness, courtesy, civility, deference.
Humility freedom from pride or arrogance, being humble, when we truly understand the teaching of humility, that we are not any better then anyone else and you are not any better then me. that at the end of the day we are simply human beings, this is what makes this teaching powerful and beautiful.
Courage: Bravery, permitting one to face extreme dangers with boldness withstanding danger, fear or difficulty
Wisdom: The quality of having experience, knowledge and good judgment the quality of being wise.
Truth: the face of the matter, veracity, sincere, candor and genuineness
a determined in principle entirely by how it relates to things
Honesty: have a character of integrity, and honor be free from fraud or deception, legitimate truthful.

The last 7 strands are those of the 7 generations in front of us
~Our children, Our grandchildren as well as those children yet to be born. It is important because everything we do to Mother earth will one day effect them... We have lost our way, everything we do to Mother Earth gives us everything we need to heal ourselves and the earth. We must go back to our roots and bloom.
"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children"

These teachings need to first start from within ourselves, respecting ourselves, they tell us that the teachings need to first start from the inside.

Other names: Hierochloe odorata, Sweetgrass, Holy Grass, Mary's Grass, Vanilla Grass, Bluejoint, Buffalo Grass, Zebrovka.

Many Native tribes in North America use Sweetgrass in prayer, smudging or purifying ceremonies and consider it a sacred plant. It is usually braided, dried, and burned. Sweetgrass braids smolder and doesn't produce an open flame when burned. Just as the sweet scent of this natural grass is attractive and pleasing to people, so is it attractive to good spirits. Sweetgrass is often burned at the beginning of a prayer or ceremony to attract positive energies.

Sweetgrass is used to "smudge"; the smoke from burning Sweetgrass is fanned on people, objects or areas. Individuals smudge themselves with the smoke, washing the eyes, ears, heart and body. 

Sweetgrass was strewn before church doors on saints' days in northern Europe, presumably because of the sweet smell that arose when it was trodden on. It was used in France to flavour candy, tabaco, soft drinks, and perfumes. Widely used in neo-pagan practice (syncretized from North American indigenous practice). In Russia, it was used to flavour tea. It is still used in flavoured vodka, the most notable example being Polish Ubrówka.

Sweetgrass is a circumboreal plant from the Poaceae (Grass family) which is common above 40 degrees north latitude in Asia, Europe, and North America (Walsh 1994). It can be found growing wild in wet meadows, low prairies, the edges of sloughs and marshes, bogs, shaded streambanks, lakeshores, and cool mountain canyons. Sweetgrass is a very hardy perennial. It grows to about 60 cm in height, leaves grow 60 cm long by late summer. Base of leaves, just below soil surface is broad and white, without hairs, underside of leaves are shiny, no hairs. Sweetgrass rhizomes and roots form a dense mat beneath the soil surface (Walsh 1994).

Sweetgrass owes its specific aroma to the presence of coumarin.

It has a sweet, long-lasting aroma that is even stronger when the grass has been harvested and dried and is then moistened or burned. Sweetgrass is burnt after smudging with Sage (Salvia apiana), to welcome in good influences after the bad had been driven out.

Uses for Sweetgrass, NativeTech: Native American Technology & Art
Sweet Grass, Wikipedia

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