Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples suffer
disproportionately to the broader Australian population from tobacco related
health conditions.
The high prevalence and normalisation of tobacco use is at least
partially attributable to the process of colonisation, and the subsequent low
socioeconomic status of Indigenous Australians.
- Aboriginal people chewed the dry leaves of pituri (Duboisia
hopwoodii) and native tobacco such as Nicotania gossei prior to contact
with
non-Aboriginal people (Low 1987). Some Aboriginal people continue to use
pituri and native tobaccos.
- Macassan fishermen and
trepangers introduced tobacco into northern Australia approximately 400
years
ago (MacKnight 1976). People in Northern Australia continue to use
Macassan style pipes
and tobacco still plays a role in traditional ceremonies.
- Modern
tobacco was introduced
to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people after colonisation and
was used
as a means of bargaining and trade. In the decades that followed and as
Indigenous
people were displaced onto church, government or private missions,
tobacco was
an important part of rations provided in exchange for work and to reward
co-operation (Rowse 1998).
- Smoking has become ‘normalised’
in many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. While smoking
is not
a ‘cultural practice’ as such, it has become a part of most Indigenous
peoples
daily experience given that nearly half of adults currently smoke.
Additionally
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have a strong tradition of
sharing
resources and the sharing of cigarettes reinforces smoking (Johnston and
Thomas 2008).
- A comparison of other Indigenous people
worldwide, particularly those who have been colonised (for example New
Zealand
Maori, native Canadians, and Native Americans), indicates that the
prevalence
of tobacco use is higher among these population groups than for
non-Indigenous
people in these countries (CEITC 2010).
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Further resources
CEITC Just the facts information sheet
