The Tribal Tobacco program works toward a “smoke free” community by changing the social norms around commercial tobacco misuse and encourages policies that promote change. The program provides education, outreach, and cessation referrals in addition to individualized follow-up for the Indian Health Services (IHS) Tobacco Cessation program. 

Key Program Components Include: 

• Smokerlyzer testing 
• Cessation Programs (in partnership with IHS) 
• Tobacco Coalition participation 
• “Keep Tobacco Sacred” Public Health Awareness Campaign 

• Asemaa education, outreach, and access to traditional tobacco through planting, harvesting, and tobacco blending. 
• Traditional tobacco promotion   
• Cessation motivation activities 

Benefits to the Community 
The Tribal Tobacco Program supports our Anishinaabe cultural values. Asemaa, traditional tobacco, is considered one of our first medicines and has been used for centuries for cultural purposes. To promote traditional tobacco use, the Tribal Tobacco program grows much of the Sacred Tobacco seen growing on the Reservation. An important part of our public health mission is prevention, so to better understand our White Earth-specific data on smoking rates and behaviors, our public health staff administer the Tribal Tobacco Use Survey so we can plan for the healthy future of our community.