Kinnikinnick the word can be used in multiple ways.
It's uses vary also.
Kinnikinnick= Can be a general term for a smoking mixture.
Kinnikinnick= Referring to a plant (Bearberry) that can be smoked or made into a tea.
Chansasa is the word for what is smoked in the Lakota Sacred Calf Pipe.
Here is a nice link on Chansasa.
https://dakotaplants.wordpress.com/2018/03/25/chansasa/
Sorry for all the quotes but I think it is important to hear from
those more knowledgeable than myself.
In Native life to smoke or share in a pipe should be seen as Sacred.
A prayer and a bond and a way of honoring and connecting to all Life.
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In the past, Minnesota tribes used noncommercial tobacco for ceremonial use. Some tribes used kinnikinnick (“that which is mixed”) with red willow bark often mixed with plants such as bearberry. Others used asemaa, which is a plant in the Nicotiana rustica family. Today, Nicotiana tabacum (commercial tobacco) is used by many American Indians as a substitute for the Nicotiana rustica. —Carol Hernandez, Anishinaabe
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When Tobacco is burned, the smoke rises, which provides us a link to all the spirits beyond the sky and our Creator. Tobacco in its original form had both honor and purpose and did not contain all the chemicals that are now put into commercial tobacco. Traditional Tobacco is a Healer. It shows us Wisdom, Love, Respect, Bravery, Honesty, Humility, and Truth. When a Sacred Pipe Ceremony is conducted, we fill the pipe with Sacred Tobacco and offer it to Grandfather, the Great Spirit, then to the spirits of the East, South, West, and North, and then finally to Mother Earth. Taking part in this ceremony allows us to become centered in this life. —Kathleen Starlight Preuss, Dakota
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We also have to seek out our spiritual leaders and utilize them as much as possible to bring the teachings to our children of how tobacco ties into our seven values as Anishinaabe. The seven teachings being: Nibwaakaawin—Wisdom: To cherish knowledge is to know Wisdom; Zaagi'idiwin—Love: To know peace is to know Love; Minaadendamowin—Respect: To honor all creation is to have Respect; Aakode’ewin—Bravery: Bravery is to face the foe with integrity; Dabaadendiziwin—Humility: Humility is to know yourself as a sacred part of Creation; Debwewin—Truth: Truth is to know all of these things; Gwayakwaadiziwin— Honesty: Honesty in facing a situation is to be brave.
Our children are hungry to hear the teachings. —Gina Boudreau, Anishinaabe
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Traditional tobacco as understood and named by our people—asemaa, cansasa, kinnikinnick—will continue to be an integral component of our way of life.
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