tobacco seeds wanted for seed bank

lawrence anthony shorty (lshorty@unm.edu)
Fri, 19 Jan 1996 11:05:36 -0700 (MST)


I am a Navajo-Choctaw who is helping to develop a seed bank for Native
American tobacco (Nicotiana) varieties and am looking for additional
seeds. I developed a living seed bank here at the University of New
Mexico that specializes in traditional Native American tobacco varieties
-- that is, types raised or collected by specific tribes for traditional
uses (prayers, offerings, ceremonies, etc).

If you are a Native American and you need some seeds of your tribe's (or
of a nearby tribe, if I don't have your's) to grow for traditional
purposes, then contact me at my email address. In some instances I also
have dried leaves. Please spread the word about the bank. Equally
important, if you already have seeds, please send me some, so that I can
add them to the bank, grow them, and harvest fresh seeds for other
members of your tribe. So far I only have about 50 tribes represented.

These services are being offered at no cost, as long as you agree to use
the resulting tobacco only for traditional purposes, and not for everyday
smoking. Remember, tobacco is an extremely powerful, sacred, and
dangerous plant. If you use it improperly, it will kill you.

Lawrence A. Shorty
424 Yale S.E. #4
Albuquerque, N.M. 87106

(505) 254-8503