纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 037北美水獭烟(3)（在线收听）

We know that two thousand years ago only select members of the community were buried in the mounds, and that many of these people must have played a part in rituals, because fragments of ceremonial costumes have been found with the bodies - headdresses made from bear, wolf and deer skulls. The animal world appears to have had a central role in the spiritual life of these people, and perhaps the animals on the pipes had a role in some kind of shamanic ritual that would connect the physical and the spiritual worlds. The tobacco smoked at the time was 'Nicotiana Rustica', and we know that it produces a heightened state of awareness, and even has a hallucinogenic effect. Our otter pipe is just one of a whole pipe menagerie: there are bowls which are shaped as wild cats, turtles, toads, squirrels, birds, fishes and even birds eating fishes. And given that you would be eyeball-to-eyeball with the creature sculpted on it, we can imagine the smoker entering into a kind of transcendent state in which the animal would come to life. Perhaps each animal served as spirit guide or totem to the person smoking; certainly for later Native American peoples, it's known that they might dream of an animal whose spirit would then protect them throughout their life. Here's Gabrielle Tayac again:

我们知道，两千年前，只有少数人能被埋在坟冢里。他们中的许多人必定曾是宗教仪式的关键成员，因为在骸骨上找到了仪式用服饰的碎片：用熊、狼、鹿的头骨制作的头饰。看起来，动物在这些人的精神生活中扮演着很关键的角色。本文中的水獭仅是烟斗动物园的成员之一，此外还有野猫、乌龟、蟾蜍、松鼠、鸟、鱼，以及正在吃鱼的鸟。也许烟斗上的这些动物在连接精神世界与现实世界的宗教仪式中起了一定作用。当时他们抽的是黄花烟草，提神效果极佳，同时也能让人产生幻觉。既然抽烟者曾与烟斗上的动物对视,我们可以想象,他（她）也许会进人一种迷幻状态，看到烟斗上的动物活过来。每一种动物对吸烟者来说也许都是一种灵导或图腾。美洲土著相信，如果自己梦见过什么动物，这种动物便会成为他一生的保护神。加布里埃尔塔亚克说：

"Native people still use tobacco, it's a very sacred item. The usage of tobacco smoke, it's a way of transforming prayer and thought and community expression, and could either be smoked individually or passed around a community or a family, so that it's a way of unifying the mind and then sending up the power of the mind into the vast universe or to the creator or to the intercessors for the creator.

土著现在仍吸食烟草。烟草是十分神圣的物品。抽烟过程中产生的烟雾可以把人的祈愿和想法传达给神灵。烟斗可以单独抽，也可以在一个社群或家庭内传递着抽，他们用这种方式来统合心神, 并将念力传达给广阔的宇宙、造物主或调停人。