The role of tea in Indigenous traditions: How Native communities have used herbs for medicine, ceremony, and daily life
For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples across North America have drawn wisdom and nourishment from the land. The plants they used to make teas, herbal infusions with deep roots in healing, ceremony, and daily life, are amongst the most significant connections to the land. These teas represent tradition, resilience, and cultural identity.
Tea as medicine
Native communities have long utilized herbs and botanicals as trusted allies in wellness well before tea became a modern commodity. Elderberry, sage, cedar, and peppermint are among the plants used to make calming beverages that uplift the soul and body. For example:
- Elderberries are valued for their immune-supporting properties and used to help ward off seasonal illness.
- Peppermint is brewed to ease digestion and calm the mind.
- Yarrow and willow bark teas are used to relieve pain and support recovery.
These remedies have always been more than practical solutions. They embody a holistic approach, treating the physical, emotional, and spiritual self as one.
Tea in ceremony and spirituality
Several Native civilizations also use tea in ceremonial contexts. Making tea and sharing it with others can be a way to respect ancestors, unite communities, or engage in prayer.
- In some traditions, cedar tea is shared during gatherings to cleanse and protect.
- Sweetgrass and sage—while more often burned—are also infused as gentle teas, connecting people to the sacred.
- Teas made from seasonal plants often mark the rhythms of life, grounding communities in cycles of planting, harvesting, and renewal.
The ceremony of tea reinforces respect for the plants and the reciprocal relationship between people and the earth.
Tea in daily life
Beyond its medicinal and ceremonial uses, tea has been (and continues to be) a component of everyday nourishment. Herbal teas provide hydration, taste, and warmth throughout the year. Families would traditionally gather local herbs and berries to craft blends that were specific to their area, and many families continue to do so. Ingredients such as currants, juniper berries, or rose hips might be found in the northern regions, while yaupon holly or yaupon tea leaves were prevalent in the south.
Tea has become a representation of its locale: each cup narrates a tale of the land from which it originated.
Carrying traditions forward
Today, Indigenous-owned tea makers continue these traditions, blending ancestral knowledge with modern craft. By sharing teas rooted in cultural practices, they invite people to connect not only with flavor, but with heritage. Supporting Indigenous tea businesses helps preserve these traditions, sustain communities, and keep alive the stories carried in every leaf and berry.
Tea is so much more than a beverage. It is medicine, ceremony, daily comfort, and a reminder that the land provides all we need—when we listen, respect, and give back.