Pituri

Pituri is a common name for a mixture of wood ash and leaves traditionally chewed as a stimulant (or, after extended use, a depressant) by Aboriginal Australians widely across the continent. Leaves are gathered from any of several species of native tobacco (Nicotiana), or from at least one distinct population of the species Duboisia hopwoodii. Various species of Acacia, Grevillea and Eucalyptus are burned to produce the ash. The term may also refer to the plants from which the leaves are gathered or from which the ash is made. Some authors use the term "pituri" to refer only to the plant Duboisia hopwoodii and its leaves and any chewing mixture containing its leaves.

History

The earliest record of Aboriginal chewing is found in Joseph Banks's 1770 journal:

Edmund Kennedy, in his 1847 record of a journey beyond the Barcoo River, described a leaf, tasting strong and hot with the aroma and flavour of tobacco, being chewed by the Aboriginal people.Burke and Wills, on their ill-fated 1861 journey through central Australia, were given food by local Aboriginal people and also "stuff they call bedgery or pedgery" to chew, which Wills found highly intoxicating even in small amounts. A report from Western Australia described the smoke from burning pituri leaves being used as an anaesthetic during surgical operations.