A long time ago when I was a little girl, my family brought in a medicine man. I remember part of what he used when he burned a little part of tobacco. Tobacco is what we gave him for payment. You would buy the medicine man a couple packs of cigarettes. After that he would open one up and burn a little bit of it. The medicine man used the smoke for religious purposes to cleanse the soul. During this time the medicine man says prayers and blesses everybody. A person can also use the smoke from a fire to cleanse the soul. Breathing in the hovering smoke from a fire is a symbol of the smoke becoming part of you. Also, we breathed in the smoke as part of an ending of a prayer. The smoke is for medical and religious purposes.

A few weeks ago my friends were here from Zuni. We took their little girl to the carnival. The next day they told me that the little girl did not sleep well that night. The little girl was afraid of something, and they were going to take her home to Zuni that night and "smoke her." The smoke would release what she was afraid of. This consisted of making a little fire and doing a blessing.