Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians 15

Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians 15

CAPRIFOLIACEAE (HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY)

 

=Nannyberry= (_Viburnum lentago_ L.), “atîteˈ tamîn”.[135] The berries

are eaten when ripe, fresh from the bush, and are also used in jam with

wild grapes.

 

 

CELASTRACEAE (STAFF TREE FAMILY)

 

=Climbing Bittersweet= (_Celastrus scandens_ L.), “manîdobîmaˈ kwît”

[spirit twisted].[136] The Pillager Ojibwe story of this plant is

practically the same as that of the Menomini, as given in Museum

bulletin Vol. IV, No. 1, pp. 63-64. Bittersweet is fairly abundant

around Leech Lake, and is found in dense hardwood forests climbing to

tops of trees thirty feet or more in height. When food is unobtainable

in the winter, because the snow is too deep and game is scarce, the

Ojibwe gather this bark and separate the inner bark to make a thick

soup for a meal. While it is not so very palatable, it is sustaining

and they may subsist on it for a considerable time, until they are able

to get some game, or to go to some relatives and get other foodstuffs.

The Ojibwe name refers as does the Menomini name, to the twisted

intestines of their cultural hero, Winabojo.

 

 

COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY)

 

=Large-leaved Aster= (_Aster macrophyllus_ L.), “mêgêsiˈ bûg”, [eagle

leaf]. The leaves of this aster are eaten when young and tender. The

Flambeau Ojibwe declare that they are fine-flavored and good to eat,

because they act as medicine at the same time that they are food. Among

the Pillager Ojibwe they use the root of this same aster as a soup

material, but call it “nêmêgosiˈ bûg” [trout leaf].

 

=Philadelphia Fleabane= (_Erigeron philadelphicus_ L.), “micao gacan”

[odor of split hoof of doe]. The Pillager Ojibwe say that deer and

cows eat this plant and that they use it in their smoking tobacco or

kinnikinnik mixture.

 

=Dandelion= (_Taraxacum officinale_ Weber) “wecaˈ waskwûneˈ k” [yellow

light]. The Flambeau Ojibwe gather the young leaves in the spring and

cook them with pork or venison for greens, using vinegar made from

soured maple sap.

 

 

CORNACEAE (DOGWOOD FAMILY)

 

=Panicled Dogwood= (_Cornus paniculata_ L’Her.) “meskwabiˈ mîc” [red

bush]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use this bark in their kinnikinnik or native

smoking tobacco. Sometimes real tobacco is mixed with it and sometimes

not, as real tobacco is expensive. The twig bark is peeled and toasted

over coals on a crude drying fork, then further shredded to carry in

their tobacco pouches and smoke in their pipes.

 

 

CRUCIFERAE (MUSTARD FAMILY)

 

=Large Toothwort= (_Dentaria maxima_ Nutt.), “mûkwopîniˈk” [bear

potato]. The rootstocks of this cress are very abundant in wet, springy

ground in the forest. The white man can only identify this plant in the

spring of the year when the flower and leaf are found, but the Ojibwe

knows the root and where it grows so gathers it when it has matured.

It is a favored wild potato, but has a very pungent acrid taste when

freshly dug. They heap the mass of cleaned roots upon a blanket and

cover it closely to exclude the air for four or five days. During this

time the roots ferment and lose the acrid taste, becoming sweet and

palatable. The Ojibwe cook them with corn and deer meat, or with beans

and deer meat, and say that, besides being a fine food, they are a good

medicine for the stomach.

 

 

CUCURBITACEAE (GOURD FAMILY)

 

=Cucumber= (_Cucumis sativus_ L.), “eckaˈdamîn” [its name]. The Ojibwe

use their cucumbers raw, but sometimes flavor them with a vinegar

“cîwaˈbo” made from souring maple sap. They are further flavored with

powdered maple sugar.

 

=Ojibwe Squash= (_Cucurbita maxima_ Duchesne), “ogwîˈssi maun owaso

kwoneˈk” [pumpkin, yellow light]. Their word “ogwissimaun” literally

means “tangled hairs”, and refers to the strings inside upon which

the seeds are borne. The Flambeau Ojibwe cultivate their own variety

of squash, although they say that they got it originally from the

Iroquois. They dry rings of squash for winter use.

 

=Large Pie Pumpkin= (_Cucurbita pepo_ L.), “missaˈ bîgon” [little giant

plant]. They have cultivated this original Ojibwe dark yellow pie

pumpkin since long before the advent of the white man. They cut it into

rings and sun dry it for winter use.

 

=Gourds= (_Lagenaria vulgaris_ Ser.), “jicaˈwîgan” [hollow like]. The

Ojibwe cultivate the gourds, which they eat when young, before the rind

has hardened. They also make use of them for drinking and dipping cups,

and for rattles in the medicine lodge. The medicine man, “mîdewag”,

keeps the rhythm of his songs by shaking them. They are pierced,

kernels of corn or shells inserted, and then corked again for use.

 

 

EQUISETACEAE (HORSETAIL FAMILY)

 

=Field Horsetail= (_Equisetum arvense_ L.), “gîjiˈ bînûsk” [duck

food].[137] The Pillager Ojibwe gather this for their domesticated

ducks to eat and also to feed their ponies, to make their coats glossy.

 

 

ERICACEAE (HEATH FAMILY)

 

=Bog Rosemary= (_Andromeda glaucophylla_ Link.), “bîneˈ mîkci” [swamp].

Young, tender leaves and tips of this plant are used by the Flambeau

Ojibwe to boil for a beverage tea. While they often pick and use it

fresh on the hunting trail, they also gather and dry it for later use.

It is not a bad substitute for “store tea.”

 

=Leather Leaf= (_Chamaedaphne calyculata_ [L.] Moench.), “wabackîkiˈ

bûg” [rabbit leaf]. This is another beverage tea leaf, prized by the

Flambeau Ojibwe. It is used on the trail or dried and saved for future

use. The Pillager Ojibwe also use it in the same manner, under the

name,—“mackiˈ gobûgons” [little swamp leaf].

 

=Wintergreen= (_Gaultheria procumbens_ L.), “wînîsiˈ bûgûd” [dirty

leaf], shown in plate 75, fig. 2. While the Flambeau Ojibwe use this as

a rheumatic medicine, they also use the leaf tea from the youngest,

tenderest leaves as a beverage tea, and especially favor it because it

“makes them feel good”. They also eat the wintergreen berry which they

call “owînîsiˈ mîn”.

 

=Labrador Tea= (_Ledum groenlandicum_ Oeder.), “waboskîkiˈ bûg” [rabbit

leaf], shown in plate 76, fig. 2. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the tender

leaves of this plant for a beverage tea, and will even eat the leaves

in the tea. It is a well known tea to many northern and Canadian

Indians.

 

=Cranberry= (_Vaccinium oxycoccos_ L.), “mûckiˈ mîn” [swamp berry]

shown in plate 67, fig. 2. This is an important wild food of the

Flambeau Indians and also of the Pillager Ojibwe, who use a slightly

different pronunciation, “mûckîtciˈ mîn” [swamp berry]. The train

men that go through that reservation never seem to tire of getting

Johnnie Frog to say “cranberry pie” for them in Ojibwe. It sounds

so complicated because they really have no word for pie in their

language but must say, “swamp berries made into sauce rolled between

bread”,—“mûckiˈ gimînûn backiˈ mînasîgûn wiwegidaˈsîgûn”.

 

=Blueberry= (_Vaccinium pennsylvanicum_ Lam.), “mînûn” [berries]. The

Flambeau and the Pillager Ojibwe harvest quantities of blueberries both

for themselves and to sell. They dry them in large quantities on raised

scaffolds of rush mats, like currants, or raisins, which they somewhat

resemble. In the winter, they like to cook them with dried sweet corn,

sweetened with maple sugar. They also cook them with wild rice, and

venison and make a sweet bread with them. They have different names for

different varieties of blueberries. The Low Blueberry (_V. vacillans_

Kalm.) is called “gimîneˈsît” while the low Black Blueberry (_V.

nigrum_ [Wood] Britton) is called “makateˈ mîn” [black blueberry]. No

specimens of the last two were secured, but the names were common among

the Ojibwe.

 

 

FAGACEAE (BEECH FAMILY)

 

=Beech= (_Fagus grandifolia_ Ehrh.) “gaweˈmîc”. All the Ojibwe know and

appreciate the sweet nuts of the beech tree. They are never plentiful

enough to store for winter, but the Indians like them fresh.

 

=White Oak= (_Quercus alba_ L.), “mîciˈ mîn” [oak berry]. All Ojibwe

encountered told of their former dependence upon acorns for their soup

stock. It seems that at least every Algonkian tribe knew and used all

species of acorns. They got rid of the bitter tannin taste by soaking

the acorns in hot lye. Wood ashes in water, when boiled gave them the

lye. A regular woven bark bag held a quantity of acorns and the lye

was leached out by washing the whole bagful in several changes of warm

water. The acorns were then dried for storage, and when wanted, pounded

and ground to a coarse flour which was used to thicken soups or form a

sort of mush. Blueberries were often cooked with this mush to give it

a good flavor and it was seasoned with maple sugar. White Oak acorns

needed no lye treatment.

 

=Bur Oak= (_Quercus macrocarpa_ Michx.), “mîtîgoˈ mîc” [wooden tree].

Bur Oak acorns are bitter, but yield to the lye treatment to become as

edible as the acorns of the White Oak.

 

=Red Oak= (_Quercus rubra_ L.), “mîtîgoˈ mîc” [wooden tree]. Because

Red Oak was so abundant in the Ojibwe territory and so large in size,

the acorns were one of their most important starchy foods. They leached

the tannic acid flavor with lye and brought them to a par with the

sweet acorns of White Oak.

 

=Black Oak= (_Quercus velutina_ Lam.) “têˈ komîn”. The name is

evidently an abbreviation of “mêtîgoˈ mîn”, but probably an intentional

one for this tree was always referred to by the abbreviation. Its

acorns were equally good as others when the tannin was extracted.

 

 

FUNGI

 

The writer found that none of the Ojibwe eat any of the mushrooms

although they have two names for them,—“pîkwaˈ djîc” and “wajackweˈ do”

[muskrat]. Probably some remote ancestor had a fatal experience with

mushrooms and the news has been handed down. Although the Ojibwe have

fanciful stories explaining why they use certain plants, no doubt their

knowledge came by a process of trial and error through the centuries

and the errors have been duly buried but not entirely forgotten.