Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians 16

Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians 16

GRAMINAE (GRASS FAMILY)

 

=Corn= (_Zea mays_ L.), “mandaˈ mîn”. Corn is a traditional heritage of

the Ojibwe, although none knew a time when they did not have it. Their

origin myth is that it was a pinch of flesh taken from the side of

their culture hero, Winabojo, by himself and cast upon the ground, to

grow and become corn for them. This is the same as acknowledging that

they do not know how it came to be here. When mandamin matures, they

say that only horses can eat it raw in that condition. They have to

soak it in lye water, wash out the lye and then parboil it to prepare

it for the table. This is the same as our hominy. Scientists think now

that corn originated in Mexico from an accidental crossing of teosinte

and gama grass. While the Ojibwe cultivate and grow the approved

strains of corn for Wisconsin, they also cling to their own “calico”

corn, with all sorts of colors of grains on different cobs. They have

two names for sweet corn,—“wîckobiˈ mandaˈmîn” [sweet maize], and

“wîckobiˈ sîˈganûg” [turns sweet in cooking]. Their sweet or soft corns

are different from those used by the white man. They roast the ears in

the husk and make it into hominy as the white man does. They cut the

kernels from their sweet corn and dry them for winter use. It is also

boiled in a kettle, and when half-cooked, is cut from the cob and dried

for winter use.

 

They had a name for popcorn, but the writer saw none of it while around

them.

 

=Wild Rice= (_Zizania palustris_ L.), “manoˈ mîn” [good berry]. The

Ojibwe word is their pronunciation of the Menomini term for wild rice.

Most Algonkians have the same word for wild rice and it forms a very

important part of their food. The writer has often been present at the

Ojibwe rice harvests. The largest operation seen was that of the Ojibwe

at Mole Lake in Forest County, Wisconsin. There about twenty families

were working at one time and the writer worked at each operation to

become familiar with it. Wild rice preparation is the hardest kind of

labor, and they earn all they get for it when they sell it. It sells

in Milwaukee for $1.05 a pound, but one can buy it from the Indians at

$.25 to $.35 a pound. One man reaped 1325 pounds of rice in the harvest

time. The Menomini Rice Harvest group in the Public Museum exhibition

halls, shows very well most features of the operation.

 

Various families have definite parts of the lake for their share,

while others travel to small lakes and stay there until the harvest is

complete. They set up a family camp, while the grain is still in the

milk stage and wait for it to ripen. When this time arrives, having

made experimental collections to determine it, they make a ceremonial

gathering. Three to a canoe, two women and a man go to the rice beds

and gather sufficient rice for a preliminary feast. With a hooked

stick, held in a crescent by a string, the women pull the rice over

the canoe and beat off the kernels with a stick, into the canoe bed.

Sometimes, when the Indians do not want to waste any of the rice, they

will go into the beds before it is ripe and tie several heads together

to ripen in that manner. The first collection is prepared complete,

with songs to their deities and a ceremonial feast is observed. After

that all hands fall to in earnest and gather unremittingly until all

the rice is harvested.

 

When the canoe is partly loaded, they pole back to camp, to prepare

it. Wild rice grows in a mucky soil which may be quite deep. Ten foot

poles, with a wide fork to secure a hold on the grass, are used to

propel the canoe through the rice. On the return trip when loaded, the

women trample the rice to break off the spiny beards or awns. The next

step is roasting or parching. A wash tub is tilted against a large back

log and a fire maintained under it. To keep the rice from burning, one

must use a forty inch paddle and stir constantly for about three hours.

The roasting destroys any weevils that might be present, gives the rice

a pleasant flavor, loosens the husks or glumes and hardens the rice so

it may be kept indefinitely.

 

In earlier times, a hole was dug into the ground and carefully lined

with buckskin. Nowadays a candy bucket is sunk into the hole. This is

the threshing floor. A man with new moccasins steps in to trample and

thresh it.[138] He has a couple of poles, slanting near the hole, and

supported on a tree with which he balances, while trampling the rice.

He gives a circular, twisting pressure to the rice with his feet to

grind off the husks. Then the chaff is winnowed away by a woman as

shown in the present series, Vol. IV, plate 29, fig. 2. A large shallow

birchbark tray is shaken up and down by the woman as she stands in

a breeze. If there is no wind, the chaff accumulates on top and is

pushed over the edge from time to time. After the winnowing, the rice

is washed to clean it of foreign matter and of the smoky flavor of

parching. It is then dried and ready to use or store. Wild rice swells

more than cultivated rice in cooking. It is often moistened with six

times its bulk in water. The kernels are about six times as long as

thick and in cooking the ends curl backward to meet in the center, thus

differing from _Oryza sativa_, the white man’s rice. The proper way to

cook it Indian fashion is with deer broth and season with maple sugar.

Wild rice cooked with wild fowl takes away the muddy or wild taste and

is highly prized by those whites who know its qualities.

 

 

HYDROPHYLLACEAE (WATERLEAF FAMILY)

 

=Virginia Waterleaf= (_Hydrophyllum virginianum_ L.),

“nebîneˈnanikweˈîag”[139] [having hair on only one side]. The Pillager

Ojibwe use the root as a feed for ponies to make them fatten rapidly.

 

 

JUGLANDACEAE (WALNUT FAMILY)

 

=Shell-bark Hickory= (_Carya ovata_ [Mill.] K. Koch.), “bagaˈ nakoˈ

bagan”. Hickory trees are scarce in the north, but the Ojibwe

appreciate the edible nuts.

 

=Butternut= (_Juglans cinerea_ L.), “bagaˈ nag”. Butternut is plentiful

in the north and in most Ojibwe territory, while the Black Walnut is

not to be found. They use the nuts for food and the hulls for dye.

 

 

LABIATAE (MINT FAMILY)

 

=Wild Mint= (_Mentha arvensis_ L. var. _canadensis_ [L.] Briquet.)

“andegoˈ bîgons” [little crow leaf].[140] The Pillager Ojibwe use the

foliage to make a beverage tea.

 

=Catnip= (_Nepeta cataria_ L.), “tciˈ nameˈwûck” [big sturgeon leaf].

Catnip leaves are used by the Flambeau Ojibwe in making a beverage tea.

 

 

LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY)

 

=Hog Peanut= (_Amphicarpa pitcheri_ T. & G.), “bûgwaˈ dj mîskodiˈ

sîmîn” [unusual red bean]. The Pillager Ojibwe cook the beans and are

very fond of the unusual flavor imparted to their cooking in this way.

They also cook the roots, although they are really too small to be

considered of much importance.

 

=Creamy Vetchling= (_Lathyrus ochroleucus_ Hook.), “bûgwaˈdj pînik”

[unusual potato]. The Pillager Ojibwe use the root of this plant as a

sort of Indian potato, and store it in deep pits in the garden, as they

do their regular potatoes.

 

=Navy Bean= (_Phaseolus vulgaris_ L.), “wabeniˈmînesa” [little white

berry]. The Ojibwe claim to have always had the sort of beans that the

white man uses and while their original Navy Bean is not exactly like

that of the white man, still it is near enough to be confused with it.

 

=Lima Bean= (_Phaseolus lunatus macrocarpus_),“wabeniˈ mîna” [big white

berry]. The Ojibwe also claim to have originally had the Lima Bean, but

that is doubtful.

 

=Cranberry Pole Bean= (_Phaseolus vulgaris_ L.), “mêskodiˈ mînûn” [red

heart berry]. The Red Cranberry Pole Bean is the original source of all

our best commercial pole beans. The Indians cultivated it in aboriginal

times. They use it alone or in many peculiar combinations.

 

 

LICHENS

 

Tree Lichen (_Sticta glomulifera_), “jîngwakons wakun” [little white

pine and row of eggs] or “jîngwaˈkwak” [pine egg]. On the bark at the

base of an old White Pine, will be found lichens growing from the

ground to a height of perhaps three feet. The Ojibwe gather these and

boil them until they coagulate or “come together” like scrambled eggs.

They say that they taste like eggs “wawîn”, but they call them “wakûn”,

which is a term applied to the roe or eggs of a fish. It is a favorite

dish and a very ancient one.

 

 

LILIACEAE (LILY FAMILY)

 

=Wild onion= (_Allium cernuum_ Roth.), “cîgagaˈ wûnj” [skunk plant].

Both Pillager and Flambeau Ojibwe like the Wild Onion and Wild Leek in

the spring as an article of food.

 

=Wild Leek= (_Allium tricoccum_ Ait.), “bûgwaˈ djijîcaˈ gowûnj”

[unusual onion] “jîcago” really means skunk, and from this word Chicago

was named. This is the larger wild onion and is known as Winabojo’s

onion, or the one he pointed out for food. It is gathered in the

spring when it is round and plumper than in the fall. It is also

gathered and dried for future use. The Wild Leek is somewhat bitter,

while the smaller wild onion is sweet.

 

=False Spikenard= (_Smilacina racemosa_ [L.] Desf.), “agoñgosiˈ wîdjiˈ

bîk” [chipmunk root]. The Pillager Ojibwe use this root added to oats

to make a pony grow fat. The Flambeau Ojibwe also prepare and eat the

False Spikenard root. It is soaked in lye water and parboiled to get

rid of the lye, then cooked like potatoes.

 

 

NYMPHAEACEAE (WATER LILY FAMILY)

 

=Sweet White Water Lily= (_Castalia odorata_ [Ait.] Woodville & Wood),

“odîteˈabûg wabîˈgwûn” [flat heart-shaped leaf, white flowered]. The

Flambeau Ojibwe eat the buds of this water lily before they open.

 

=Yellow Lotus= (_Nelumbo lutea_ (Willd.) Pers.), “wesawasaˈ kwuneˈk

odîteˈabûg” [yellow light, flat heart-shaped leaf].[141] Most of the

Wisconsin Ojibwe know about this favored wild potato; and also use the

hard chestnut-like seeds to roast and make into a sweet meal. They cut

off the terminal shoots, at either end of the underground creeping

rootstock and the remainder is their potato. These shoots are similar

in shape and size to a banana, and form the starchy storage reservoirs

for future growth. They have pores inside, but have more substance to

them than the stems. They are cut crosswise and strung upon basswood

strings, to hang from the rafters for winter use. They are soaked when

needed and then cooked with venison, corn or beans.

 

 

OLEACEAE (OLIVE FAMILY)

 

=Red Ash= (_Fraxinus pennsylvanica_ Marsh.) “aˈgîmak” [snow-shoe wood].

The cambium layer of the ash is scraped down in long, fluffy layers and

cooked. It is called “sagîmaˈ kwûn”, which incorporates the name of the

ash with “wûn” or eggs. They say it tastes like eggs. Many other trees

are given the same sort of treatment for food purposes.

 

 

PINACEAE (PINE FAMILY)

 

=White Pine= (_Pinus strobus_ L.), “jîngwaˈ k”. In the spring the

Ojibwe use the young staminate catkins of the pine to cook for food.

It is stewed with meat. One might think this would taste rather like

pitch, but they assured the writer that it was sweet and had no pitchy flavor.