Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians 20
ROSACEAE (ROSE FAMILY)
=Hawthorn= (_Crataegus_ sp.), “mîneˈsagaˈwûnj”. The Flambeau Ojibwe
women use the sharp thorns for sewing awls on finer work such as
buckskin sewing with sinew.
SALICACEAE (WILLOW FAMILY)
=Shining Willow= (_Salix lucida_ Muhl.), “azisiˈgobmîc” [its name]. The
Flambeau Ojibwe use this bark for their kinnikinnik or native smoking
mixture. It is peeled and toasted over a fire and reduced to flakes.
SPHAGNACEAE (SPHAGNUM MOSS FAMILY)
=Sphagnum= (_Sphagnum dusenii_ C. Jens.), “asaˈgûmîg” [moss]. The
Flambeau and Pillager Ojibwe find Sphagnum Moss, shown in plate 66,
fig. 1, readily available. They gather and dry it to make mattresses.
TILIACEAE (BASSWOOD FAMILY)
=Basswood= (_Tilia americana_ L.), “wigub” [its name]. The tough
fibrous bark of young basswood trees furnishes all Ojibwe with ready
cordage and string in the woods, but it is also prepared by the women
for future use. They strip the bark and peel the outer edge from the
inner fiber with their teeth. The rolls are then kept in coils or
are boiled and kept as coils until needed, being soaked again when
used, to make them pliable. While they have countless uses for this
cordage perhaps the most important is in tying the poles together for
the framework of the wigwam or medicine lodge, as shown in plate 46,
figure 2. When these crossings of poles are lashed together with wet
bark fiber, it is easy to get a tight knot which shrinks when dry and
makes an even tighter joint. The bark of an elm or a balsam, cut into
broad strips is then sewed into place on the framework with basswood
string. In olden times, an oak wood awl was used to punch holes in the
bark, but at Leech Lake when they made the writer’s wigwam, as shown in
plate 58, figure 2, they used an old file end for an awl. The writer
lived in this new wigwam all the time he was among the Pillager Ojibwe
and scarcely a night passed without a group of them visiting him and
sitting around the campfire, telling old time stories.
TYPHACEAE (CAT-TAIL FAMILY)
=Cat-tail= (_Typha latifolia_ L.), “abûkweˈskwe” [wigwam cover; that
is, the plant leaves]. The Flambeau Ojibwe women use the cat-tail
leaves to make wind and rain-proof mats to be placed on the sides of
the medicine lodge or any temporary wigwam or sweat lodge. They sew
with a bone needle and nettle or basswood fiber with a hidden stitch,
and bind the edges securely with their sewing cord. These mats are made
quite large to cover the wigwams, and are rolled and carried around
with them. They are not quite rain-proof as a roofing material, so
birchbark rolls are used for that purpose. The fuzz or seed of the
cat-tail is called “bebamasûˈn” [it flies around], and is used to make
mattresses and sleeping bags. They say the fuzz will blind one if it
gets into his eyes. They gather the heads and boil them first, which
causes all the bugs to come out of them. Then they dry them and strip
the fuzz, to make a mattress, which they claim is as soft as feathers,
but very prone to mat together, so that it must be shaken often and
thoroughly. They also make a quilt of it, and from the quilt a sleeping
bag. This is declared to be soft and warm in the coldest weather.
URTICACEAE (NETTLE FAMILY)
=Wood Nettle= (_Laportea canadensis_ [L.] Gaud.), “masanaˈtîg” [woods
fiber]. The Pillager Ojibwe say that their old people used the rind of
this nettle as a sewing fiber.
=Slippery Elm= (_Ulmus fulva_ Michx.), “aniˈb” [its name]. The Pillager
Ojibwe strip this bark to use as a wigwam cover, for the sides of the
wigwam.
=Lyall’s Nettle= (_Urtica lyalli_ Wats.), “masan” [woods]. In
aboriginal times, the Flambeau Ojibwe used the bark or rind of this
nettle to give them a fine, stout sewing fiber.
OJIBWE VEGETAL DYES
Some of the old people among all Ojibwe still use vegetable and native
dye stuffs, especially upon a mat or piece of material that they
expect to keep for their own use. For the tourist trade, they will use
“Diamond” dyes or any sort they can get as they are not especially
interested in how well the color lasts in that case. John Whitefeather,
Flambeau Ojibwe, asked the writer to find a good dye for them, as he
had been unable to buy any since 1914. Several lots were sent to him,
but none was found that had the penetration and permanence of the
German dyes that he had before the war. He had to resort to native
dye stuffs to get those qualities, but, of course, could not get the
same range of colors in native dye stuffs. That was the main reason he
sought more of the white man’s dyes.
They boil the material they wish to color in the mixture of plant parts
and some earth to set the color. For this they use various clays, the
red or black sand that bubbles up in a spring, or stone dust, perhaps
with a few, rusty, iron nails thrown in the kettle for good measure.
Sometimes the bark of Black Oak (_Quercus velutina_ Lam.) was used to
set the color.
OJIBWE DYE PLANTS
ANACARDIACEAE (SUMAC FAMILY)
=Smooth Sumac= (_Rhus glabra_ L.), “bakwaˈnak” [binding tree]. The
Flambeau Ojibwe use the inner bark and the central pith of the stem of
the Smooth Sumac, mixed with Bloodroot to obtain an orange color. The
material is boiled in the mixture.
=Staghorn Sumac= (_Rhus typhina_ L.), “bakwanaˈtîg”. The Pillager
Ojibwe do not have the Smooth Sumac, but use the Staghorn Sumac in the
same way as the Flambeau Ojibwe use the other. The writer was unable to
discover how they set the color unless it was with some stone dust that
accumulated in the base of the kettle.
BALSAMINACEAE (TOUCH-ME-NOT FAMILY)
=Spotted Touch-me-not= (_Impatiens biflora_ Walt.), “oˈsawaskodjiˈbîk”
[yellow root]. The whole plant is used by the Pillager Ojibwe to make a
yellow dye and the material is boiled in the mixture with a few rusty
nails.
BETULACEAE (BIRCH FAMILY)
=Speckled Alder= (_Alnus incana_ [L.] Moench.), “wadoˈb” [its name].
The Flambeau Ojibwe use the inner bark for dyeing a light yellow, or
with other ingredients to get a red, red brown or black. In occasional
cases where sweet grass is dyed reddish yellow, the woman chews the
inner bark and draws a wisp of sweet grass through her mouth weaving it
in for color.
=Paper Birch= (_Betula alba_ L. var. _papyrifera_ [Marsh.] Spach),
“wîgwas” [birch]. The innermost bark of the White Birch is boiled to
extract a reddish dye by the Flambeau Ojibwe.
=Hazelnut= (_Corylus americana_ Walt.), “mûkwoˈbagaˈnak”. The Flambeau
Ojibwe make use of the seed hulls of the Hazelnut in setting the black
color of butternut dye. They are boiled together and the tannic acid of
the hull sets the color.
FAGACEAE (BEECH FAMILY)
=Bur Oak= (_Quercus macrocarpa_ Michx.), “mêtîˈgomîc”. The Flambeau
Ojibwe use this bark in combination with other materials to set color.
=Black Oak= (_Quercus velutina_ Lam.), “mêtîˈgomic”. The Flambeau
Ojibwe use this bark for a reddish yellow dye and it sets its own color.
JUGLANDACEAE (WALNUT FAMILY)
=Butternut= (_Juglans cinerea_ L.), “bagaˈnag”. The Flambeau and
Pillager Ojibwe find this one of their best brown dyes, because they
can get it from the tree at any time of the year. It is usually used in
other combinations for brown and black colors.
MYRICACEAE (BAYBERRY FAMILY)
=Sweet Gale= (_Myrica gale_ L.), “waˈsawasniˈmîke” [yellow catkins]. In
the fall of the year, the tips of the branches grow into an abortive
scale or gall-like structure that is plucked and boiled to yield a
brown dye stuff. The Flambeau Ojibwe seem to be the only Ojibwe that
know this.
PAPAVERACEAE (POPPY FAMILY)
=Bloodroot= (_Sanguinaria canadensis_ L.), “meskwaˈdjibîkûk” [red
root]. The Ojibwe use this root in four or five combinations in dyeing
various materials. It is not necessary to mix it with other materials
to set the color and alone it gives a dark yellow or orange color. They
use it to paint the face, also, making different clan marks with it.
Either the fresh root or dried root may be used.
PINACEAE (PINE FAMILY)
=Hemlock= (_Tsuga canadensis_ [L.] Carr.), “gagagiˈwîc”. The Flambeau
Ojibwe use the bark together with a little rock dust to set the color,
to dye materials a dark red brown.
RANUNCULACEAE (CROWFOOT FAMILY)
=Goldthread= (_Coptis trifolia_ [L.] Salisb.), “weˈsawadjiˈbîkweˈak”
[yellow root?], shown in plate 75, fig. 1. The Flambeau Ojibwe add the
golden-colored roots to other plant dyes to emphasize the yellow color.
=Bristly Crowfoot= (_Ranunculus pennsylvanicus_ L. f.), “manweˈgons”.
The entire plant is boiled by the Flambeau Ojibwe to yield a red
coloring dye. Bur Oak is added to set the color.
ROSACEAE (ROSE FAMILY)
=Wild Plum= (_Prunus nigra_ Ait.), “bûgesanaˈtîg”. The Flambeau Ojibwe
use the inner bark as an astringent color fixative in dyeing with other plant dyes.
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