Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians 9

Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians 9

ERICACEAE (HEATH FAMILY)

 

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

[swamp partridge berry]. The plant was found on the Flambeau Ojibwe

Reservation, but was not used medicinally. Among the whites, it is

credited with poisonous properties.

 

=Prince’s Pine= (_Chimaphila umbellata_ [L.] Nutt.), “gaˈ gîgeˈbûg”

[everlasting leaf].[106] The Flambeau Ojibwe pronounce the name of

Prince’s Pine nearly the same as the Menomini Indians, and use it

for the same purposes, namely a tea for treating stomach troubles.

_Chimaphila_ is official with white men as a tonic and diuretic. It

stimulates the mucous membrane of the genito-urinary tract, and has

been used in renal dropsy, scrofulous conditions, chronic ulcers and

skin lesions. It is employed both internally and as an embrocation.

 

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

leaves], shown in plate 75, fig. 2. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the leaves

to brew a tea to cure rheumatism and “to make one feel good.” The

white man discovered the properties of this plant from the Indians,

and originally wintergreen was the chief source of methyl salicylate.

Aspirin is synthetically the same thing. Birch twigs were later used

as a source and finally it was made from coal tar dye. Like other

volatile oils, methyl salicylate was used as an antiseptic, analgesic,

carminative and flavoring agent. It was added to liniments for rubbing

muscular rheumatism, and similar complaints. Overdoses of the pure oil

on the skin produce drowsiness, congestion and delirium.

 

=Cranberry= (_Vaccinium oxycoccus_ L.) “mûckiˈ mînagaˈ wûnj” [swamp

berry bush]. A tea for a person who is slightly ill with nausea. White

men have used the bitter, astringent leaves in diarrhea and diabetes

and for purifying the blood.

 

=Blueberry= (_Vaccinium pennsylvanicum_ Lam.), “minûgaˈ wûnj” [berry

bush]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the leaves of this common blueberry for

a medicinal tea as a blood purifier. White men have employed it in the

same manner.

 

 

EUPHORBIACEAE (SPURGE FAMILY)

 

=Flowering Spurge= (_Euphorbia corollata_ L.), “cabosîˈ kûn” [milky

bitter root]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the root for a physic. A half

inch of the root is pounded and steeped in a cup of water, which is

drunk before eating. The resinous, milky juice of the root has been

employed by eclectic practitioners as an emetic, but its use has been

practically abandoned because of its irritant and uncertain qualities.

 

 

FAGACEAE (BEECH FAMILY)

 

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

shown in plate 64, fig. 1. The bark is an astringent medicine to the

Pillager Ojibwe. They also use it to bandage a broken foot or leg.

All oaks are noted among the whites for their astringent properties.

Eclectic practitioners used it for gargles in cases of inflammation of

the tonsils and pharynx. It was also used in treating leucorrhea and

piles.

 

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

in plate 64, fig. 2. The bark,—“mîtîgoˈ mîc wenaˈ gêk”. The bark is a

medicine for heart troubles and bronchial affections among the Flambeau

Ojibwe. Its use by white men was approximately the same as Bur Oak.

 

 

FUMARIACEAE (FUMITORY FAMILY)

 

=Golden Corydalis= (_Corydalis aurea_ Willd.), “tîpotîeˈ kwason,”

[looks like pants]. The Pillager Ojibwe place the root on coals and

inhale the smoke for clearing the head and reviving the patient. There

is no record of its use by white men.

 

 

FUNGI

 

The Ojibwe have evidently had disastrous experiences with mushrooms in

the past and do not use them as a food. The children often gather the

common brackets (_Fomes applanatus_) and draw pictures on them, using

them as toys.

 

=Giant Puffball= (_Calvatia craniiformis_ Schw.) shown in plate 61,

fig. 2, “oskweˈtûk”. This is kept on hand in the mature stage. The

inner part has an organized mass of threads and does not break down

entirely into spores as do the smaller puffballs. The substance is

snuffed up the nose to stop nose bleed.

 

The Ojibwe also made use of an unidentified fungus matte material,

found in the windshake spaces of down timber. This is the matted

vegetating mycelium of some timber fungus, such as _Fomes_, _Trametes_,

_Polyporus_ or _Pholiota_. This made a good tinder for use in the fire

base block, and when the fire stick was rapidly twirled against this

material, it caught fire and was blown into a blaze that became the

basis of their fire. In all medicine lodge ceremonials, the fire was

kindled in this manner and thus deemed a sacred fire. Things cooked

over this fire were ceremonial, and the calumet or pipe used in the

ceremonies was always lighted from a coal of the sacred fire.

 

 

GERANIACEAE (GERANIUM FAMILY)

 

=Wild Geranium= (_Geranium maculatum_ L.), “oˈ sawaskwîniˈ s” [yellow

light].[107] The Pillager Ojibwe use the astringent root for the

treatment of flux, and also for healing a sore mouth. Eclectic

practitioners have also used it as a mild internal astringent, useful

for infants and people who have a delicate stomach, because it is not

irritating. It is valuable in serious diarrheas. It has also been used

by white men for rectal and vaginal injections to tone up weak muscles.

 

 

GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY)

 

=Rattlesnake Grass= (_Glyceria canadensis_ [Michx.] Trin.), “anagoneˈ

wûck” [fern]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the roots of this as a female

remedy, but it is difficult to understand why they call it a fern.

There is no record of its use by white men.

 

 

HYDROPHYLLACEAE (WATERLEAF FAMILY)

 

=Virginia Waterleaf= (_Hydrophyllum virginianum_ L.),[108] “neˈ

bîneankweˈ ûk” according to the Pillager Ojibwe White Cloud on Bear

Island, Leech Lake, Minnesota, but “anîmûcîdeˈ bîgons” [dog feet

medicine], according to John Peper, of the same island. It furnishes a

root that may be used to keep flux in check. He states that it is good

for man, woman or child. It was used for the same purpose among the

Meskwaki Indians, but there is no record of its use by whites.

 

 

IRIDACEAE (IRIS FAMILY)

 

=Blue Flag= (_Iris versicolor_ L.), “naˈ bûkûck”.[109] The Flambeau

Ojibwe use a half inch of the root boiled in water as a quick physic.

Under the name “caboˈsîkûn” [milk root], the Pillager Ojibwe use a

little piece of the root in boiling water, drinking a tablespoonful and

a half as an emetic and physic.

 

Blue Flag root has been accounted one of the most valuable remedies by

the eclectic practitioner. It is alterative, cathartic, sialagogue,

vermifuge and diuretic. It has been used in scrofula and syphilis,

chronic hepatic, renal and splenitic affections.

 

 

LABIATAE (MINT FAMILY)

 

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

“nameˈ wûckons” [little sturgeon plant].[110] Among the Flambeau Ojibwe

a tea is brewed from the entire plant, to be taken as a blood remedy.

It is also used by them in the sweat bath, “akûskati”. John Peper,

Pillager Ojibwe, made an especial trip to find this on the lake shore

but calls it “andegoˈ bîgons” [little crow leaf] and says that they use

it as a tea to break fevers. This species of mint was rarely used by

white men for carminative, stimulant and anodyne affects.

 

=Wild Bergamot= (_Monarda fistulosa_ L.), “wecaˈ wûs wackwîˈ nek”

[yellow light].[111] The Flambeau Ojibwe gather and dry the whole

plant, boiling it in a vessel to obtain the volatile oil to inhale to

cure catarrh and bronchial affections. In some sections, the whites use

it as a domestic antiperiodic and diaphoretic.

 

=Catnip= (_Nepeta cataria_ L.) “tciˈ nameˈ wûck” [big sturgeon

plant].[112] The Flambeau Ojibwe brew a tea of catnip leaves for

a blood purifier. The mint water obtained by steeping the herb

in lukewarm water is used to bathe a patient, to raise the body

temperature. The plant is employed by the whites as an emmenagogue and

antispasmodic. It has been used as a carminative to allay flatulent

colic in infants, and is supposed to be useful in allaying hysteria.

 

=Heal-all= (_Prunella vulgaris_ L.), “basiˈ bûgûk” [partridge leaf].

The root is used by the Flambeau Ojibwe in combination with others

for a female remedy. It has been used by eclectic practitioners as a

pungent and bitter tonic and antispasmodic. It has vermifuge properties

and is slightly diuretic. It has also been used for obstructions of the

liver, cramps and fits.

 

=Marsh Skullcap= (_Scutellaria galericulata_ L.), “tcatcabonûˈ ksîk”

[refers to the way the stem comes up through the leaves]. The Flambeau

Ojibwe use this for medicine, having something to do with heart

trouble, but we could get no definite information upon it. There is

no record of its use by white men, although a similar species, _S.

lateriflora_ has been used as a nervine, tonic and antispasmodic in

chorea, convulsions, fits, delirium tremens and all nervous affections.

 

 

LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY)

 

=Creamy Vetchling= (_Lathyrus ochroleucus_ Hook.) “bûgwaˈ dj ûk pîniˈ k

mîneˈ bûg” [unusual potato, berry, leaf]. John Peper, Pillager Ojibwe,

said that the foliage was fed to a pony to make him lively for a race.

The Flambeau Ojibwe call it “basiˈ bûgûk” [partridge leaf], in common

with several other plants, and say that the Creamy Vetch is used for

stomach trouble. By the white men, it is considered one of the loco

weeds, bad for horses.

 

=Marsh Vetchling= (_Lathyrus palustris_ L.), “bebejîgogaˈnji mackiˈ

ki” [horse medicine]. The Pillager Ojibwe feed this to a pony that is

sick and claim it will make him fat. There is no record of its use as

medicine by white men.

 

=White Sweet Clover= (_Melilotus alba_ Desr.). The Flambeau Ojibwe

claim that this plant is adventive and so they do not use it. There is

no record of its use as medicine by white men.