SOME NATIVE NEBRASKA PLANTS WITH THEIR USES BY THE DAKOTA¹

By MELVIN RANDOLPH GILMORE, M. A.

   [Being the result of inquiry among the 0glala Dakota on Pine Ridge Reservation, August, 1912.]

 

MONOCOTYLEDONEAE

I. ALISMACEAE. Sagittaria sp. PSHITÓLA.
   Tubers used for food after boiling till the peeling slips off.

II. LILIACEAE. Yucca glauca. HUPÉSTULA.
   The root was used like soap in washing the scalp. The Indians said, "It makes the hair grow." The most ordinary saponific was the ashes of deciduous trees.

    Another use for Yucca was in the contrivance of a fire-making apparatus, on the high plain where wood was absent. The hard sharp-pointed leaves were very firmly bound into a slender bundle forming the firedrill to be twirled by the hands. The hearth was made of the peeled and well dried stem of the plant, a depression was cut in one side in which the point of the drill was inserted and twirled until it smouldered, when the breath was blown upon it till flame sprang up.

    Another use was in tanning hides. The roots of Yucca were boiled hard and, after cooling, the decoction

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   ¹In spelling the Dakota words in this paper I have used the letters according to their continental values instead of the English, for the sake of clearness. Each vowel forms a syllable. The letter "h" with a dot over it represents the German sound of "ch." An apostrophe after a letter represents an explosive sound of that letter.

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was sprinkled over the hides after they had been treated with the brain-liver-marrow dressing.

III. ARACEAE. Acorus calamus. SI^NKPELA TA WOTE. (Food of the muskrat).
   The root was gathered and dried and taken as a carminative and also chewed at will for its agreeable aromatic flavor.

IV. TYPHACEAE. Typha latifolia L. WIHUTA HU.
   The down was used for filling pillows and especially for padding cradles and quilting baby wrappings.
   Children used the leaves in playing at making mats and so forth, but because of their brittleness after drying they were not put to serious purpose by adults. From the name, WIHUTA HU, it would seem to have been in common use to spread at the bottom of the tipi, for WIHUTA means the bottom of a tent and HU means plant stem.

V. CYPERACEAE. Scirpus lacustris L. PSA.
   The tender white part of the base of the stem was eaten fresh and uncooked.
   The long stems were made into a ball by bending over the base of several together, then the remaining length of stems was braided into a swinging handle, the whole contrivance forming the instrument of a children's game.
   Mats for household use were woven from the stems after they were first pressed flat between thumb and fingers.

VI. POACEAE. Savastana odorata.
   This grass was used in propitiatory rites in order to enlist the good offices of the divine mediator, WOHPA, in the cause of the person who was offering worship to a benevolent deity.

   Zizania aquatica L. PSI^N.
   The grain formed an important and prized item of food, so important as to give the name PSP^N-HNA KETU-WI to the month of the Dakota calendar corresponding to September; PSI^N, rice; HNAKETU, to lay up to dry; WI, moon.

VII. RANUNCULACEAE. Thalictrum purpurascens L. WAZÍMNA.
   When the fruits approach maturity in August the tops are broken off and stored in bags for their agreeable odor, being rubbed and scattered on the clothing at any time when the effect is desired. They say that the fragrance is emitted more when the substance is dampened, and that it is LILA WASHTEMNA- -very fragrant. They speak of a number of plants as being WASHTEMNA which we Europeans do not think of as remarkable for fragrance. But with them whatever gives a suggestion of the fresh outdoors is WASHTEMNA, though its odor be ever so evanescent and slight.

VIII. SALICACEAE. Populus sp. WÁGA CHA^N.
   The wood was used for fuel.. The standing trees of large size were sometimes made depositories of dead bodies in the tree burial of old times. The body might be placed in the hollow trunk of a tree or laid on a support placed across branches. Green cottonwood bark was fed to their horses. They said it was as good for horse feed as the white man's oats. In spring when sap was abundant young sprouts were sometimes peeled and the inner bark was eaten by people because of its sweet taste and agreeable flavor. Even in winter the inner bark was chewed to extract its sweetness, and after chewing the fibre was rejected.
   A very interesting and charming use for the leaves was had by children in play. They tore the leaf down

a little way from the tip along the midrib, and at an equal distance from the tip they tore the leaf in a little way from the margin of each side and turned back these two parts to represent smoke flaps, then turned the two margins of the leaf together and pinned them so with a splinter and had a realistic toy tipi. Children would make a number of such tipis and set them in a circle, just as the tribal encampment was set in a circle. It is interesting to note this manifestation of the inventive genius and resourcefulness of the Indian child mind thus reacting to its environment and providing its own amusement. Children sometimes gathered the fruits of the cottonwood before they were scattered by the wind and used the cottony seeds like gum for chewing.

    Salix fluviatilis Nutt. WAHPÉ POPA.
      The stems were peeled and woven into baskets.

IX. NYCTAGINACEAE. Allionia nyctaginea Michx. (Wild Four-O'clock). P0ÍPIE.
   The root was boiled and used as a febrifuge. It was also boiled with Brauneria pallida root for a vermifuge. It was taken for four nights and next morning "the worms came away". If one has "the big worm" (tape-worm) "it comes away too". Boiled with Brauneria it was applied to swellings of limbs, arms or legs, always being applied by rubbing downward, never upward.

X. CHENOPODIACEAE. Chenopodium albidum L. WAHPÉ TOTO.
   The young plants were boiled for food.

XI. POLYGONACEAE. Rumex altissimus (wood). SHIÁKIPI.
   The green leaves were bound on boils for the purpose of drawing them out. Dried leaves were

crushed up and bound on with green leaves for the, same purpose.

XII. MALVACEAE. Malvastrum coccineum (Pursh.) A. Gray. HEYOKA TA PEZHUTA.
   Used to deaden sensation of pain, so that, when rubbed on hands and arms by jugglers, they were able to pick up boiling meat from the pot to the mystification of onlookers.

XIII. ULMACEAE. Celtis occidentalis L. (Hackberry). YAMANUMANUGAPI CHA^N.
   The fruits were pounded up as were the cherries and dried for use as a condiment for seasoning the meat in cooking.

XIV. MORACEAE. Humulus lupulus L. (Hops). CHA^N IYUWE.
   The fruits were boiled to make a drink used as a remedy for fever and for intestinal pains.

XV. CONVOLVULACEAE. Cuscuta sp. (Dodder)
   My Oglala informant knew nothing about it, but my interpreter, who was an Apache, said his tribe call it "rattlesnake food".
   They said that rattlesnakes take it into their dens for food.

XVI. SOLANACEAE. Physalis heterophylla. (Ground cherry). T'AMANÍOHPE.
   Made into a sauce. When plentiful enough they are sometimes dried for winter use.

   Physalis lanceolata. (Inedible groundcherry). Also called T'AMANÍOHPE by the Dakota.
      The only use of this species is by children in play. They inflate the large persistent calyx with the breath and pop the same by suddenly striking it on the forehead or hand.

XVIL ASCLEPIADACEAE. Asclepias syriaca L. (Big milkweed). WAHCHAH CHA.
   So named from the bursting out of the ripened pods like a flower, WAHCHA. Used for food, the sprouts in early spring, later the bud clusters, and last the young seed pods, while firm and green, are cooked by boiling, usually with meat.

XVIII. SCROPHULARIACEAE. Pentstemon grandiflorus Nutt. WAHCHAHSHA.
   The root was boiled and used for pains in the chest

XIX. VERBENACEAE. Verbena stricta Vent. (Common wild Verbena). CHA^N HALOGA PEZHUTA.
   The leaves are steeped and the infusion taken for stomach ache.

XX. LAMIACEAE. Monarda fistulosa L. (Horsemint). HEHAKA TA PEZHUTA (medicine of the red elk).
   Flowers and leaves boiled together in an infusion to be taken for abdominal pains.
   Bachelors carry bunches of it in their clothes for the pleasant fragrance.

   Monarda fistulosa L. (var.?)
      Used as the Omaha use it for a perfume.
   Hedeoma sp. (Pennyroyal). MA^NKA^NCHIAKA.
      Used in form of an infusion for colds; also used as a flavor and tonic appetizer in diet for the sick.

   Mentha canadensis L. (Wild mint). CHÍAKA.
      It was used as a flavor for meat. In cooking or in packing dried meat wild mint was laid in alternate layers with the meat in the packing case. CHÍAKA was also used to make a hot aqueous beverage like tea.

XXI. ROSACEAE. Amelanchier alnifolia. (June berry), WIPÁZUKA.
   I did not see any of the fruit but heard mention of it as being gathered along the streams.

   Prunus americana Marsh. (Wild Plum). KANTE.
      Used fresh, raw or made into a sauce, or boiled and pitted and dried for winter use. Dried plums are called KANSHTAGIYAPI. In the days of buffalo hunting the scrapings of the hides in preparing them for tanning were saved and mixed with the plums and dried together. When asked if the scrapings of the hides of domestic cattle are now so used the Indians replied that they do not taste so good and so are not desirable.
      Plum seeds are used to make the playing pieces of a certain game in a manner like dice. Three pairs of pieces are used in this game, the devices being burned on the plum pit. The pieces are cast in a small basket woven of willow withes. The play is made by striking against the ground the bottom of the basket containing the plum pits.

   Prunus besseyi Bailey. (Sand cherry). AÓ^NYEYAPI.
      Used for food in fresh state or dried for winter, first being pitted as are the plums.

   Prunus melanocarpa (A. Nels.) Rydb. (Western chokecherry). CHA^NPA.
      Used for food in fresh state, or prepared for winter use by pounding to a pulp with a stone mortar and pestle. The entire cherry, pit and all, is pulped and formed into small cakes and dried in the sun.
      The cherries are prepared thus in large quantities, the cherry harvest being an event of great importance in the domestic economy of the people, so great that *the month in which the cherries ripen is called in the Dakota calendar by the name of that fruit, "Ripe

cherry month", CHA^NPA SAPA WI, literally, "Blackcherry moon". The people travel for miles to the streams where the cherries are abundant and there go into camp and work up the cherries while they last, or until they have prepared as great a quantity as they require. The sun dance began on the day of the full moon when the cherries were ripe.

XXII. PAPILIONACEAE. Mehlotus alba L. (Sweet clover).
   Has been introduced as a weed and the Dakota, noting the likeness of its odor in withering to that of sweet grass, Savastana odorata, gather handfuls of it to hang up in their houses for the pleasure of its fragrance.
   Astragalus crassicarpus Nutt. (Buffalo pea, Ground plum). PTE TA WOTE, literally "Buffalo food", PTE, buffalo; WOTE, food; TA, sign of the genitive case.
      Sometimes eaten raw and fresh by people.
   Astragalus canadensis L.
      An infusion was made from the root to be used as a febrifuge for children.

   Glycyrrihiza lepidota Pursh. (Wild licorice). WI NAWIZI, "jealous woman".
      The leaves are chewed to make a poultice for sores on horses. The root is kept in the mouth for toothache; "it tastes strong at first, but after a while becomes sweet." The leaves are steeped and applied to the ears for earache.

   Psoralea esculenta Pursh. (Pomme blanche, Pomme de prairie). TÍPSILA (Oglala dialect; TÍPSINA (Yankton dialect).
      The roots were an important item of the vegetal diet. They were peeled and eaten fresh, or dried for winter use. For drying they were peeled and braided into festoons by their tapering roots, or were split into

halves or quarters and after drying were stored in any convenient container.

   Psoralea floribunda Nutt. TICHANICHA-HU.
      Two other, plants (unidentified) and root of P. floribunda boiled and used as a remedy for consumption. In summer, garlands were made of the tops of this plant and worn like hats in hot weather.

   Parosela enneandra (Nutt.) Britton.
      The root said to be poisonous. By the description of its effect as given by my informant, the wife of Fast Horse of the Oglala tribe of Dakota, I think that it must be a powerful narcotic.

   Parosela aurea (Nutt.) Britton. PEZHUTA PA, (bitter medicine).
      The leaves were used to make an infusion to drink in cases of stomach ache and dysentery.

XXIII. CACTACEAE. Opuntia humifusa. U^NKCHELA TA^NKA, (big cactus). Large yellow blossoms.
   The fruits of this cactus were stewed for food and sometimes eaten raw. They were also dried for winter. The cactus fruit is called TASPU^N. Sometimes when food was very scarce the stems of this cactus were cleared of their spines and roasted for food.

XXIV. ACERACEAE. Acer negundo L. (Boxelder). CHA^N SHÚSHKA.
   Sugar was made from the sap of this tree by gashing in the spring. The Dakota word for sugar is CHA^N HANPI, which is significant of the aboriginal sugar-making process. CHA^N is the Dakota word for wood or tree, HA^NPI is the word for juice, so the conventionalized term for sugar indicates its origin from tree sap. Box elder wood was used to obtain charcoal for tattooing.

XXV. ANCARDACEAE. Rhus glabra L. (Smooth Sumac). CHA^N ZÍZI.
   The leaves when turning scarlet in the fall were gathered and dried for smoking.

   Rhus trilobata Nutt. CHA^N WISKÚYE SHA.
      The ripe, red fruits were boiled very thoroughly with the fruits of Lepargyraea argentea to make a red dye. The Rhus fruits were probably used for effect as a mordant, though they may also have contributed to the color effect as well.

XXVI. JUGLANSDACEAE. Juglans nigra L. (Black walnut). CHA^NSAPA.
   By the description of my informant I thought a certain tree found growing on WAZI WAKPA (Solomon River?) far south from the winter camp of the Dakota must be black walnut. His wife said a black dye was made from the roots of the tree. Afterwards by specimen it was identified as black walnut, but the Santee Dakota call the walnut HMA.

XXVII. CORNACEAE. Cornus amomum Mill. (Kinnikinnik.) CHA^N SHÁSHA.
   The inner bark was dried for the purpose of smoking.

XXVIII. RUBIACEAE. Galium triflorum Mich.
   Among stores of perfume plants was one which by odor and by usual appearance of broken fragment I judged to be this plant, and as it grows in the country of the Dakota was probably used by them, since it was so used by the Omaha.

XXIX. CAPRIFOLIACEAE. Symphoricarpos symphoricarpos L. MacM. KA^NTÓ-HU
   The green, inner bark was used together with root of Brauneria pallida to make a decoction for sore eyes. The leaves of this plant were also used alone for the

same purpose. The wood was used to make charcoal used in tattooing.

XXX. ASTERACEAE. Gutierrezia sarothrae (Pursh.) Britton and Rusby. PEZHÍ ZIZI, (yellow herb).
   Used as a medicine for horses in case of too lax a condition of the bowels. The flowering tops of the herb are boiled and the horses are caused to drink the bitter infusion by being kept from drinking other water.

   Grindelia, squarrosa (Pursh.) Dunal. PTE ÍCHI YOHA.
      The tops are used to make an infusion which is given to children for stomach ache.

   Ratibida columnaris (Sims.) D. Don. (Prairie Coneflower). WAHCHÁ-ZI-CHIKALA.
      The leaves were used to make a hot aqueous drink like tea, merely as a food accessory. The flowers are used as an auxiliary to other plants (not yet identified), in preparation of a remedy for chest pains and other ailments, and, with certain others (also unidentified), as a remedy for wounds. The people said of it that it is LILA WASHTEMNA--very pleasant to smell.

   Brauneria pallida (Nutt.) Britton. (Nigger-head, Black Sampson.) ICHÁRPE-HU.
      The root was used for all sorts of ailments. It was applied to areas of inflammation to relieve the burning sensation. It was said to give a feeling of coolness. It was probably used as an antidote for snake bites as with other tribes, though my informant did not seem to know of that use, which I thought strange, as the knowledge of this property of it is so common among the Omaha. My interpreter, a Mexican Indian, volunteered the information that it was used by his people for snake bites.

   Helianthus tuberosus L. (Jerusalem artichoke.) PAN-GI-HU.
      The tubers were boiled for food, sometimes fried after boiling. They said that too free a use of them in the dietary caused flatulence.

   Helianthus annuus L. (Sunflower.) WAHCHÁ ZI, (yellow flower).
      An infusion used for chest pains was made from the heads, they first being cleared of involucral bracts. When the sunflower grew large and was in full flower the people would say, "Now the buffalo are fat and the meat is good".

   Ambrosia artemisiaefolia L. (Ragweed.) PEZHÚTA PA, (bitter medicine).
      An infusion was made from the leaves and small tops of this plant to be taken as a remedy for bloody flux, and also to stop vomiting.

   Boebera papposa (Vent.) Rydb. (Fetid marigold.) PIZPÍZA TA WOTE, (Prairie-dog food).
      They say it is found more abundantly than elsewhere about prairie dog towns, and that it is a choice food of this animal.
   It is used in conjunction with Gutierrezia sarothrae, PEZHÍ ZIZI, in making a medicine for cough in horses.

   Artemisia sp. (Mugwort, Wild sage, Wormwood).
      Short Bull, the well-known Brulé chief, said the larger Artemisia (Artemisia gnaphaloides) was used by men in purificatory rites, as in case of unwitting infraction of a tabu. In the Dakota mythology the TO^N, or immaterial essence or spirit of Artemisia is repugnant to malevolent powers, wherefore it is proper to use it in exorcising evil spirits, either by burning the herb or in lustrations with an infusion of it. Short
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Bull said the little sage (Artemisia cana Pursh.) is used in purificatory rites by women after menstruation.