informant had taken was ten times the amount normally taken 
by the Cree for anti-fatigue (Hoffer and Osmund, 1967). Sweet 
Flag may be hallucinogenic in larger quantities: Indians possibly 
took the plant for that purpose, since they were careful to 
consume only small quantities when it was used as a medicine. 
The prescribed amount of the rhizome eaten by the Chippewa 
was the length of an index finger (Densmore, 1928); Smith 
reported that the Chippewa took no more than one and a half 
inches (Smith, 1932); the Forest Potawatomi were “cautious” of 
the amount they used, believing that only a “very small piece” 
was necessary (Smith, 1933); the Menomini consumed no more 
of the rhizome than the length of a finger joint, because they 
considered the plant to be a powerful medicine (Smith, 1923); 
the amount taken by an adult Cree in a mid-nineteenth-century 
report was about the “size of a small pea” (Franklin, 1854). If the 
plant is proven to be hallucinogenic, it is quite possible that 
earlier generations of Indians knew of that effect and that later 
generations lost the knowledge. Indians of former times may 
have known that larger amounts of the plant would alter states 
of consciousness. To date, chemical investigations suggest that 
a-asarone and B-asarone are the active principals in Sweet Flag. 
Although mescaline and asarone are structurally similar, their 
biological effects differ; asarone is not known to be truly 
hallucinogenic (Schultes and Hofmann,1980). 
Sweet Flag continues to be an important medicinal plant 
among various Indian tribes, although it is now more often used 
by the older generation. The revival of interest in the preserva- 
tion of traditional ways of life, as shown by the younger Indians 
within the last decade, perhaps insures a continued use of the 
plant as a medicine. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Bear Killer, Ralph. Chadron, Nebraska. Interview with Morgan. 1979-80. 
Bentley, Robert and Henry Trimen. 1880. Medicinal Plants, 4, J. & A. 
Churchill, London. 
Buell, Murray F. 1935. “History and Uses of Calamus.” The American 
Botanist, 41, 51-55., 1935. 
Bull Man, Thomas. Porcupine, South Dakota. Interview with Morgan. 1980. 
Chief, Helen. Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Interview with Father Paul J. 
Steinmetz, S.J., Ph.D., 1980. 
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