'''"-♦"««:' TAXOSOMIC LIST OF PLAXTS 87 



Ckataetjcs CHKisfX-ABfA A.she. E«;d Haw. 



yv^/za" ( Omafia-Ponca ) . 



(.'honfi^ir.a (Winnebaffo). 



Tlie fruit wab .^onietirnes used for food, but rommonly resorted to 

 only as a famine foofL 



Amelaxchiee AL.VIFOLIA Xutt. June Berrj-. SaskatfXin, 



H 'ipazuka { Dakota ) . 



Zfuj'' flwhi fOmaha-Ponra). "gray wfxxl " (2A0". wo^xl; /;u//«. 

 gray). 



IIn.z-Hhut.nh (Winnebago), "red-fruit" (}mz, fruit: nhuUh. refl). 



The berries were prized for frxxl. The woofj was u.^d for arrow- 

 ehafts.' 



Pbunus ameeicaxa ilarsh. Wild Plum. 



KaHa (Dakota), plum: ka'fe-hu. plum tree. 



Ka^dc (Omaha-Ponca), plum: ko'de-fu. plum tree. 



Kanfik (Winnebago), plum: hnrdnK-hu. plum tree. 



Niwafuirit (Pawnee), plum: Xiirah/irit-naJumpi, plum tree. 



The fruit was highly valued for fo<jd, Ijeing eaten fresh and raw or 

 cooked as a sauf-e. The plums were also dried for winter use. They 

 were commonly pitted before drying, but the Pawnee say they often 

 dried them without removing the pits. 



The Omaha planted their com, beans, and squashes when the wild 

 plum came into bloom. 



A broom for sweeping the floor of the dwelling was made by bind- 

 ing together a bundle of plum twigs. The plum was used Ijecause of 

 its toughness and elasticity. 



An Omaha informant said the bark of the roots, after being scraped 

 and boiled, was applied as a remedy for abrasions of the skin. 



Sprouts or young growths of the wild plum are u.sed by the Teton 

 Dakota in making ij-au''ya''pi. This is an offering or form of prayer, 

 consi.sting of a wand, made preferably from a wild-plum sprout 

 peeled and painted. If painted, the design and color are emblematic. 

 Near the top of the wand is fastened the offering proper, which may 

 take the form of anything acceptable to the higher p<iwers. A small 

 quantity of smoking tobacco is an article very frequently used for this 

 purpo.se. No matter how small a portion of the thing offered is used, 

 the inmiaterial self of the substance is in it. Such offerings are 

 u.sually made for the benefit of the sick. WaWya^jn may be made by 

 anyone at any place if done with appropriate ceremony, but the most 

 efficient procedure is to prepare an altar with due ceremony and there 

 set the wand upright with the offering fastened near the top.- 



> RIgeH. Dakota-Kngllfh Dictionary, p. 578. 



= For this lnforni.itlon I am Indebted to Dr. J. K. Walker. Oovemment physldan at 

 Pine Ridge, who has made very careful research Into the ceremonlen and rituaU of the 

 Teton Dakota. 



