FOREWORD 
The varied uses of plants by the Chippewa indicate the large extent 
to which they understood and utilized the natural resources of their 
environment. The present study is related, in two of its phases, to 
the study of Chippewa music which preceded it." Herbs were used 
in the treatment of the sick and in the working of charms, and songs 
were sung to make the treatment and the charms effective. Songs of 
these classes having been recorded, the Indians were willing to bring 
specimens of the herbs and to explain the manner of their use. A ma- 
jority of the informants on this subject were women and they became 
interested in describing the former methods of preparing vegetable 
foods. Both men and women related the uses of plants in medicine, 
economic life, and the useful and decorative arts. Plants and data 
were obtained on the White Earth, Red Lake, Cass Lake, Leech Lake, 
and Mille Lac Reservations in Minnesota, the Lac Court Oreilles 
Reservation in Wisconsin, and the Manitou Rapids Reserve in 
Ontario, Canada, the work continuing until 1925. 
The writer gratefully acknowledges the assistance of those who 
have contributed to the result of the present undertaking. The 
specimens of plants were identified and their common names supplied 
by Mr. Paul C. Standley, of the United States National Museum. 
The reports on the recognized medicinal properties of the plants used 
by the Chippewa and on their active medical constituents were pre- 
pared by Dr. W. W. Stockberger, physiologist in charge of drug, 
poisonous, and oil plant investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry, 
United States Department of Agriculture, and valuable assistance in 
the classification of diseases and injuries treated by the Chippewa was 
given by Dr. D. S. Lamb, who at the time was pathologist at the 
Army Medical Museum, Washington, D. C. Assistance has also. 
been received from members of the staff of the Bureau of American 
Ethnology and the United States National Museum in their special 
fields of research. 
The work on the Manitou Rapids Reserve in Ontario was made 
possible by the courtesy of John P. Wright, Indian agent of the 
Canadian Government at Fort Frances, Ontario. 
The collection of the material herewith presented would have been 
impossible without the cooperation of members of the Chippewa 
tribe. Their assistance is gratefully acknowledged, especially that of 
the principal interpreter, Mrs. Mary Warren English, of White 
Earth, Minn., which began in 1907 and continued about 15 years. 
Frances Drensmore. 
1 Chippewa Music, Bull. 45, 1910, and Chippewa Music IJ, Buli. 53, Bur. Amer, Ethn., 
1913. 
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