250 THE MENOMINI INDIANS [eth.ann.11 



tionsof North America, is the red osier | Vonutx stolonifera Miehx. |, com- 

 monly designated by frontiersmen as kil'likinik', or kin'nikinik'. The 

 word is from the language of the Dakota, by which nation it is more 

 properly designated tsha"'shasha, '-red- wood." The name adopted by 

 the Menomini is the former one, the word perhaps having been obtained 

 by them directly from whites and Canadian Indians who frequented the 

 territory west of the Mississippi, where it was used very extensively, 

 especially in mixture with plug tobacco. The shoots of a year's growth, 

 and the older branches if still retaining the red epidermis, were pre- 

 ferred. This thin, semitransparent epidermis was scraped off by 

 passing the edge of a sharp knife-blade longitudinally over the stem; 

 then the back of the blade was employed in scraping from the ligneous 

 portion of the branch the cellular integument — the rather soft, brittle 

 green portion of the bark. This was dried generally for future use, for, 

 although smoked at nearly all times, it was deemed better for use in 

 winter, as the Indians believed it to be ''heating," meaning by the 

 phrase that it sometimes was more liable to cause slight dizziness or 

 fullness of the head — an effect attributable more to the adulteration of 

 the tobacco furnished them than to the astringency of the bark. 



The third variety of native tobacco consisted of the leaves of Arcto- 

 staphylos uva-ursi Spreng., commonly known in medicine as uva-ursi, 

 and as an excellent diuretic; but bj T the Dakota Indians, from whom 

 it was formerly obtained, it is designated as waqpe' tsha"shasha — liter- 

 ally' " leaf red- wood." This is a low-growing evergreen shrub, which 

 bears oblong leaves not over an inch in length. Its habitat is chiefly 

 along Yellowstone river in Montana, and southeastward in the bad- 

 lands along the boundary between Montana and South Dakota. Dur- 

 ing the writer's residence among the Dakota Indians in 1872-73, a small 

 cigarboxful of the leaves was regarded as worth an Indian pony, prac- 

 tically equal to $20, and, for obvious reasons, but few Indians could 

 indulge in this luxury. 



This substance was prepared for smoking during the summer mouths, 

 as it was then less liable to produce a sense of fullness in the head. The 

 Menomini sometimes obtain these leaves at apothecary shops, but as 

 the cost is greater than for an equal amount of tobacco, the latter is 

 more generally used. 



Red-osier bark is prepared for smoking by laying a small handful of 

 it on a piece of board, and whilst holding the curly shavings down with 

 the left hand, the ends projecting toward the right are cut off with a 

 large knife by passing the handle up and down without lifting the point 

 of the blade from the board. The motion of cutting is thus similar to 

 that in using a small fodder-cutter; each time the blade is raised from 

 the board the mass of bark is pushed under it as it descends, the bark 

 being therefore really minced. Two parts of the bark are carefully 

 mixed with one part of granular or similarly hashed plug tobacco, 

 when it is ready for the tobacco pouch. Enough for only one day's 

 use is prepared at a time. 



