Arrowhead, Squaw's Toes, and Other Things 131 



This downe in some places in the Isle of Ely and the Low-countries 

 adjoyning thereto, is gathered and well sold to make mattresses therof 

 for plow-men and poore people. 



It hath been also often proved to heal kibed or humbled heeles, ( as 

 they are termed) being applied to them either before or after the skin 

 is broken. 



Dr. Erna Gunther, Director of the Washington State Mu- 

 seum, has furnished much information regarding the employ- 

 ment of cattails by the Indians of western Washington, and it is 

 from her Ethnobotany of Western Washington that the fol- 

 lowing has been taken. Some of the Indians baked the roots 

 and inner stalks for eating; the roots were eaten raw by 

 others. But the cattail was much more widely used for mat- 

 making than for food. Mats were made probably by most of 

 the tribes in western Washington and served as hangings and 

 screens inside the winter houses and as coverings for tempo- 

 rary houses and shelters in summer. They found additional 

 use as mattresses, for kneeling pads in canoes, and for rain- 

 coats and capes. Some Indians made large wallet-like pack- 

 sacks of cattails and lightweight baskets as well. Two-ply 

 string, fashioned by rolling on the bare thigh, was made 

 from carefully peeled cattail leaves. 



From other sources I learned that some eastern Indians 

 made a cake of the pollen, that cradles were lined with cat- 

 tail down, and that the mature heads were used in the prepa- 

 ration of deerskins. Dozens of additional applications doubt- 

 less could have been found. 



At first I did not check the value of the skunk cabbage, 

 one of the earliest blooming plants in the marsh, because 

 it seemed so worthless. Its leaves are large and coarse, its 

 general appearance unattractive, and its odor decidedly un- 

 pleasant. Much to my surprise, I found myself quite in error. 

 The Indians of the Pacific Northwest held it in rather high 

 regard. As an emergency food the roots are said to have 

 frequently saved Indian tribes from starving. The raw root 



