132 Union Bay 



is hot like pepper and was used for a "blood purifier" and 

 for stomach and bladder trouble. The leaves made a healing 

 poultice. The heated blossoms, when applied to a part af- 

 fected by rheumatism, were said to bring relief. Some of the 

 tribes rolled the leaves for berry containers or for drinking 

 cups. Dr. Gunther reports: 



A Quileute sealer puts some leaves under the bow piece of his canoe 

 because the leaves are dead and flat and will lie still, therefore the seal 

 will lie still too and be caught easily. 



She tells this about the plant: 



The Kathlamet Indians have an interesting myth concerning the 

 skunk cabbage. In the ancient days, they say, there were no salmon. 

 The Indians had nothing to eat save roots and leaves. Principal among 

 these was the skunk cabbage. Finally the spring salmon came for the 

 first time. As they passed up the river a person stood upon the shore 

 and shouted: "Here come our relatives whose bodies are full of eggs. 

 If it had not been for me all the people would have starved." 



"Who speaks to us?" asked the salmon. 



"Your uncle, skunk cabbage," was the reply. 



Then the salmon went ashore to see him, and as a reward for having 

 fed the people he was given an elk-skin blanket and a war club, and 

 was set in the rich, soft soil near the river. There he stands to this day 

 wrapped in his elk-skin blanket and holding aloft his war club. 



I always think of this story as I pass skunk cabbage with 

 its feet in the shallow water, its yellow spathe surrounded 

 by rich dark leaves, and the whole reflected, in the shining 

 darkness of the marsh water. Perhaps its unpleasant odor is 

 a decided benefit because without it the skunk cabbages 

 would make such fine house decorations that they might soon 

 disappear. 



There is one plant in the marsh which has personal sig- 

 nificance for me, for the sight of its flowers reminds me of the 

 few times in my life when my working minutes went like 

 hours— the days when I hoed potatoes. The blossoms of this 

 marsh plant resemble, except in color, those of the potatoes 



