Arrowhead, Squaw's Toes, and Other Things 137 



which, if adopted by modern jewelers, might help to carry 

 their business over the dull periods of which they complain! 



Here are uses for other plants obtainable in or near west- 

 ern Washington marshes: heated roots of yellow pond lilies 

 applied to the seat of pain caused by rheumatism; Oregon 

 grape for food, its root for a dye, its bark as an infusion to 

 wash skin and mouth sores. The fruit of crab apples is well 

 liked; its wood makes prongs for seal spears; the bark is 

 boiled to make a brew to wash cuts and for internal use. 

 Boiled dogwood bark cures sore eyes. Coltsfoot roots can be 

 boiled to make a drink for tuberculosis patients or to use as 

 an emetic. Yarrow was known to the Romans and Greeks as 

 a curative herb and Dr. Gunther reports it of value to the 

 natives of western Washington who sought it for a variety 

 of uses: for a hair wash, for its aromatic qualities, for colds, 

 stomach trouble, and as a general tonic. 



Dr. Gunther believes that no portion of the United States 

 furnished its native residents with a more varied, abundant, 

 and well-balanced supply of food, without cultivation, than 

 western Washington. The fact that most of the vegetable 

 products were gathered by women gave them a better eco- 

 nomic standing than that enjoyed by women in an economy 

 where hunting was dominant. 



Such uses of marsh products have almost disappeared. 

 Modern society, accustomed to processing most of the prim- 

 ary products, appears to have discovered few outlets for all 

 this growth. Marsh hay, packing material of reeds, cattails, 

 and bracken, and a limited amount of dried material for 

 life preservers constitute the bulk of modern requirements. 

 It has become evident to me that if the marsh were to be 

 appraised only in terms of removable crops it would have 

 to be placed far down in the economic scale. 



I could not quite understand this apparent waste. I could 

 not reconcile it with the close utilization of resources which 

 seems so usual in other communities. Ordinarily, production 



