326 



USES OF PLANTS BY THE CHIPPEWA INDIANS [eth. ann. 44 



The part of the plant most commonly used was the root. In a ma- 

 jority of instances the whole root was used, but in some plants the 

 healing power was supposed to be strongest in a certain portion of the 

 root. Thus in dogbane the part preferred was the elbow of the root, 

 the plant having a root which descends straight downward for 15 

 to 18 inches and then turns sharply to one side. In other instances 

 the part used was the fine white roots depending from the larger root. 



If stalks, leaves, or flowers were to be used as remedies they were 

 dried by hanging them with the top downward and kept as clean as 

 possible. After being dried, each variety was tied or wrapped sepa- 

 rately for storage. Bark was gathered when the sap was in the tree 

 but roots intended for future medicinal use were gathered before the 

 sap started in the spring or after it had gone down in the fall. An 

 informant at Cass Lake said that roots were not washed, the dirt be- 

 ing carefully shaken from them, but informants at White Earth said 

 the roots were washed. After drying, they were tied in packets and 

 stored in bags unless it was desired to have some special root ready 

 for immediate use. Such a root was pulverized and stored in that 

 form. Certain roots, when used, were broken in short pieces and 

 boiled or steeped, but a majority were prepared for use either by 

 pounding until they were in shreds or by pulverizing them in the 

 hands, the latter being always done if the roots were small. The most 

 common method of pulverizing roots was to place them in the palm 

 of the left hand and then to rub them either with the thick portion 

 of the right hand below the thumb or with the fingers of the right 

 hand. Some Chippewa used a small round stone for this purpose, 

 the stone having a shallow depression in which the medicine was 

 mixed by rubbing with the thumb. If several sorts of roots were to 

 be used in combination they were usually "pounded together" be- 

 fore they were stored, in order that they might be fully blended. 

 Mrs. English said that she was once in a lodge where the medicine 

 men were pounding their medicines on a stone and putting them in 

 little bags. A stuffed owl was placed beside them. After leaving 

 the lodge she asked about the owl and the reply was, " They always 

 have to have someone watch to see that they do it right." 9 



The detailed instructions given concerning medicines is shown by 

 the following example. An informant at Red Lake said that her 

 great-grandmother taught her the use of herbs. This informant de- 

 scribed one remedy for a certain injury and said that if it were not 

 effective she would use another plant which was about a foot high 

 and had no flowers. (A specimen was obtained but it was not perfect 



9 At a remote point north of Vermilion Lake. Minnesota, tbe writer visited the house 

 of a medicine man and saw two owls (or owlskins) swinging from the branches of trees, 

 suspended by a cord around their necks and drying. Several small animals were drying 

 in other trees. 



