FOREWORD 



The varied uses of plants by the Chippewa indicate the large extent 

 to which they understood and utilized the natural resources of their 

 environment. The present study is related, in two of its phases, to 

 the study of Chippewa music which preceded it. 1 Herbs were used 

 in the treatment of the sick and in the working of charms, and songs 

 were sung to make the treatment and the charms effective. Songs of 

 these classes having been recorded, the Indians were willing to bring 

 specimens of the herbs and to explain the manner of their use. A ma- 

 jority of the informants on this subject were women and they became 

 interested in describing the former methods of preparing vegetable 

 foods. Both men and women related the uses of plants in medicine, 

 economic life, and the useful and decorative arts. Plants and data 

 were obtained on the White Earth, Red Lake, Cass Lake, Leech Lake, 

 and Mille Lac Reservations in Minnesota, the Lac Court Oreilles 

 Reservation in Wisconsin, and the Manitou Rapids Reserve in 

 Ontario, Canada, the work continuing until 1925. 



The writer gratefully acknowledges the assistance of those who 

 have contributed to the result of the present undertaking. The 

 specimens of plants were identified and their common names supplied 

 by Mr. Paul C. Standley, of the United States National Museum. 

 The reports on the recognized medicinal properties of the plants used 

 by the Chippewa and on their active medical constituents were pre- 

 pared by Dr. W. W. Stockberger. physiologist in charge of drug, 

 poisonous, and oil plant investigations. Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, and valuable assistance in 

 the classification of diseases and injuries treated by the Chippewa was 

 given by Dr. D. S. Lamb, who at the time was pathologist at the 

 Army Medical Museum. Washington. D. C. Assistance has also 

 been received from members of the staff of the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology and the United States National Museum in their special 

 fields of research. 



The work on the Manitou Rapids Reserve in Ontario was made 

 possible by the courtesy of John P. Wright, Indian agent of the 

 Canadian Government at Fort Frances. Ontario. 



The collection of the material herewith presented would have been 

 impossible without the cooperation of members of the Chippewa 

 tribe. Their assistance is gratefully acknowledged, especially that of 

 the principal interpreter, Mrs. Mary Warren English, of White 

 Earth, Minn., which began in 1907 and continued about 15 years. 



Frances Densmore. 



1 Chippewa Music, Bull. 45, 1910, and Chippewa Music II. Bull. 53, Bur. Amer. Ethn., 

 1013. 



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