Indian's Use Of Native Plants example essay topic

Montana Plants & Native Americans Since the beginning of the human race mankind has depended on the natural resources in their environment for survival. They utilized the available flora to nourish their body, heal their wounds, comfort their ailments and to create products to ease their daily lives. Many of the same plants utilized thousands of years ago by the indigenous people have been integrated into modern day medicines. The scientific interest and knowledge of plants for nourishment, healing, and practical uses is called ethno botany. The multiple use of plants used for nourishment, medicinal purposes and practical use were ignored by Lewis and Clark during their monumental trek across the United States. Rather than consider the Native Indian's use of native plants they persisted on using Dr. Rush's Thunderbolt pills that probably caused more problems than the condition that inflicted them.

Many modern day cultures continue to ignore native remedies and have come to depend on synthetic pharmaceutical drug production. In recent years the wealth of indigenous knowledge has been acknowledged revealing the use of native plants and the importance it had in the survival of indigenous people... Pharmaceutical companies have utilized the immense knowledge of the indigenous people and their use of natural plants. The application of natural plant species have revealed the main reasons mankind has survived into present day. Following is a few of the plants, their application and their specific purposes. Kinnikinnick Arctroaphylos uv a-urs i (L.) Spreng.

Common Name: Bearberry This plant has a variety of names through out Montana. This plant grows in poor soil composing mostly of sand or gravel and is commonly found near Ponderosa Pine trees. Kinnikinnick and Bearberry are the most commonly used names in western society. The word kinnikinnick meaning that which is mixed, is derived from the Algonkian Indian's language. Other versions came from western hunters who called it l arb, Canadian traders called it or saga ck-home, and the Europeans called it bearberry. The American Indians mixed Kinninninnick leaves with tobacco to lessen the strength and add flavor to their strong tasting tobacco.

Flathead Indian, John Pelkoe, explained. ".. hung them up in a sweat house. When the heat dries the leaves you just take it out in the open and then just squeeze them. You can them mix it with any kind of tobacco. It gives it good flavor and makes it mild". The berries of the Kinninnick plant stay on the bush throughout winter and were eaten raw or fried. Kootenia Indians would fry them in a grease until they popped like popcorn.

The Flathead Indians dried the leaves and pound it into powder and used it in foods. The leaves of the kinnikinnick has medicinal properties. Harvesting time is best on a fall morning. The leaves hydroquinone's and are a strong antibacterial for urinary tract infections. Tea made from kinnikinnick was used for kidney, bladder, and chronic cystitis or urethritis. The tea leaves were used as a salve for rashes, skin sores, and a mouthwash for cankers sores.

It also was used as an eyewash, and in poultice form an application to treat burns, back pain and rheumatism. The Kinnikinnick plant is an evergreen shrub that has trailing multi branched woody stems. The bark is scaly and are reddish. The leaves are round at the tip which taper at the base and are one-half inches long. The flowers are a waxy pink and grow in clusters near the previous years branches. The late summer fruit ripen into red berries that are smooth, shiny, and pea sized.

All information on the Kinnikinnick plant were derived from: Hart, J. Montana Native Plants and Early Peoples. Helena, Montana. Montana Historical Society Press, 1992. Helena, Montana. Lari x occidentalis Common name: Western Larch Larch trees are located in the forest, moist valleys and in mid-mountain valleys of Montana. The Montana Flathead and Kootenai Indians carved out the middle area of the Larch tree to acquire a sweet syrup one to two times a year.

In the spring the Flathead Indians would peal off the edible young bark and chewed the pitch as a form of gum. The Kootneais applied the pitch gum onto cuts and bruises and they drank a tea made form the bark to alleviate tuberculosis. The Nez Perces used the bark to make tea to comfort the symptoms from colds, coughs and chewed the sap to relieve a sore throat. The Kootenai's used rotted larch wood to smoke their buckskins and used the larch as their center pole during their Sun Dance. The Nez Perces used larch wood for making bowls and as fire wood Western Larch is a large tree that grows up to two hundred feet tall. Larch needles are one to two inches long, are pale green and are grouped in clusters of fifteen to thirty.

This larch tree turns a golden color in the fall and the needles fall off. Their cones are only one to a half inches long, and the bark is a flaky cinnamon color. Hart, J. Montana Native Plants and Early Peoples. Helena. Montana Historical Society Press. 1992.

Opuntia Haw. Common name: Plains Prickly-pear Cactus The plains prickly-pair cactus is found in dry semi-arid areas in the plains into the foothills and lower portions of the mountains in western and central parts of Montana. The Native Indians ate this cactus either raw or dried. The Cheyenne Indians removed the spines by sweeping the cactus with sagebrush then the seeds were removed from the cactus and the fruit pulp was placed in the sun to dry. The dried pulp was used to thicken stews and soup dishes The prickly-pear cactus flavor was noted by Botanist C.A. Geyer as. ".. quite a reasonable refreshment, in taste resembling raw cucumbers (Montana Native Plants. p 63)". Medicinal uses of the prickly-pear cactus stems induce urination and cause contraction of muscle tissues.

The poultice of the prickly-pear cactus was used for skin lesions, infections, wounds and for back aches. The practical use of the prickly-pear cactus was used as a glue, a pink dye for art work and the scrapped peels were used to cure dyes. Medico sativa L. Common name: Alfalfa The leaves and shoots of the Alfalfa plant are edible either raw or cooked. Alfalfa is rich in vitamin A, B, C, K, and has a high protein content. The seed is sprouted and eaten with salads, sandwiches, or soups. The seeds can be ground into a powder and used as a cereal or a flour additive for breads.

Historically the fresh or dried leaves were used in tonic form to increase the appetite. The o estrogenic action promotes bowel movement, urination or vomiting. The high amount of vitamin K is used as a pain reliever during menstruation, anemia or hemorrhaging. The alfalfa root is know to be a fever reducer.

Ingesting too much alfalfa may induce systemic lupus erythematous, adverse liver function, and photo sensitization. Alfalfa grows to 30-100 cm tall and is ascending to erect perennial. It has a long taproot and usually grows in colonies. The stem has two or more branching that are hairless or are very fine, flat, stiff with short hairs. The flowers are white, yellow, or bluish purple, and occasionally pink. The long stalks are 7-11 mm long, and shorter stalks are 20-100 mm long.

The flower length from the axils are one to three centimeters long. The optimum flowering time is from May through August. The fruit are pod shaped with seedlings coiled into two to three spirals with a strong net vein three to four millimeters long (montana plant-life. org). Where noted information was derived from, web Retrieved 3-19-2004. All other information was derived from: Hart, J. Montana Native Plants and Early Peoples. Helena.

1992.