Conscious Choice: Traditional Pharmacy

June 1999

Traditional Pharmacy

by Meg McGowan

In a matter of a few years, herbal medicine has emerged from the seldom-seen shelves of small health food stores to be featured on the front page of national magazines. The healing properties of whole foods are beginning to gain attention as well. I imagine the spirits of the Native American people who once lived on this land chuckling and shaking their heads around a great council fire. How long it has taken us to accept the wisdom they once offered freely! How far we have yet to go.

The Native American tradition has always honored the diversity of life. They have historically known many plants with similar applications, allowing them to use what was available, to not overuse any one plant, to reap the unique benefits of many plants, and to avoid building up a tolerance to any one remedy. We are not there yet. We can appreciate the need to diversify our investments in the financial market, but we have yet to fully grasp the immensely greater importance of maintaining diversity in life.

Indigenous North American plants have provided the mainstay of traditional Native American Medicine throughout history and into the present. Many of these plants can be incorporated into the home landscape. Consider surrounding your home with life and expanding your idea of an herb garden to include all of the plants that you grow.

Trees and Shrubs

Common witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is considered a small tree or a large shrub. It is native from Canada to Georgia and west to Nebraska and Arkansas. Though not a traditional landscape plant, it can be a beautiful addition to a naturalized planting or shrub border. Common witch hazel has striking yellow fall color and produces fragrant blooms late in the year, anywhere from late October to early December.

While witch hazel is commercially available as a skin care product, a tea made from the leaves or twigs of the shrub can be easily prepared. Native Americans have used such teas to clean facial skin, treat skin inflammations and rashes, repair damaged blood vessels under the skin’s surface and add luster to hair. Poultices made from witch hazel bark have been used to treat tumors. Having both antiseptic and astringent properties, the twigs of H. virginiana are cited by E. Barrie Kavasch and Karen Barr in American Indian Healing Herbs (Bantam, 1999) as making excellent chew sticks or dentifrices to promote oral health and soothe gum irritations.

Like common witch hazel, the common juniper (Juniperus communis), may grow as a medium-sized tree or as a shrub. In the United States, J. communis is native to the eastern states. It can tolerate an extremely wide range of soil and climatic conditions, generally taking adversity in stride. In a landscape setting, common juniper provides a useful groundcover in full sun.

Mary Dean Atwood names juniper as one of the chief smudging herbs in her book Spirit Herbs: Native American Healing (Sterling, 1998). Smudging is the process of burning herbs to produce a fragrant smoke, much like using incense. The smoke from smudging herbs can be used to clear negative energy from and bring positive energy into a structure or dwelling.

Dried herbs for smudging are often available in bundles, which can be used numerous times. Sage, another common smudging herb, may refer to either a species of Artemisia or a species of Salvia. Salvia officinalis, the familiar sage used in cooking, is not used for burning as the resulting smoke causes headaches. (Be extremely cautious if a remedy requires the internal use of sage. Not all species of Salvia are suitable for consumption, and some species of Artemisia can be toxic.)

A low-growing, slow-spreading evergreen groundcover with glossy leaves, bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva ursi) forms a dense mat of foliage which turns wine-colored in the fall and winter months. Dainty pink and white flowers bloom from April to May. Bearberry will grow in full sun or partial shade and is native to the northern regions of North America.

Another name for bearberry is kinnikinnik. "Kinnikinnik is an old Algonquian Indian word for special botanical mixtures used for ceremonial offerings and in ritual," explain Kavasch and Barr. Bearberry may be smudged alone or "may also be part of a larger mixture that includes tobacco or thirty or more other botanicals. Kinnikinnik is not always burned. Sometimes it is carried as an offering substance or worn for its healthy aroma and to ward off harmful influences. It also may be packed in baskets and bags with ceremonial items to keep them nurtured and healthy."

Bearberry leaves are harvested in autumn. Native Americans smoked the leaves alone or in combination with tobacco. Bearberry has both antibacterial and astringent qualities; historically it has been used for treating a wide range of afflictions from canker sores to skin rashes. Neither bearberry nor juniper should be taken during pregnancy, and though both are used to treat cystitis, neither is appropriate in cases of kidney stones or disease.

Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) is indigenous to a broad section of the eastern United States, including Illinois. A fast-growing tree with fine, long needles, a white pine can grow 50 to 80 feet in height, providing an airy texture and a gracious presence in the landscape.

High in vitamin C, white pine needles provide a year-round source of nutrients and herbal preventative medicine. In American Indian Healing Herbs, "Dr. Ella Wilcox Sekatau, a Narragansett medicine woman, remembers that her father, a noted chief and medicine man, instructed her to chew some needles while walking to school every day. Children in her tribe knew that when chewed like gum, the needles would refresh their mouths and strengthen their teeth." Using the needles as a dentifrice is also thought to ward off colds and throat infections. A tea made from the needles can be sipped as a beverage or used as a wash for hair or skin.

Woodland Perennials

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is native to the northeastern United States, growing in shady woodland situations. An early spring bloomer, the buds and leaves of bloodroot emerge and unfurl almost simultaneously. After blooming, the plant appears as an unassuming foliage plant with larger leaves and a height of about twelve inches.

The roots of Sanguinaria canadensis, harvested in summer or fall, were traditionally used by Native Americans to treat fevers and rheumatism and to induce vomiting. The Plains Indians used it to treat tumors and growths on the skin. Bloodroot should be taken with extreme caution and only in very small doses or vomiting will occur; it is toxic in large doses. It should not be taken during pregnancy or breastfeeding, and professional supervision is mandatory.

Blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides), another woodland plant, is also known as squaw root and papoose root. As blue cohosh emerges, it has three purplish-blue stems which branch into leaves, cradling a single similarly-hued flower. Growing to three feet, it also produces intensely blue berries. Blue cohosh grows wild throughout eastern North America, preferring moist soil and partial shade.

The common name of papoose root denotes blue cohosh’s use as an early form of contraception. Squaw root refers to its benefits for women as a uterine stimulant, regulating menstruation and speeding the labor process. The roots and rhizomes of Caulophyllum thalictroides are harvested in fall. Professional supervision is recommended.

Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) is actually from a different family of plants than blue cohosh. Blue cohosh is part of the Berberidaceae family, while black cohosh belongs to the Ranunculaceae family. The two herbs also share the common name of squaw root because of their specific applications for women. Cimicifuga racemosa can be found from Maine and Ontario to Wisconsin and southward to Georgia and Missouri. It grows in shady areas, reaching heights from three to eight feet with striking white flower spikes appearing in late summer.

Atwood in Spirit Herbs calls black cohosh "an‘all-around’ wonder herb." Traditionally its antispasmodic properties have been employed to aid with labor and ease menstrual difficulties. It is considered a nervine, relaxing the nervous system and providing an additional benefit during painful menstruation and labor. Native Americans have also used C. racemosa to treat snake bites, earning it its third common name, snakeroot.

A long taproot allows wild indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) to survive the challenges of its native habitat: dry wooded areas in eastern North America. A mature plant will reach three to five feet, with graceful, smooth foliage and loose clusters of yellow (B. tinctoria) or blue (B. australis) flowers in summer. Wild indigo should be planted for permanence as its taproot makes it difficult, if not impossible, to move.

Poultices made from the root of wild indigo have also been used to treat snake bites. Various tribes have used wild indigo to prepare a decoction for treating wounds and cuts. Baptisia tinctoria is an excellent herb for treating respiratory tract blockages. It is also considered to be an autoimmune stimulant, especially effective when used in conjunction with echinacea. Wild indigo, blue cohosh, bloodroot, and juniper all possess antibiotic and antiseptic properties. Professional supervision is recommended when using wild indigo.

Prairie Plants

Bee balm (Monarda didyma) belongs to the mint family of Labiatae. Ranging from two to four feet in height, bee balm is a showy plant with large pompom-type flowers. Monarda didyma and its relations, M. fistulosa (wild bergamot) and M. punctata (horsemint), are native to the eastern and central United States. All have aromatic foliage and will grow in sun or partial shade.

Like other mints, M. didyma, M. fistulosa and M. punctata aid in digestion. Native Americans have traditionally used the Monardas to alleviate nausea and vomiting. Horsemint and bee balm are effective for treating upper respiratory conditions as well, providing antiseptic benefits. Because horsemint encourages sweating during colds, Native Americans have used the herb both internally and externally to reduce fever. A weak tea made from Monarda may also be helpful for treating headaches which often accompany colds and flu.

Bee balm has a gentle regulating effect on menstruation. Horsemint acts more strongly. For this reason, do not use Monarda during pregnancy.

A striking architectural plant, boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) is indigenous to the meadows and marshlands of eastern North America. It grows to five feet, bearing white flowers from late summer through fall. Aerial parts, gathered in summer, have been used by Native Americans to make infusions for treating numerous conditions including colds, fevers, and painful joints. One action of boneset is to encourage sweating.

Burning boneset in pots or bundling it with white pine to hang by the doorway, were ways of keeping ghosts away, according to Cayuga herbalist Robert Smoke of Six Nations Reserve. In another custom of the Cayuga tribe, the roots of two individual boneset plants, each named for one of an intended couple, might be held together to see if they would intertwine. If they did, the roots would be preserved, securely tied in folds of a red cloth, the color most often used for prayer bundles.

Indian tobacco, or lobelia (Lobelia inflata), is an annual plant with pale blue flowers. It is found throughout North America, growing only about twenty inches tall. With a preference for acid soil, Lobelia is especially abundant in the eastern United States, where it can often be seen along the roadside.

In small quantities lobelia acts as a stimulant and in larger doses as a relaxant Applied externally, lobelia relaxes muscles and reduces tension. Internally, it can also relax the muscles of the smaller bronchial tubes providing relief from asthma and aiding in the clearing of other respiratory congestion. Lobelia can also induce sweating and vomiting. Used in combination with other herbs, it enhances their effectiveness. As Atwood points out in Spirit Herbs, caution is in order, especially when consuming the plant fresh. Small quantities are best. While excessive amounts would likely be purged by vomiting, too much lobelia could "render a person immobile or unconscious."

These plants represent only a small sampling of our native healing plants, persecuted as weeds while they could be celebrated as food, tonics, or medicines. Native American children once grew up learning about the properties of plants as part of the world around them. If we would learn to incorporate the benefits of indigenous plants into our lives, we must begin as they did — and learn to hold all living things as sacred.

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