Medicinal Monday - Sage

Sage is a small aromatic evergreen shrub with silvery green leaves that are held sacred by many Native Americans because of its excellent purifying attributes. The botanical name for this plant comes from the Latin word "salvere" meaning to be saved. It is a member of the mint family and closely related to rosemary.

There are many health benefits of sage and in Native American culture, this herb was thought to provide balance healing the mind by clearing it of any negative thoughts such as anger, fear, and the body by cleansing it.  Interestingly, scientific research has shown that the smoke of sage actually clears bacteria out of the air.

Sage is known for its natural antiseptic, preservative and bacteria-killing abilities in meat; making it useful before refrigeration was invented.  Medicinally, this useful herb has been helpful in easing abdominal cramps, menopausal symptoms, bloating, colds, flu, sore throats cuts, and bruises. Sage tea, sometimes called "thinkers" tea helps ease depression.

People have cooked with sage for thousands of years. Fresh sage is the most flavorful and fragrant and is a main ingredient in many recipes. When sage is hung and dried it retains some of the pungent flavorful qualities for about a year. Sage pairs well with cheese, eggs, mushrooms, pasta, butternut squash and of course turkey!

Did you Know...

People have used sage to flavor food for at least 2000 years. It was popular with the Ancient Romans and Greeks and used to treat sore throats, hot flashes, and ulcers. Arabian healers of the 10th century believed that eating it would grant immortality, and Europeans four centuries later used it to ward off witchcraft. Three cases of tea leaves reportedly were traded for one case of sage leaves by 17th century Chinese because they appreciated the medicinal qualities of sage tea. 

Finnish herbalist, Henriette Kress, and author of Henriette’s Herbal lists at least seven different varieties of sage, while other sources say there are over 700 species spread throughout the world. Some varieties are used for culinary purposes, while others have more medicinal properties and uses.

About The Institute for American Indian Studies

The Institute for American Indian Studies preserves and educates through discovery and creativity the diverse traditions, vitality, and knowledge of Native American cultures. Through archaeology, the IAIS is able to build new understandings of the world and history of Native Americans, the focus is on stewardship and preservation.  This is achieved through workshops, special events, and education for students of all ages.
 

Located on 15 woodland acres the IAIS has an outdoor Three Sisters and Healing Plants Gardens as well as a replicated 16th c. Algonkian Village.  Inside the museum, authentic artifacts are displayed in permanent, semi-permanent and temporary exhibits from prehistory to the present that allows visitors a walk through time. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut and can be reached online or by calling 860-868-0518.

Abenaki - Wearing Our Heritage Feb. 24

On February 24 at 2 p.m. the Institute for American Indian Studies is welcoming Vera Longtoe Sheehan, Abenaki, one of the creative minds behind the exhibit, "Alnobak Wearing Our Heritage". Vera Longtoe Sheehan, notes "this exhibit is  unique because it is the first traveling exhibit about Abenaki people that are still here living on the land and creating wonderful things."  During this fascinating talk, Sheehan will explain how items in the current exhibition are made and used to express Native Identity.

This beautifully curated exhibit is composed of artifact clothing as well as contemporary pieces made by Vermont's Abenaki artists, community members, and tribal leaders.  The show offers a chronological look at Abenaki fashion and adornment.  There is everything from a beautiful 17th-century style buckskin dress by Melody Walker Brook to a hip looking denim jean jacket with a Tolba or turtle design created by Vera Longtoe Sheehan. "The message of this exhibit is that we are still here and that we know our history and still respect and practice our culture," said Longtoe Sheehan.  "Many of us practice both traditional designs and clothes such as the twined woven dress and handbag I made as well as contemporary designs using a jean jacket, in different ways, both connects my family tradition to thousands of years of our history." 

In addition to the many contemporary handmade items celebrating Abenaki culture, there is a "Wall of Honor" that includes a wealth of archival photos including a portrait of19th-century matriarch Nellie Longtoe Sheehan wearing an animal claw beside her crucifix pendant. "We can't separate our spirituality from our history from our art," said Longtoe Sheehan. "The very being of our art is a celebration of our culture." 

Dress by Longtoe Sheehan features a design motif called "where the mountains meet the sky" made if plant fibers and accented in richly dyed hues of blue and yellow.

This traveling exhibition was developed through a partnership of the Vermont Abenaki Arts Association and the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.  It was created to answer the questions of what it means to be an Abenaki person in the modern world and what it means to be an indigenous artist.  In the quest to interpret Native art and culture from an Indigenous perspective, Vera Longtoe Sheehan has made the transition from community member and tradition-bearer to contemporary artist and curator, and founder of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association. “Indigenous artists no longer need to choose between traditional and contemporary art forms,” she says. “Many of us practice both, and our contemporary art is informed by tradition.” 

Neon Dancing Outfit Takara Matthews

About Vera Longtoe Sheehan

As an Abenaki culture bearer, artist, educator and activist Vera   Longtoe Sheehan serves her community as the Director of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association (VAAA), a multi-arts services organization, supporting Native American artists in the decorative arts, fine arts, performing arts, music, and literary genres. Her BA in Museum Studies and Native American Studies combined with her current studies working toward an MA in Heritage Preservation from SUNY Empire allow her to act as a bridge between the Abenaki community and the mainstream art world in creating engaging exhibitions and educational programs and events that promote the vibrant culture of her people. Additionally, Vera leads the VAAA education team in the development of study guides and has developed the teacher a teacher training program entitled “Presenting Abenaki Culture in the Classroom.”

Vera has done extensive research of primary resources relating to textiles made in and traded through the Northeast United States and Southeast of Canada. She is a Master Artist in the areas of Twined Plant Fiber Textiles and Wabanaki Clothing. To date she has curated, four museum exhibitions involving Native American clothing from the Northeast, Alnobak: Wearing Our Heritage and Warmth and Protection were dedicated to the continuity of Indigenous clothing.

Having lectured and exhibited her work both nationally and internationally, Vera preserves the traditions of her ancestors by making twined, plant-fiber creations. Her father taught her the proper way to harvest and process plants to make cordage, as well as the twists, ties, and knots she uses to make her distinctive twined bags, baskets, and textiles. Her twined bags, baskets and textiles reside in museums and private collections and can be seen in films and literature. Vera is committed to bringing this endangered tradition back into practice.

For over twenty-five years, Vera has combined her Indigenous heritage, her knowledge of regional history, and a passion for artistic creation, in offering programs for schools, and museums.

About The Institute for American Indian Studies

The Institute for American Indian Studies preserves and educates through discovery and creativity the diverse traditions, vitality, and knowledge of Native American cultures. Through archaeology, the IAIS is able to build new understandings of the world and history of Native Americans, the focus is on stewardship and preservation.  This is achieved through workshops, special events, and education for students of all ages.


 Located on 15 woodland acres the IAIS has an outdoor Three Sisters and Healing Plants Gardens as well as a replicated 16th c. Algonkian Village.  Inside the museum, authentic artifacts are displayed in permanent, semi-permanent and temporary exhibits from prehistory to the present that allows visitors a walk through time. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut and can be reached online or by calling 860-868-0518.

The Legacy of Wisdom Wednesday- Native American Sayings

The Great Spirit is in all things, he is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us, that which we put into the ground she returns to us… – Big Thunder (Bedagi) Wabanaki Algonquin

Native American wisdom is something that resonates with many people. In years gone by, Native Americans passed down their history and sayings orally from generation to generation as a guidebook for a way of life that honored and respected all living things.

As Native American culture in Connecticut grew and evolved so did the art of storytelling and wise sayings.  These were used as tools to pass down traditions, local customs, hunting and gardening skills, family and child-rearing traditions and courting rituals.  In essence, these stories and sayings helped connect them to each other and to the land where they made their home.

An Important Legacy

Through their stories and sayings, Native Americans shared and preserved the memory and traditions of their ancestors.  These became an integral part of the legacy passed on to future generations. 

Today, remembering and sharing this wisdom is one way to keep the cultural traditions of Native Americans alive.  It gives us a glimpse into this rich cultural heritage and into the past of our great nation.

Every Wednesday, the Institute for Native American Studies in Washington will share a saying on our FaceBook page with a  "Wisdom Wednesday" posting to inspire you with the wisdom of those that have gone before us.

About The Institute for American Indian Studies

The Institute for American Indian Studies preserves and educates through discovery and creativity the diverse traditions, vitality, and knowledge of Native American cultures. Through archaeology, the IAIS is able to build new understandings of the world and history of Native Americans, the focus is on stewardship and preservation.  This is achieved through workshops, special events, and education for students of all ages.

 Located on 15 woodland acres the IAIS has an outdoor Three Sisters and Healing Plants Gardens as well as a replicated 16th c. Algonkian Village.  Inside the museum, authentic artifacts are displayed in permanent, semi-permanent and temporary exhibits from prehistory to the present that allows visitors a walk through time. 

The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut and can be reached online or by calling 860-868-0518.

The Power of Native American Traditional Healing

The interconnection of all creation is the foundation of the culture of Native Americans, and this is reflected in the way that they tried to heal the sick.  They practiced the healing arts in a way that not only included the plants that surrounded them but also by trying the heal the entire person, mind, body, and spirit. There is a long tradition of Native American healers using indigenous plants for a wide variety of medicinal purposes with applications as diverse as there are tribes that use them.

Early Encounters: Dutch-Indigenous Relations in 17th Century Northeastern North America
A little-known fact is that Connecticut was once part of Dutch New Netherland, which originally extended from Cape Cod to the Delaware River.

In Connecticut long before the first contact with European settlers, Native Americans were using herbal remedies to heal members of their tribe. Their vast knowledge of herbs and plants came from observing wildlife in the woodlands that surrounded them. They watched what deer, elk, and bears ate when they were sick and experimented with those herbs and plants to see if they would cure them as well.

Witch Hazel

Plants were carefully studied by Native Americans over thousands of years, and through information passed down from generation to generation, they had a huge knowledge base of how to use plants and herbs,  that amazed the early Europeans. Tobacco, for example, was used in healing numerous conditions and was also used in rituals and ceremonies. Sage was used for stomach problems, witch hazel was used to treat sore muscles, cuts, and insect bites, dandelions were made into a tea that was drunk as a general health tonic and juniper berries and pine needles cured scurvy.

Juniper Berries 

There are hundreds of herbs and plants that were used by Native Americans to heal both mind and body that were adopted by the first settlers to Connecticut.  Today, many modern medicines are based on plants and herbs that were used for thousands of years by Native Americans.  As a matter of fact, more than 200 botanicals derived originally from Native Americans have been or are still in use by pharmaceuticals.

Fiddlehead Fern

Medicinal Monday On FaceBook

To celebrate and honor the knowledge of plants and herbs used by Native Americans we have decided to launch "Medicinal Monday" on the  Institute for American Indian Studies' Facebook Page.  Make sure to follow our page (like and share it too!)  to find out how plants and herbs have been used for thousands of years.

About The Institute for American Indian Studies

The Institute for American Indian Studies preserves and educates through discovery and creativity the diverse traditions, vitality, and knowledge of Native American cultures. Through archaeology, the IAIS is able to build new understandings of the world and history of Native Americans, the focus is on stewardship and preservation.  This is achieved through workshops, special events, and education for students of all ages.

 Located on 15 woodland acres the IAIS has an outdoor Three Sisters and Healing Plants Gardens as well as a replicated 16th c. Algonkian Village.  Inside the museum, authentic artifacts are displayed in permanent, semi-permanent and temporary exhibits from prehistory to the present that allows visitors a walk through time. 

The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut and can be reached online or by calling 860-868-0518.