Learn About Native America on CPTV

This fall, an epic new four-part series will premiere on CPTV: Native America. Made with the active participation of Native American communities and filmed in some of the most spectacular locations in the hemisphere, Native America illuminates the splendor of a past whose story has for too long remained untold.

Native America will be premiered on CPTV on Tuesday, October 23 at 9 p.m. Subsequent episodes will air Tuesday, October 30 at 9 p.m., and Tuesday, November 13 at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Get ready for the premiere of Native America with a new series of video shorts from CPTV showcasing the history of Native American tribes and culture in Connecticut. Featured points of interest include The Institute for American Indian Studies and Research Center in Washington Connecticut, and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center located in Mashantucket, Connecticut.  There will also be a segment about the life of Dr. Gladys Iola Tantaquidgeon, Mohegan Medicine Woman.

To check out the video short click here on the Institute for American Indian Studies and Research Center.  For a video about the Mashantucket Pequot Museum click here.

Medicinal Monday -White Oak - King of Trees

Donald Peattie, a famous 20th-century naturalist once said, “If oak is the king of trees, as tradition has it, then the white oak, throughout its range, is the king of kings.” Perhaps this is why it is the state tree of Connecticut.  In addition to acorns that provided a consistent source of sustenance for Native Americans, the oak tree was also used for ceremony, medicine, and building.   In many Native American traditions, the oak tree is considered a sacred tree and was used in a multitude of ways medicinally by many Native American tribes in North America.

White Oak Tree, West Hartford, CT

About the White Oak Tree

Native to Eastern and Central North America, the white oak tree is a large stately tree that can grow up to 100 feet tall and can be as wide as 50 inches in diameter.  The leaves grow to be around five inches and are silvery pink and covered with a soft down like substance in the spring.  They turn a glossy green in the summer and red or brown in the autumn depending on the climate and the genetics of the tree.  The bark of the white oak tree is whitish or light grey with a bark that ranges from scaly to ridged or furrowed. The deciduous white oak tree is usually found in dyer woodland areas and can live for centuries.

Medicinal Uses for the White Oak Tree

Today we know that tannins provide many of the healing properties of the white oak tree. Tannins strengthen tissues and blood vessels,  reduce skin inflammation and irritation.  The Cherokee, Meskwaki, Ojibwa used the bark of the white oak as an antidiarrheal medicine. One of the most common uses was for respiratory and throat ailments, an infusion of bark was taken for serious coughs and sore throats by the Cherokee, Delaware, Delaware, Oklahoma, Delaware Ontario, Meskwaki, and Mohegans.   

The Houma would crush the root of the white oak and mix it with whiskey and use it as a liniment on rheumatic limbs.  The Mohegans made an infusion of the bark and used it as a liniment on sore muscles; they also made an infusion of the inner bark that was used for muscle pain on horses and humans.  The Shinnecock also made an infusion of the bark and used it as a liniment to treat muscle pain.  The Iroquois made a decoction of the bark and served it as a drink to treat loneliness. They also brewed a decoction of white oak bark as "witchcraft medicine" to remedy, "when your woman goes off and won't come back." 

Dewy White Oak Tree, Granby, CT

Did you know...

Ancient Celtics considered the white oak tree a storehouse of wisdom because of its towering strength, massive growth, and wide expanse.  They took this as a sign that the white oak was to be honored for its endurance and noble presence. 

Some specimens have been documented to be over 450 years old.

The white oak does not produce large crops of acorns until it is around 50 years old.

Modern scientific research confirms that oak possesses the following healing properties: astringent, fever reducing, tonic, antiseptic, antiviral, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory actions. 

The white oak forever earned its place in history books when it was combined with other oak lumber to build the famous USS Constitution (also known as “Old Ironsides”). 

It was (and still is) the preferred wood for those beautiful wooden barrels found in wineries and whiskey distilleries across the United States because of the durability of the wood and its ability to seal in the flavor due to microscopic tissues called tyloses that plug the vascular cells of the wood.

13th Annual Native American Archaeology Round Table Conference October 27

Archaeology and the study of Native American Culture in Connecticut reveals a glimpse into our past that is sometimes overlooked. The Institute for Native American Studies is hosting the 13th annual Native American Archaeology Round Table Conference on October 27 from 8 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. at the Shepaug Valley High School in Washington Connecticut.  This conference is open to the general public and will be of special interest to students, museum curators and people interested in Native American Culture and archaeology.  Admission to this event is $10 at the door.  To register, click here or call 860-868-0518.

This conference will focus on decolonization as it relates to Native American culture in New England archaeology and museum studies.  The exchange of ideas will focus on removing the biases of the dominant culture from historical interpretations in order to foster a greater understanding of past history and how it is evolving today.

The overall highlight of this conference is the benefit of multiple perspectives for interpreting local history and heritage in regard to decolonizing New England Archaeology and Museum Studies and to foster ideas in best practices. This conference has been organized by Dr. Lucianne Lavin and Paul Wegner from the Institute of American Indian Studies in Washington, Connecticut and will include a series of speakers on a variety of topics from the following organizations: Institute for American Indian Studies, Wesleyan University, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Tomaquag Museum, Pequot Museum, Western Chapter, Massachusetts Archaeological Society, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, Connecticut Humanities, and Connecticut Explored.  Topics range from decolonizing museums, re-indigenizing history, and decolonizing in settler colonial context to the discussion on what we are teaching our children, trauma, decolonization, psyche, and policy and reconsidering acts of ethnographic search and rescue initiatives, to name just a few of the fascinating topics that will be discussed.

Organizers of this annual conference strive to involve participants in all aspects of historical study and programming in order to create more accurate interpretations that utilize archaeology, oral tradition, and written documentation to correctly incorporate indigenous, captive, and emigrant lifeways and thought into the larger history of the Americas.

Medicinal Monday - Acorns Naturally

This time of year anyone with an oak tree also has a yard full of acorns that they either pick up or hope that the squirrels forage them for the winter. Native Americans relied on acorns for food for thousands of years and also found medicinal uses for them as well. As a staple food source, acorns figured prominently in the diets and daily lives of countless generations. Gathering, processing, cooking, storing, and eating acorn were important and time-consuming activities, and the lives and traditions of Native Communities revolved around them, especially before the arrival of Europeans.  Although the acorn is no longer the focus of daily life for Native Americans, they still gather, prepare and eat foods made from acorns at special gatherings and celebrations.

Chuckachancy women pause in their work preparing acorns for grinding, California, ca. 1920 

About Acorns

Acorns were widely used as food by Native Americans on the East Coast and in California. The nutritional value of acorns is high, and depending on the species, acorns can contain up to 18 percent fat, 6 percent protein, and 68 percent carbohydrate, with the remainder being water, minerals, and fiber. Modern varieties of corn and wheat, in comparison, have about 2 percent fat, 10 percent protein, and 75 percent carbohydrate. Acorns are also good sources of vitamins A and C and many essential amino acids. 

Photograph with text of acorn cache of the Mono Indians, California. This is from a survey report of Fresno and Madera counties by L.D. Creel. Circa 1920.

Acorns vary in flavor from not bitter to almost too bitter to eat because of their high concentration of tannins. Oaks yielding the best tasting acorns include the white oak, live oak, and swamp chestnut oaks. Red oaks, turkey oaks and laurel oaks produce bitter acorns. Cream colored acorn meat is said to taste the best and acorns with yellow or orange meat said to taste bitter. 

There are a variety of processing techniques across Native cultures but in general Native Americans would gather the acorns and dry them, sometimes they were stored for future use or shelled and winnowed using a hammerstone/anvil combination and winnowing basket. The nuts were then pounded into a flour or a meal using a mortar and pestle.  The meal was sifted and the coarser meal was returned for more pounding.  The bitter tannins were leached from the flour by repeated flushing of hot or cold water. The flour could be stored or made into a soup or mush, bread was also made by placing the acorn flour on a hot stone to cook. 

Acorn Cache, Mr.s Henry Towatt, California, 1920

Medicinal Uses

By soaking acorns in water a brown tea like water was produced and used to treat inflamation on the skin; this water was also used for toothaches.  The Micmac used acorns as a dietary aid to induce thirst.  The Penobscot would eat acorns to induce thirst because they believed that drinking a lot of fresh water was beneficial.  The Isleta would eat acorns to give them greater sexual potency. Josselyn writes that New England Indians boiled acorns in lye from maple ashes to extract the oil which was used to anoint their limbs.

Did you know

One large healthy oak tree can produce over 1,000 acorns in just one year. 

Small mammals that feed on acorns include squirrels, mice, and other large rodents.

Acorns can constitute up to 25% of the diet of a deer in the autumn.

In Britain, one old tradition has it that if a woman carries an acorn on her person it will delay the aging process and keep her forever young. In the United States, botanists joke that even the greatest oak was once a little nut.

By analogy with the shape, in nautical language, the word acorn also refers to a piece of wood keeping the vane on the mast-head.

Our Hidden Landscape -Stone Cultural Features & Native American Ceremonial Sites

The Torrington Historical Society will host a FREE program on Wednesday, October 17th  in the Carriage House Gallery of the Torrington Historical Society, 192 Main Street.  The speaker will be Lucianne Lavin Ph.D., Director of Research and Collections at the Institute for American Indian Studies, Washington, CT.  Dr. Lavin’s PowerPoint program, titled, “Our Hidden Landscapes: Stone Cultural Features & Native American Ceremonial Sites” will begin at 6:30 p.m.  This presentation is sponsored by the Torrington Chapter of UNICO National.  Admission is free; donations are welcome.

This program will explore the topic of stone features, many of which can often be seen as we hike through the woods.  Although some of these are the remains of abandoned farmsteads and industrial mill sites, many others represent Native American ceremonial sites.  Dr. Lavin’s PowerPoint presentation will illustrate the various kinds of European-American and indigenous stone structures found on our Connecticut landscapes. Although State regulations support the preservation of sacred Native American sites, these sites are often not recognized for what they are and subsequently, have been destroyed by development and suburban sprawl.  Even on protected lands, destruction is possible through logging, landscaping, or building placement.  This program will help individuals and organizations learn more about these Native American stone features so that we can identify them and help aid in the preservation of these significant indigenous stone features.

Lucianne Lavin, Ph.D., is Director of Research and Collections at the Institute for American Indian Studies, a museum and research and educational center in Washington, CT.  Dr. Lavin is an anthropologist and archaeologist who has over 40 years of research and field experience in Northeastern archaeology and anthropology, including teaching, museum exhibits and curatorial work, cultural resource management, editorial work, and public relations.  She has owned and operated an archaeological firm for over 25 years.   In addition, Dr. Lavin is the author of over 150 professional publications and technical reports on the archaeology and ethnohistory of the Northeast.  Her award-winning book, Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples: What Archaeology, History and Oral Traditions Teach Us About Their Communities and Cultures, was published by Yale University Press (spring 2013).  She is a founding member of the state’s Native American Heritage Advisory Council and Editor of the journal of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut.  

The program will begin promptly at 6:30.  For more information about the Torrington Historical Society, please visit www.torringtonhistoricalsociety.org.    

Medicinal Monday - Butterfly Milkweed

There are many types of milkweed found in Connecticut and one of them is called Butterfly Weed.  It is one of the most attractive flowers of the milkweed species and is especially attractive to bees and butterflies.  Native Americans found many uses for this beautiful plant medicinally as well as ceremonially. 

About Butterfly Weed

This is the most famous member of the milkweed family because of its' nectar and pollen-rich flowers that attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees.  It grows in well-drained gritty soil to a height of 24 to 36 inches and is 12 to 24 inches wide. This plant is native to North America and produces clusters of orange or yellow flowers adorned by lance-shaped leaves.  This plant likes full sun and usually blooms from early summer to early fall.  

Butterfly weed grows wild in a variety of environments including open woods,  meadows, prairies,  dry fields and even along roadsides.  It spreads by way of seeds released from pods in early autumn.  Butterfly weed is the only member of the milkweed family that does not have the white milky sap that is commonly associated with other species of milkweed. 

Ceremonial & Medicinal Uses of Butterfly Weed

The Navajo Ramah used this plant as a ceremonial chant lotion and the Omaha used this in a ceremony connected with the obtaining and distribution of the root of this plant which was greatly prized.

The Cherokee would boil the seeds and use them as an antidiarrheal and the root was used as a gentle laxative. One of the most common uses of this plant by the Cherokee, Delaware, Oklahoma, was to make an infusion from the root that was given to women that just gave birth. The Delaware, Oklahoma, Ponca, and Mohegan used the dried root of this plant to treat pleurisy. The Iroquois would apply a poultice of smashed roots to legs for running strength and the Menominee used a poultice of this root for bruises, swelling, and lameness. The Rappahannock used a poultice of bruised leaves to treat snakebite.

Did you know...

Monarch caterpillars feed exclusively on the leaves of butterfly weed and is the only host plant for this iconic butterfly species. Without it, monarch butterflies cannot complete their life cycle and their population declines.

The Butterfly weed is from the Asclepias family, named after the famous Greek God of Medicine.

The plant has a long history in herbal medicine and was also known as the Pleurisy Root.

Butterfly Weed appears in the September 1932 Medicinal Plant Map of the United States of America published by the National Wholesale Druggists Association.