Medicinal Monday - Yellowspine Thistle

This spiny biennial herb has a single flower head that resembles a brightly colored snowflake.  The beautiful blossoms of this plant are a stark contrast to the rest of it which is covered in stout sharp spines. Yellowspine thistle is especially important medicinally to the Zuni living in western New Mexico and to the Kiowa, the indigenous people of the Great Plains that migrated southward to the Southern Plains.  

About Yellowspine Thistle

The scientific name of yellowspine thistle is Cirsium ochrocentrum.  It is native to the central United States and has spread to California and Mexico. Yellowspine prefers a dry sandy soil and grows in prairies, pastures, grasslands, and woodland clearings.  Today it can often be found on roadsides. It is a biennial (or short-lived perennial) that spreads by creeping taproots and seeds.  There can be as many as twenty white stems that are covered in wooly hair sprouting up from one crown root.   The leaves are irregular lobes with sharp yellow spines.  The bright showy flower head has a yellow spot in its center before it blooms from May-August.  The color of this urn-shaped flower ranges from pink, or white to pale purple.  Yellowspine flowers attract insects that help spread the pollen this herb makes.  The flowers also produce a seed that is covered by a smooth brown fruit that is topped with a fluffy white plume.  It's leaves, flowers and stems branch out in wings and are covered in very sharp, stout spines.  

Medicinal Uses

The Kiowa boil the flowers of this species in water in order to make a preparation to treat burns and skin sores; the roots were used for food.  They also used the flowers to cover fresh graves in order to deter wolves from digging up corpses.

 The entire plant is diaphoretic and diuretic. The Zuni made an infusion of the entire plant in cold water and let it sit overnight.  In the morning the water was drunk to treat syphilis. They also use a root infusion taken three times a day as a treatment for diabetes. The Zuni also made an infusion of the root that would be taken by both partners as a contraceptive.

Did you know...

Many people consider thistles in general to be undesirable weeds.

Yellowspine thistle is considered a weed in California and Northwestern New Mexico.

Yellowspine thistle is in the Aster family.

Its scientific name comes from the Greek word, Cirsium,  the Greek name for thistle and ochrocentrum meaning light yellow and prickle.

The Story of the Maple Tree

This story is told by Bob Red Hawk Transcribed and translated into Lenape by Margret Lenfest Edited by Louise St. Amour and is a favorite of the Institute's Professional Native American Storyteller.

Many, many moons ago one of the most beautiful trees around was the maple. And its roots reached deep into the earth and its branches reached high in the heavens. But at one time, a large group of bugs crawled into the maple’s bark. And it was itching the maple. It was driving the maple tree crazy. Cause even though the maple tree had many branches and shoots and roots it could not bend down and reach all parts of itself. 

So it called out to all its friends in the animal kingdom. It called out and said, “Can someone please give me some relief from all this itching.” So the beaver said “Well maple tree I can probably do it, but if I start chewing on your bark it’ll probably kill you. So that would not help you that much.” And then the little mouse said, “Maple tree I can dig down into your roots and get my brothers the voles and the moles, and the gophers but we’ll end up starting to kill your roots and that will kill you.” 

So then the bear said, “Well maple tree I have these nice big claws I could start clawing at your bark but that will probably shred you up.” So then they are all trying to think. Finally, one of the birds, it was a flicker, heard this conversation. And the flicker said, “Well maple tree I have a cousin. How about I get all these guys, my flicker cousins with to come.  Their  beaks are sharp and they can dig in you but they won’t hurt you.” So they called all of his woodpecker friends and they flew over and started pecking at the tree and got all the bugs out of the mighty maple tree. The tree was so happy. 

Everything was going along nicely and, then, all of a sudden for a couple of years there was very little rain. It got very dry and all of the animals were getting very thirsty. The creeks and rivers had all dried up and they did not know where to go. They were all bemoaning the fact and the maple tree heard them. And the maple tree said, “You know the animals helped me during the time when I was suffering from all those bugs biting me I have an idea.” So he called to his friend the flicker again. And said “Flicker you helped me in my time of need I want to help you. Call up your woodpecker buddies again.” So they call the woodpecker buddies. 

And the maple tree said, “Now I want you to peck deep into my bark and then wait for a second and soon some of my sap will run out and you can slake your thirst by drinking my sap.” So the woodpeckers tried it. And when they did the sap flowed from the maple tree. 

And that gift saved everybody until the next rain came and they were able to drink from the creeks again. And it was from that gift from the maple to the animals that man learned how to make maple syrup and how to tap maple trees when the sap runs. Maple syrup was precious because people could make something sweet, especially in the wintertime when there were no berries to pick and no sweet things to eat. That was the time when we really appreciated the gift of the maple tree.   

Maple Sugaring Demonstration and March 9, 2019

Driving through the Litchfield Hills in March you can't help but notice the network of plastic tubes and buckets that collect sap from maple trees.  The sugaring off process resulting in the golden deliciousness we know as maple syrup has a long history in New England.  The timing for sugaring is critical and only happens once a year because when the maple trees start to bud, the sap becomes bitter. Today collecting and boiling down sap is a labor-intensive process even with all the advantages of modern technology.  Native Americans were experts at collecting the sap and boiling it down using the most basic techniques and materials collected from the environment that they lived in.  They found many uses for maple syrup from making medicine taste better and sweetening food to using it as a preservative.  

Historic records indicate that the collecting and processing of maple sap was a social as well as a working occasion.  Women would tap the trees; men would cut the wood for the fire needed to boil the sap, and children tended to the sap as it boiled.   The Maple Sugar Festival at the Institute for American Indian Studies located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington, Connecticut is the perfect event for learning, socializing, and celebrating maple sugar as the first sign of spring.  The Maple Sugar Festival will be held this year on March 9 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Institute.  Visitors are invited to join the staff along with nationally recognized Primitive Technologists, Jeff and Judy Kalin in the outdoor Algonquian Village for an afternoon celebrating the gift of maple syrup.  

The Kalins will demonstrate the traditional technique of collecting sap using only stone and wooden tools. Stone was used because pottery or wood containers alone would not have been able to withstand the direct heat.  The key to how water was evaporated from the sap using only natural means will be a highlight of the Kalin's demonstration.  They will also talk about the importance of maple sugar to the diet of Native Americans as well as its usefulness as an item of trade.

An added sweet bonus of this event is the “made from scratch” pancakes served up with local maple syrup, coffee, and orange juice. The Maple Syrup Demonstration is noon – 3 pm., the Pancake Brunch is 11 am – 2 pm and children’s activities are 11:30 am – 2:30 pm. The cost is $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, children are $10 and members of the museum $5.

About Primitive Technologies

PTI has built nearly 200 aboriginal structures both free standing and congregated in villages using only the tools and practices of the time such as stone axes, flaked hand tools, and fire. In his work, Jeff Kalin, owner of PTI uses only primitive tools that he has made himself.

PTI has created the village at the American Indian Archeological Institute in the style of the Eastern Woodland Indians.  This reconstructed village was created to look, as it would have in the 16th century prior to European contact.  There are several wigwams and a longhouse in the village. The structures are covered in thatch or bark.

Mr. Kalin is recognized as an expert in stone tool replication and is a consultant to museum curators and archeologists in the analysis of artifacts.  He has constructed prehistoric sets for filmmakers and his wood-fired replica pottery hand built from river clay is in private and public collections

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.