Medicinal Monday - Indian Balm

To bring attention to missing and murdered Native American women, this week, Medicinal Monday is featuring Indian Balm noted for its beautiful red flower.  In 2011, the first REDress project took place at the University of Winnipeg and has since traveled to many different cities across North America. Since the launch of the REDress project, the color red has become a symbol for MMIW (missing or murdered ingenious women) across North America. Today, many indigenous supporters and activists frequently wear red clothes and paint a red handprint on their faces at MMIW gatherings. The color red is worn because this is the only color that the Great Spirit sees and by wearing red, they hope to call their missing spirits home.  The REDress movement is haunting and provocative as there is so much silence around the deaths and disappearances of so many native women. 

Native to the deciduous forests of the eastern United States and eastern Canada the plant identified as Indian balm, wake-robin, or the American ground lily is a beautiful flowering spring ephemeral.  Native Americans use this plant medicinally to treat many ailments from a panacea for sick children to the treatment of cancer.

About Indian Balm

The scientific name for Indian balm is Trillium erectum and it can be easily identified by its single whorl of diamond-shaped leaves that seem to clasp the stem of the plant.  Above the leaves is a single crimson flower with three petals that curve backward.  The leaves wither within three weeks leaving a fleshy, berry-like fruit.  In some species, the flower can also be white. The native habitat for this plant in Connecticut is found in wooded areas where it thrives in the mold of rich, moist forests.  The root has the fragrance of turpentine and an astringent taste when first chewed; then it becomes bitter and acidic. Indian balm spreads by a blunt tuber-like rhizome and flowers in Connecticut in a deep red color.

Medicinal Uses of Indian Balm

Traditionally, the root was harvested in late summer after the leaves died down and ground into a number of poultices to use to treat a variety of ailments. Native  Americans use the root of this plant as an aid to lessen pain and difficulty during childbirth, hence the synonym, the birthroot.  It is also used for all types of hemorrhages such as bleeding from the mouth, nose, stomach, or bowels.  Externally, the root is made into a poultice and used to treat tumors, ulcers, and insect bites. The bulbs are ground and then given to children to treat unidentified illnesses and also used as a panacea.  The Cherokee use a poultice to treat putrid ulcers and drink a decoction of this plant to treat coughs. The Iroquois make an infusion of the rhizomes and flowers and use this as a dermatological aid to treat sunburn and pimples.

Did You Know

This lovely flower has a foul smell that attracts carrion flies that act as pollinators. 

Some early herbalists used this plant to treat gangrene.

About The Institute for American Indian Studies (IAIS)

Located on 15 woodland acres the IAIS preserves and educates through archeology, research, exhibitions, and programs.  We have an outdoor replicated 16th c. Algonkian Village and Wigwam Escape and a Museum with temporary and permanent displays of authentic artifacts from prehistory to the present that allows visitors to foster a new understanding of the world and the history and culture of Native Americans. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut.