Stories from the Wigwam: May 2020

Monday, May 25, 2020

Medicinal Monday... Native Hawaiian Ti

Hawaiian medicinal plants grow in the vicinity of heiaus or temples that are considered sacred to Native Hawaiians. This culture has a long history as traditional healers that practiced La'au Lapa"au or medicinal healing. Most plants used in healing in Hawaii are also consumed and used in ceremonies.

Hula Dancers in traditional Ti plant leaf skirts

About Ti Plant

This plant should never be confused with the tea plant although it often is. Like the evergreens of Connecticut, the Ti plant is also evergreen which has great cultural importance to many countries in the South Pacific. It is cultivated for food, traditional medicine, and as an ornamental because of its' beautiful leaves. Ti is a palm-like plant that grows up to 13 feet and has a beautiful fan-like cluster of broadly elongated leaves at the tip of its slender trunk. It also has long branches known as panicles of small yellowish-red flowers that mature into red berries. It can be propagated by cuttings from the stalks or from the rhizomes.

Medicinal and Domestic Uses
In ancient Hawaii, the Ti plant was thought to have great spiritual power and only the shamans (kahuna) or Chiefs (ali'l) were able to wear the leaves of this plant around their necks during certain ritual activities. The Ti plant is sacred to the god of fertility and agriculture and is also associated with the goddess of the forest. Ti is used to make lei and to outline borders of a property as well as to keep evil spirits away. The leaves are used to make items of clothing including skirts that are worn in dance performances. Fibers of this plant are extracted from the leaves and used to make cords and bird traps.

Medicinally Hawaiians apply the leaves of this plant to the chest to treat dry fevers. The flowers are pounded into a fragrant powder and used to treat nose growths. The flowers and stems are pulverized and mixed with poi and eaten to treat colds, coughs, and asthma. A tea is made from the leaves to relieve muscle tension. And, for beauty rest, the leaves are woven into a wreath and worn for relaxation of the mind and body.

Did You Know

The roots of the Ti-plant are mixed with water and fermented into an alcoholic beverage known as okolehao.

The Hawaiian hula skirt is a dense skirt with a layer of more than 50 Ti plant leaves trimmed and shaped at the bottom and top.

Today Ti plants are planted around houses in Hawaii as a way to bring good luck.

Ti leaves are used at luaus for skirts, decorations, and as food wrappings.

Monday, May 18, 2020

Medicinal Monday - Ramp it Up!

Ramps or wild leeks are one of the earliest wild edibles to emerge in the spring. Technically they are not leeks, they are not scallions and they are not shallots. They look like scallions except they are smaller and more delicate and taste stronger than a leek. Typically ramps are foraged like truffles. High in vitamins, ramps have been a delicious culinary delight for centuries. Native Americans enjoyed eating them and also found several medicinal purposes for this spring ephemeral.

About Ramps
A recent video by the Institute of American Indian Studies shows how to identify, harvest, and cook with ramps that have distinct onion garlic-like flavor. To see this video click here. Allium tricoccum is a native member of the onion family. Ramps appear at higher elevations in eastern North America and can be found in Connecticut. They can be easily identified by their 1, 2, or 3 broad leaves that measure 1 to 2 and 1/2 inches wide and four to 12 inches long. Both the leaves and flowers smell like onions.

The leaves appear in April and last through mid-May. As the temperatures begin to warm up in May, the leaves turn yellow and die. After the leaves die back a lone flower stalk emerges, seeds mature by late summer. The seeds fall close to the mother plant but can take up to two years to germinate. Ramps can be found in well drained moist soil in the hardwood forests. They usually grow in dense clusters because of the way they reproduce.

Medicinal Uses
The Chippewa and the Iroquois decocted the rood to induce vomiting and to get rid of worms in children. The Cherokee ate the plant to soothe colds and coughs. Many Native communities use the warm juice of this plant to treat earaches and bee stings.

Culinary Uses
Ramps are one of the first greens to appear in the spring and this plant is eaten as a spring tonic. Many Native American communities boiled or fried the young plants or ate them raw. They also dried and stored parts of the ramp for use in the winter months.

Did You Know
There are ramp festivals in Appalachia to celebrate the tradition of mountain food where eggs are served with fried potatoes seasoned with ramps. In West Virginia ramps are fried in bacon grease and served with ham and potatoes.

There are wild lilies that have similar leaves to ramps but they are not edible, so it is best to bring a field guide and make sure that they smell like onions.

According to Natural New Haven ramps are now on a watch list. When harvesting it is recommended that only a portion of the greens be taken from the plant. Leaving some of the greens allows ramp, a perennial bulb to continue to produce and spread.

Ramps have become a delicacy found on menus of many top restaurants.

Being in the same family as garlic they contain the same sulfur compounds including kaempferol that works to protect the lining of your blood vessels against damage and supports the liver in the elimination of cholesterol.

Ramps are high in iron and in antioxidants, specifically TPC.

Monday, May 11, 2020

Medicinal Monday - Mysterious Red Baneberry

We have all seen those pretty red berries growing in the wild and wondered if they were edible. They aren't and as a matter of fact, the berries of the Red Baneberry Plant are poisonous and should not be eaten no matter how appetizing they look. Just because you can't eat these berries doesn't mean that Native Americans didn't find a use for this plant. Careful and expert knowledge is a must when using this poisonous plant.

About Red Baneberry

This bushy plant is in the buttercup family and has highly divided leaves with a hairy underside and a short, thick rounded cluster of small white flowers that have a feathery appearance. This perennial can grow up to three feet and is usually found in shady areas in moist to wet soil in the woods. After this plant flowers, the petals fall away and green berries are produced. The berry is ellipsoid shaped and in the late summer, the berries turn bright red and have a black dot on them. All parts of this plant are poisonous and the berries are the most toxic part of this plant.

Medicinal Uses
Native Americans use the juice from the fruit of the red baneberry to poison arrows. The Algonquin used parts of this plant as an analgesic and a decoction of roots was used to treat coughs and colds. Many Native American communities including the Chippewa, Cree of Hudson Bay, Cree Woodlands, and Ojibwa used an infusion of roots to help with pregnancy and childbirth. Raw roots were eaten by men to help with stomach pains. In general, the roots were also used for cramps during menstruation. The Cheyanne used this plant in ceremonies.

Did You Know...

A healthy adult will experience poisoning from as few as six berries. Ingestion of the berries causes nausea, dizziness, increased pulse, and severe stomach pains. The berries have an immediate effect on the cardiac muscle tissue and can lead to cardiac arrest. As few as two berries can be fatal to children.

All parts of this plant contain an irritant oil.

The poisonous berries are harmless to birds.

The genus name Actaea is Latin with a Greek origin meaning elder and rubra is Latin for red.

The root of this plant is a strong antispasmodic and is considered to be a strong alternative to Black Cohosh.

Today it is used in gardens as an ornamental plant.

Monday, May 4, 2020

Medicinal Monday - Wild about Wild Honeysuckle

Limber Honeysuckle or Lonicera dioica L, is a low growing vine-like shrub that is native to Connecticut, Canada and the central and eastern part of the United States. This beautiful vine is attractive to hummingbirds and has some interesting medicinal uses that are practiced by Native Americans.

About
Limber honeysuckle is a woody, loosely twining perennial vine that sprawls or climbs on nearby vegetation. It grows in coniferous and deciduous woods and thickets, often in sandy or rocky ground. It is also found in moist areas and bogs. Red, tubular flowers with yellow stamens are arranged in whorls at the end of branches. Flowers are one-half to one inch long, with a long, slender tube shape consisting of two lips with five pale hairy stamens with a dome-shaped stigma at the tip.

Simple opposite pinnately veined green leaves with white undersides are on the branches of this plant. Leaves directly below flowers are fused together like a cup. Young stems have a waxy, bluish-white (glaucous) coating; older woody stems brown or grayish, with shredding bark. The fruit is round to oval, bright red to orange-red berries are ¼ to ½ inch long and grow in clusters surrounded by joined upper leaves. There are three to eight ovoid yellow seeds in each berry. This plant flowers in Connecticut from May - June.

Medicinal
Lonicera dioica was used by the Algonquin, Chippawa, and Meskwaki to treat fever, tuberculosis, menstrual difficulties, kidney stones, dysuria, venereal disease, and worms. It was also used as a cathartic and diuretic. The Iroquois made a decoction of the vines and used it as an emetic “to throw off effects of love medicine.” The berries may cause mild to moderate nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Did You Know?
Other common names for Limber Honeysuckle include Mountain Honeysuckle, Red Honeysuckle, and Smooth leaved Honeysuckle.

The name Lonicera pays tribute to the 16th-century German botanist Adam Lonicer. Dioica means “two houses,” and comes from an initial mistake by Linnaeus, who thought the plant was dioecious. The term honeysuckle comes from the honey or nectar that can be easily sucked from the flower.

Darwin noted that all members of the genus Lonicera climb with the apical stem, which moves dextrally (left to right) or, as Darwin referred to it, “with the sun.”

Seeds from this plant remain viable after being stored in sealed containers at low temperatures for 15 years.

Friday, May 1, 2020

In May How to Keep Kids Busy and Learning Inside Online Videos 2 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Many states including Connecticut are on pause and parents are faced with the challenge of keeping their children occupied. Most experts suggest that setting up a routine is important because it makes children feel safe. Staying active and finding activities that educate and entertain at the same time is an important step in the right direction.

With that in mind, the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington, Connecticut has created “Inside with IAIS,” a series of online video programs that will make the most of quarantine for adults and children alike. Thanks to technology, spending time with the Institute and its’ educators is something that you and your family can do through May on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 2 p.m. on Facebook from the comfort of your home.

Museum educators have been hard at work shooting new online videos that show everything from survival skills using Native American techniques to gardening, and traditional storytelling. Programs on survival skills will show what tools Native Americans made and used to survive in the Eastern Woodlands, with many of these methods still used today. Viewers will also learn about the origin and importance of the three sisters garden that is grown every year on the grounds of the museum. There will be tips on how to start your own three sisters' garden right in your own backyard!

And then there is storytime, perfect for the whole family. Native American stories have been handed down generation to generation for centuries to preserve their culture. Darlene Kascak, a traditional Native American storyteller, who is a member of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation explains the cultural importance of these stories and why they have inspired her and countless others. Traditional Native American stories present essential ideas and values in simple and entertaining ways that show both the positive and the negative. These stories always, teach an important life lesson about things like love, leadership, honor, our connection to the earth, and our relationship with animals that are often depicted through storytelling.

Not to be missed are the programs with an archeological flavor. There will be several fascinating programs on the importance of different artifacts in the museum’s collection and how they relate to and connect cultures all across North and South America. In another presentation, viewers will dig into the past as they learn about Templeton archeological site, Connecticut’s oldest Paleo-Indian site, located minutes from the museum. An additional program on the process of archeological excavations and a virtual scavenger hunt that is sure to intrigue and entertain are also on the schedule.

About The Institute for American Indian Studies

Located on 15 acres of woodland acres the Institute For American Indian Studies preserves and educates through archeology, research, exhibitions, and programs. They have the 16^th c. Algonquian Village, Award-Winning 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, Washington, CT.