Medicinal Monday - Wild Mint - Refreshing and Healthy!

Wild Mint or Mentha arvensis is one of the few native mints growing in the United States. This plant is so widely distributed that it can be found in most northern boreal regions from Asia to North America. Because of this wide distribution, this plant has been used for a wide variety of applications throughout human history. Native Americans had many medicinal and culinary uses for this plant.

About Mentha Arvensis

Also known as wild mint, this plant is a flowering species in the mint family Lamiaceae. This herbaceous perennial plant can grow up to 39 inches tall from a creeping rootstock. The squarish stems are semi-sprawling with long, broad hairy leaves that have a coarsely serrated margin. The flowers are pale purple and can occasionally be white or pink. They bloom in whorls on the stem at the base of the leaves. The fruit of the flower is a two-chambered carpel.

Culinary Uses

The leaves of the wild mint are edible, raw, or cooked. Many Native Americans make herb tea from the fresh or dried leaves that are also used to flavor soups, salads, and meat. Plant parts were packed in alternate layers with dried meat for storage.

Medicinal Uses

Wild mint is a popular herb used by many Native American communities to treat a variety of ailments.  An infusion of leaves is used to treat kidney disease by the California Indians and the Kutenai. The Cherokee, the Okanagan Colville, the Thompson, and the Navajo Ramah use an infusion of leaves to treat fever and colds. The plant is used as a ceremonial plant in the Sun Dance Ceremony. The leaves are chewed and placed on the body to improve one's love life, and an infusion of leaves was taken to stimulate vital organs. The Flathead took an infusion of leaves for colds and fever. Leaves were also used for infected or carious teeth. The Gros Ventre took an infusion of the entire plant to treat a headache and the Iroquois drink an infusion of the plant to induce vomiting as a cure for poison. The Kawaiisu and the Kutenai used a poultice of leaves to treat pain and rheumatism. The Navajo Kayenta made a lotion from this plant and used it on swellings. The roots are used to treat snake bites.  The Paiute chewed the entire plant to keep cool. Fresh leaves are put in nostrils for colds. A poultice of fresh leaves is applied to the gums to treat toothaches.

Did You Know...

The genus name Mentha comes from Mintho, mistress of Pluto, ruler of Hades. His jealous queen, Proserpine, upon learning of Mintho, trampled her, transforming her into a lowly plant forever to be walked upon. Pluto made this horrible fate more tolerable by willing that the more the plant was trampled, the sweeter it would smell.

Substances that can be extracted from wild mint include menthol and menthone that are used in food, drinks, cough medicines, creams, and cigarettes. Menthol is widely used in dental care, as a mouthwash.

The plant is used as an insect repellent.

Rats and mice intensely dislike the smell of mint. It was used as a strewing herb in granaries to keep them away.

Native people used leaves as perfume and to deodorize their houses.

Medicinal Monday - Peppermint

Peppermint is a strongly aromatic herb that has been used medicinally for centuries. Although the plant is indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, it is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world. Native Americans used peppermint in a variety of ways from flavoring food to treating a number of ailments.

About Peppermint

Peppermint is part of the Mentha family and its' Latin name is Mentha x Piperita. Peppermint is a fast-growing perennial plant that spreads by rhizomes that are wide-spreading, fleshy and have fibrous roots. The dark green leaves with reddish veins are long and broad and grow on slightly fuzzy stems. The flowers are purple and produced in whorls around the stem forming thick blunt spikes. The flowers bloom from mid.-to- late summer. Peppermint can be found growing in moist habitats including stream sides.

Medicinal Uses

Many Native Americans used peppermint to flavor medicines and food. The Cherokee, the Iroquois, and Menominee use an infusion of the entire plant to treat a cold and fever. They would also make a poultice and apply it to the chest to treat pneumonia. The Iroquois, Oklahoma, Quileute, and Hoh make a tonic of the leaves and use it as a smelling and rubbing medicine for sore muscles. This compound is used as a wash on injuries and is called "Little Water Medicine." The Iroquois used an infusion of this plant to throw off witchcraft. The Mohegans give babies an infusion of this plant to treat worms.

Did You Know...

The reason why Peppermint is associated with Christmas probably lies with peppermint candy canes. According to The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, a local choirmaster in Cologne, Germany, sometime around 1670, was looking for a way to keep rowdy young people quiet while they were watching the live Nativity and asked a local confectioner to create a special hard candy for the kids to keep busy on for a while. It was shaped like a cane—or, more to the point, a shepherd's staff.

Peppermint is considered invasive in Australia, New Zealand, the Galapagos Islands, and in the Great Lakes Region of the United States.

The world cultivation of peppermint is lead by Morocco with 92% of the world total.

In the United States, Oregon and Washington produce the most peppermint.

Peppermint is known to repel some insects and rodents.

Peppermint is used in flavoring of ice cream, candy, fruit preserves, and alcoholic beverages.

Medicinal Monday - Festive Holly and More!

Ilex vomitoria, commonly known as yaupon holly is part of the holly family and is native to southeastern North America from the Eastern Shore of Virginia, south to Florida, and west to Texas. This slow-growing attractive shrub with its leathery leaves and bright red berries is not only festive looking it also offers Native Americans some interesting medicinal options.

 About Ilex vomitoria

Yaupon is considered to be a small evergreen tree or large shrub that can grow up to 30 feet in the wild. Small, densely packed ovate gray-green leaves with a leather-like texture have rounded serrated edges and grow on rigid grey branches. This evergreen is adaptable to both dry and wet soil and can easily grow in either sun or shade.  It is most commonly found in coastal areas with well-drained sandy soils like sand dunes, as well as on the edges of brackish marshes, in maritime forests, and in non-tidal forested wetlands.  Yaupon has a vase-like shaped form when mature and will grow more berries if planted in the sun. The flowers bloom in April and are highly fragrant. If a male plant is nearby, the female flowers will evolve into red berries that continue to be red well into the winter months. The berries contain four pits that are dispersed by birds eating the fruit.

Medicinal Uses

This is one of the few plants in North America that contains caffeine, it actually has more caffeine in it than any other plant found here. Native Americans brewed the leaves and stems of this plant to make a tea thought to be called asi or black drink that was used in male-only purification ceremonies. This ceremony included vomiting and the Europeans thought that this plant induced it and named this plant Ilex vomitoria. It is thought that drinking large quantities and fasting caused vomiting. Ilex vomitoria contain caffeine, theobromine (a bitter alkaloid found in cacao), and theophylline. The Cherokee, Creek, Natchez, and Alabama, among other Native American communities, make an infusion of toasted leaves or a decoction of the entire plant and use it as a laxative. The Seminole used yaupon as a psychological aid. They made a decoction of bark to treat dance sickness and nightmarish dreams in old people.

Did You Know

Yaupon is a popular landscape plant often trimmed into an evergreen hedge.

The red berry branches are popular at Christmas for holiday decorations.

The flowers attract bees.

The berries are an important food for many birds including the American duck, Florida duck, morning doves, ruffed grouse, eastern bluebird, wild turkey, American robin, gray catbird, bobwhite quail among others.

Mammals that eat the fruit include the nine-banded armadillo, American black bear, gray fox, raccoon, skunks, and whitetail deer.

Medicinal Monday - The Beauty of Desert Lavender

The scent of lavender often evokes a sunny morning in the lavender fields of Provence, France where it is cultivated for making perfumes, cosmetics, and aromatherapy products. In the southwestern desert of the U.S., a type of lavender can also be found that has a scent similar to the fragrant lavender found in France. Native Americans were attracted to this plant for its scent and for its unique medicinal purposes.

About Desert Lavender

Hyptis emoryi or desert lavender is a frost-sensitive perennial shrub in the mint family that can grow up to eight feet tall and three feet wide. It typically grows on rocky slopes, in canyons, and in dry washes. This shrub can be found in Arizona, Nevada, California, northwest New Mexico, and in Sonora and Baja California. It has grey foliage and blue-lavender flowers. This shrub has oval whitish grey-green leaves with serrated margins and white hairy stems. Small violet flowers in short clusters that are bilaterally symmetrical blossom at the tips of the branches beginning in winter. They can bloom several times through spring. The flower is distinguished by four fertile stamens located on the pouched lower lip of the blossom.

Medicinal & Culinary Uses

The Cahuilla make an infusion of blossoms and leaves and take it for hemorrhages. It is also used to treat female inflammatory conditions, reproductive complaints, and to treat heavy menstruation and bleeding hemorrhoids. A decoction was made and used as a wound wash. Desert Lavender has long been prized by Native American communities living in this plant range for its edible seeds, as a flavoring, and as a component of a herbal tea. It is well respected and in regular use among the Comcaac of coastal Sonora near Tiburon Island. It is used as a smudge to clear the air of impurities,  to prevent sickness from befalling someone, and to call forth all the beauty and healing that one seeks.

Did You Know...

Desert Lavender is one of the honey bees' favorite plants in the desert.

Desert Lavender attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.

Desert Lavender tea is said not only to taste good but also to ease nausea, anxiety, and stomach flu.

Today it is used for smudging, skin inflammation, rashes, and bee stings.

Bid and Buy @ Institute for American Indian Studies Online Auction Through December 16, 2020

Bid and Buy @ Institute for American Indian Studies Online Auction The Institute for American Indian Studies located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut is hosting its’ first online auction this year from December 3 – December 16, 2020. This online auction offers fans of the museum and of Native American art to switch from being observers of art to active collectors. Whether you are a long time collector of Native American art and artifacts, art-curious, or a first time collector, this online auction offers a rare opportunity to purchase items specially curated by the Institute for Native American Studies.

The Institute’s online auction is offering nineteen items at a variety of price points that make looking and bidding easy and fun. The proceeds from the auction will raise essential funds for the Institute’s core mission and will help to underwrite new educational programs and exhibitions. The artists represented in this first online auction play an intrinsic role because all items featured are authentic and have been carefully curated by one of the leading Native American museums in the country. Bidding on one of the four Iroquois Corn Husk dolls offered, a hoop-dancer, a lacrosse player, with bow and arrow, and a doll with a shield is the chance to own an iconic figure that represents a cherished Native American legend. The Iroquois People’s legend of the Corn Husk doll tells the story of how the first doll was made by the Corn Spirit. It says that this doll had a beautiful face and played with Iroquois children. When the doll saw its reflection, it became vain and treated the children badly. After many warnings, the Corn Spirit took the beautiful features away from the doll as a lesson in humility. Since that time, the Iroquois people do not put a face on their Corn Husk dolls to remind them not to think that they are better than anyone else.

Another hard to find item offered are handmade one-of-a- kind porcelain dolls by Navajo artist Cheryl Yazza of Four Corners. The dolls are not only realistic they are also highly collectible. Yazza creates her own molds and hand pours the porcelain. After she fires the porcelain three times, she meticulously hand paints each face. The clothes are handmade and the jewelry is hand stung or hand sewn on the clothes. Bidding starts at $125 for dolls that often cost over $500. Two of the most unusual items in this auction include an authentic fox bow quiver wall hanging by Navajo artist Curtis Bitsui that comes with a certificate of authenticity. This wall hanging was made by hand using genuine Red Fox fur including the tail, leather fringe, beads, a medicine wheel, and prayer feathers. It also has a hanging cord making it easy to display. The handwoven twined bag by Abenaki artist Vera Longtoe Sheehan is another gem offered in this auction. This twined bag is based on traditional fiber arts that have been passed down for countless generations. It represents the way Vera preserves the tradition of her ancestors with the knowledge of Wabanaki culture to create one of kind bags like this work of functional art. The auction also offers a distinctive selection of jewelry from turquoise cuff bracelets to necklaces and earrings.

If you are in the market for a truly stunning sculpture, don’t miss the chance to bid on the piece called “Strength of our People” by Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux artist, Janice Albro of South Dakota. The sculpture is signed and numbered 3 out of 20 pieces that date to 1993. This spectacular bronze depicts a fire with smoke rising up, forming into the image of the head of a person holding a pipe that transforms into a skull and finally into a crow. The crow symbol signifies wisdom, some Native American tribes believe that the crow has the power to talk and is considered the smartest bird. The crow is also the sacred bird of the Ghost Dance.

To join the Institute in celebrating the exhilarating intersection of collecting and patronage visit https://www.auctionninja.com and start bidding! The sale closes on December 16, 2020, at 3 p.m. Pick–up for items is available at the Museum from Tuesday – Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, from noon to 4 p.m. Shipping is available for an additional fee. 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 16th 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

Two Ways to Shop this Holiday Season @ Institute for American Indian Studies

The holiday season is here and, this year it will be more challenging than ever to find a thoughtful gift for that special someone on your list. Not to worry, the Institute for American Indian Studies has you covered at their annual Native American Holiday Arts and Crafts Market. 

This year, the Institute is providing shoppers with two choices, a visit to the museum to shop in person and an online shopping experience. Admission to the Institute's Gift Shop and the Holiday Market is free, but capacity is limited in accordance with State regulations, and masks are required. In Native societies art was integrated into the act of making everyday things, and art objects were often ceremonial. 

Dawn Spears

Some of the most famous Native American artists have been painters, sculptors, jewelers, basket makers, beaders, and potters. Native American artists in the 21st-century preserve, present, and represent their culture, heritage, and traditions using a variety of genres and mediums. Some Native artists create contemporary works of art, while others use materials that are more traditional. Some of the most interesting works of art invoke cultural heritage framed by values rooted in a distinctly indigenous worldview and blended with contemporary life. 

Vera Longtoe Sheehan

If you plan to shop at the museum, get in the mood by visiting the Institute’s exhibitions that take visitors on a Native American journey through time with displays of astounding artifacts and exhibits that present information from prehistoric to contemporary time. A highlight is a special exhibit on Trading Posts and Native art. The Holiday Arts and Crafts Market at the Institute is open Saturday, December 5 and Sunday, December 6, and Saturday, December 12 and Sunday, December 13. If you plan on shopping in person at the Institute, give them a call in advance at 860-868-0518 or email them at events@isismuseum.org to reserve a spot. In addition to the Holiday Arts and Crafts Market, the Gift Shop at the Institute of American Indian Studies is open and chock full of a variety of items to fit every budget. 

Jeanne “Morningstar” Kent

The Gift Shop offers an excellent selection of Native American jewelry, crafts, artwork, tea, smudge, and books. The Museum and Gift Shop is open Friday - Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 12 noon to 4 p.m. and will be closed on December 24 and 25 and 31 and January 1.

Sarah Sockbeson 

If you can't get to the Institute in person, visit the Virtual Holiday Market that opens November 27 and runs through January 3, 2021, on the Institute's website. Here you will find a curated webpage of the bios and contact information of Native American Artists that you can purchase from directly. Several of the featured artists including Dawn Spears (Narragansett – wearable art, corn husk dolls, and paintings), Vera Longtoe Sheehan (Elnu Abenaki – hand-woven textiles, baskets, and accessories), Brenda Hill (Tuscarora – pottery), Jeanne “Morningstar” Kent (Abenaki – gourd artwork), Sarah Sockbeson (Penobscot - baskets) and Annawon Weeden (Mashpee Wampanoag - jewelry) will do Zoom-based presentations and submit videos demonstrating their work and explaining how they incorporate cultural elements. These programs will be listed on the Institute's website and will add meaning to the gift items that they are offering for sale. 

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 16th 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 

 A Special Collaboration 

A highlight of the Virtual Holiday Market is a collaboration between the Institute for American Indian Studies and several Native American artists, made possible by a grant from the Connecticut Community Foundation: a virtual artist presentation series, featuring artists from across the country who might not otherwise be able to participate.

Medicinal Monday - Vibrant Red Winterberries

 The winterberry is one of the few plants in New England that are at their prettiest after their leaves have fallen. A scarlet mass of these red berries brings a spot of color to the dreariest winter landscape.  Today, we often see the fruit ladened bare branches of this plant used as a colorful component in holiday decorations.  As decorative as this plant is, Native Americans also found medicinal uses for it.

About Winterberry

Winterberry is from the holly family that has more than 400 species of trees, shrubs, and climbers that are found throughout the world.  There are 15 species of holly plants found in North America including Connecticut where the species, llex verticillata commonly known as winterberry can be found growing. The winterberry plant is most often found in wetland habitats, but, it can also be found on dry sandy dunes and grassland. Most holly shrubs have glossy prickly evergreen leaves studded with bright red berries, but, interestingly, the winterberry has neither.  The ovate shaped leaves of the winterberry are dark green with small teeth that are smooth and slightly glossy on the top of the leaf with the underside being fuzzy. Winterberries found in Connecticut have beautiful red colored berries.  The male winterberry plant blooms in the summer with small clusters of white flowers, the female winterberry plant has fewer but showier flowers.  Only the female plants produce fruit when pollinated by a male plant that is nearby. 

Medicinal Uses

Native Americans use the bark and leaves of the winterberry plant to treat a variety of ailments.  Winterberry earned its nickname fever bush because Native Americans use the bark to treat fever, internal parasites, and liver ailments.  They also use the bark externally to treat cuts and bruises.  The bark is 4.8% tannin and was harvested before the first frost.  A tea is made from the bark and is used as an emetic, a tonic, and a remedy for diarrhea. The Iroquois make a tea from winterberry bark and berries and used it as a laxative and to induce vomiting. Another use for winterberry is to treat hayfever by making a tea from the roots of this plant.

Did you know...

More than 49 species of birds eat the berries as well as waterfowl, game birds, raccoons, and even mice.  When food is scarce whitetail deer,  rabbits, moose, and snowshoe hares will eat stems and bark.

A Confederate doctor, Francis Porcher used this plant to treat fevers, diarrhea, ulcers, and as a medicinal wash to treat gangrene.

Oriental Bittersweet is sometimes confused with winterberry.  To tell them apart, look at the leaf margins and berries. Winterberry has serrated leaf edges and smooth red berries. Oriental Bittersweet has rounder leaves and red berries with loose yellow skins.

Winterberry leaves when dried can be made into a tea that contains no caffeine.

Swallowing the berries can cause vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and drowsiness and is considered poisonious to humans, cats, dogs and horses.

Crafting and Image - Trading Posts and Native American Art Zoom Program - November 28 @ 4:30

The Institute for American Indian Studies is hosting a special virtual program on Saturday, November 28 at 4:30 p.m. centered around the Institute's new temporary exhibition, Crafting an Image. The Zoom program will kick off with a tour of the new exhibit with Curator, Paul Wegner who will delve into the history of some of the artifacts on display. To register for this event click here.

The new exhibition centers on trading posts as marketplaces where people could go to purchase a myriad of items, from furs to food to rugs. They were a quintessential part of Native trade in the 20th century, particularly when it came to Native art. They shaped the projects of many artists and artisans, urging them to create for the wider American public in ways that they hadn’t done previously.  This exhibition focuses on what happened to these trading posts, and, more importantly, what happened to Native arts as a result?

A highlight of the program will be a live discussion with managers of the Cameron Trade Post in Arizona about the importance of trade posts to Native American Art throughout the post's long history. This historic trading post was established in 1911  by two brothers. At that time the trading post was visited by the Navajo and Hopi locals to barter their wool blankets and livestock for dry goods.  Cameron Trading Post has existed for more than a century and people that work here have done so for generations making their perspectives and insights fascinating.

In addition to the live discussion, there will be the chance to listen to a previously recorded interview with Kwagu’l (Kwakwaka’wakw) artist Calvin Hunt about his work, his family legacy, and the importance of art to indigenous peoples throughout the Americas. This interview is part of IAIS's Native Artist Series, co-sponsored by the Connecticut Community Foundation, which features interviews and lectures by Native artists beginning November 21, 2020. 

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 16th 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

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Medicinal Monday - Partridgeberry - Small but Mighty

This pretty creeping perennial herb is a native plant found in North America as well as in Connecticut. Originally, everything we know about this plant came from Native Americans. Native communities across the country foraged the partridgeberry because they found an amazing number of medicinal uses for this small but mighty herb. 

About the Partridgeberry

Partridgeberries are a trailing and attractive evergreen herb that grows no taller than about two inches. The small rounded evergreen leaves are dainty and have a whitish-yellow center vein. The trumpet-shaped flowers are white and highly fragrant.  The inner surface of each flower is covered with dense white hairs that give them a fuzzy look. The flowers are followed by the red berries that appear in the summer and can tolerate cold winter weather. The plant can be propagated by dividing or cutting the trailing stems. It prefers to grow in the shade in rich well-drained soil and can often be found growing under the shade of the Eastern hemlock tree. They have a slight taste of wintergreen.

About the Video

As part of the Institute's "Inside with IAIS" program, join Griffen Kalin, an educator at the Museum for a foraging adventure looking for the partridgeberry. To view the video click here.

Medicinal and Ceremonial Uses 

Patridgeberries were used by many Native American communities including the Cherokee, Chippewa, Delaware,  Delaware Oklahoma, Iroquois, Menominee,Ojibwa, and others as an aid for childbirth. It was used in the form of an infusion or tea to ease menstrual cramps, help with labor pains, and ease delivery. It was used as a wash for sore nipples during breastfeeding.  Berries were eaten to prevent severe labor pains. This herb was also used in a variety of ways to treat sore muscles and rheumatism.  The Abnaki applied a compound of this plant externally to treat swelling. The Chippewa and the Delaware Oklahoma use a hot infusion of the leaves and twigs as a steam treatment for sore muscles. The Iroquois found many uses for this herb. They use a compound infusion of the bark and twigs to treat back pains and also use this infusion to treat convulsions and vomiting. 

The Cherokee used a decoction made with milk to treat dysentery. A poultice of this plant was used to treat rashes in babies and a decoction of the roots and vines was given to newborns to treat swollen abdomens and stomachaches and, to prevent rickets. A compound of this plant was used to treat fevers and painful urination. The Menominee used an infusion of leaves to help treat insomnia. The Montagnais cooked the berries into a thick jam and ate this mixture to treat fevers. The Ojibwa would smoke the leaves as a blood purifier during ceremonies.

Did You Know

The fruit of this plant is consumed by ruffed Grouse, Bobwhite Quail, turkeys, foxes, skunks, and White-footed Mice.

Partridgeberry is also known as twinflower, squaw berry two-eyed berry, running fox, and noon kie oo nah yeah (Mohawk language).

Its Latin name is Mitchella repens which means creeping. This is the only Mitchella found in North America, other plants in this family are found in Asia.

Partridgeberry is on the United Plant Savers "to watch list"as one   of our native medicinal herbs that could be potentially threatened in the wild.

Institute For American Indian Studies Honors John Q. Mitchell for Veterans Day

The origin of Veterans Day goes back to Nov. 11, 1918, and is the anniversary of the signing of the armistice which ended World War I hostilities between the Allied Nations and Germany.  As many of us remember and honor those who have served the United States in the military, many of us remain unaware of the major contributions Native Americans have made to our armed forces. 

Native Americans served in the U.S. military in greater numbers per capita than any other ethnic group and have served with distinction in every major conflict in our history. Each year IAIS honors local Native Americans who have served our country in a special ceremony in keeping with the mission of the Institute and in honor of Veterans Day. The Native American Honoree for 2020 is John Q. Mitchell.

John Q Mitchell is on the rolls of the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe. John's family has a long history of service, one that dates back prior to the founding of the United States. John's tribe has documented his direct lineage from Paugussett people who served in the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I, and many of the actions between these major wars. In World War Two, John's dad, John Q. Mitchell was awarded the Purple Heart Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Silver Star Medal.

Like his father and namesake, John has an impressive and long record of military service. John is a Vietnam Veteran who enlisted in the United States Air Force in August 1969 and retired as a TSgt. after 22 years, in 1991. Following Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base, John was assigned to Myrtle Beach AFB, from 1970-1971. He was then sent to Thailand in 1972 in support of F4E Phantom Fighter/Bomber Jet Aircraft and the heavily armed AC-130 Spectre ground attack and close air support gunships. John's involvement in Vietnam includes Operation Freedom Train and Operation Linebacker II, air campaigns over North Vietnam.

John's service to the United States didn't end after the Vietnam Air Campaigns. He went on to serve at Ellington AFB, Texas, as an instructor for Air National Guard personnel. John's military career took him all over the United States as well as to the United Kingdom and the Philippines. John conducted Intelligence Operations out of King Salmon Air Force Station, Alaska. His next assignment was at Peterson Field in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, where he was on staff for General Chappie James. John also spent four years at Royal Air Force Base, Lakenheath in the United Kingdom, as well as at McGuire AFB in New Jersey, George AFB in California, and Clark AFB in the Philippines. John's last assignment was at Lackland AFB in Texas, the place where his career began.

John’s career has also included some interesting and high profile assignments. He was the Operations Logistics Manager, deployed to bring the Shah of Iran to exile on Panama’s Contadora Island. He was also the Operations Logistic Manager that brought Ferdinand Marcos and his family from the Philippines to exile in Hawaii. One of John's most solemn duties was to support numerous operations that return the remains of America’s KIA’s.

The ceremony at the Institute for American Indian Studies was held on November 8, 2020. The ceremony included drumming and a smudging ceremony and was conducted in the outdoor village.

Medicinal Monday -The Long Forgotten Tale of a Sacred Fungus

Haploporus odorus is a sacred fungus in traditional Native American Culture of the Northern Plains. The Blackfoot, Blood, Cree, and other northern plains tribes used this mushroom as a component of sacred objects symbolizing spiritual power and as a medicine.

About Haploporus odorus

This perennial hoof-shaped polypore mushroom also called the diamond willow and found in British Columbia and Northern Europe. It is a rare shelf fungus that forms a large white perennial growth or sporocarps on the trunk of old living willow trees. In North America, it is most often found on Diamond Willow trees. The growth or sporocarp can be quite large and the top is smooth and pale tan to brown. Underneath this mushroom is white and is covered in tiny pores. Each year a new layer of pores emerges. As the mushroom ages, it becomes greyish and crusty. One way to identify this polypore is by its' strong sweet smell of anise that can be detected from more than ten feet away.  Even after this fungus is dried, it retains its' scent for many years. This growth causes a white rot in the wood of the willow tree.

Ceremonial and Medicinal Uses

The Indigenous Peoples of the northern American plains used Haploporus odorus to ornament sacred robes, necklaces, and other cultural things as protection and to ward off sickness. It was so scared that it was also used as an adornment on sacred war robes and scalp necklaces.  Many northern plain tribes believe that this polypore has healing and spiritual properties. Unfortunately, much of its use has been lost over the years due to misidentification. Part of the reason for this is because artifacts made from this mushroom were thought to be made from cottonwood roots. After extensive research, it was found that some museum objects thought to be wood were actually made from this polypore. 

This fungus was also a component of medicine bundles used for protection against illness. It is said that medicinally Haploporus odorus was used by the northern plain Native American communities to stop bleeding. An infusion was made to treat diarrhea and dysentery and when combined with other mushrooms it was used to treat coughs. The mushroom was sometimes burned and inhaled as a perfumed healing smoke.

Did You Know...

The modern Woods Cree use this mushroom as a smudge for healing, to expel bad influences, and to call the spirits.

In Canada, some Native tribes burn the mushroom and use it as a kind of trance-inducing incense that allows them to communicate with the dead.

Common names of this mushroom include diamond willow, doftticka, nordlig aniskjuke, aniseed, bracket, and puffball.

The Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation in Canada (2015), whose traditional territory encompasses 121,000 square miles of central Alberta, in 20 years of searching for this particular fungus, noted that “very few (estimated as less than 1%) stands of diamond willow actually have the fungus”. For more information click here.

In North America, there have been 20 records from British Columbia with only four fungi of this type reported in the past twenty years.

In Europe, it is most commonly found in northeastern Sweden, Finland, Northwestern Russia, and a few locations in southeast Norway, Estonia, and Poland.

Medicinal Monday... the Mighty Red Maple Tree

Maple trees belong to the family Aceraceae that has more than 200 species of trees. All trees produce sap,  a colorless sap that rises from their roots and circulates throughout the tree nourishing all of its parts. Most of us recognize maple trees by the sweet sap of the Acer saccharum, or sugar maple and the brilliant red leaves of the red maple or Acer rubrum.

About the Acer Rubrum

This is the most widespread deciduous tree of eastern and central North America and one of the most abundant native trees found in eastern North America, including Connecticut. The reason why it is so abundant here is that it can tolerate a wide range of habitats and uses many different types of resources. The red maple tree grows well in sun and shade, in dry areas, and in wet areas because they have a root system that helps them adapt to different soil conditions. If a red maple is in a wet area the tree develops a short tap root system and if it is in a wet area the tree develops a long lateral root system that can easily soak up the water. 

Red Maples are one of the first trees to flower in the spring. It has small red flowers that appear in March or April. The fruit that develops from the flower is called samaras. The seeds have a wing-like casing that protects the seed. At maturity, this tree often attains a height of more than one-hundred feet. Also known as a "swamp maple" the Acer rubrum is often found growing in or near swamps. The leaves of the red maple are the best way to distinguish it from its relatives. The leaves have three lobes and are green in the summer with a silvery underside. They turn scarlet in the fall. A red tinge can be found in its flowers, twigs, and seeds, but it is most notable for the scarlet of its leaves in the fall. The maximum lifespan of this tree is 150 years, but most live less than 100 years.

Medicinal Uses 

The Native Americans of the United States and Canada including the Algonquin, Iroquois, Cherokee, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi make a decoction of the bark into a thick syrup and use it to soothe sore eyes and to treat cataracts. An infusion of the bark is taken internally to reduce cramps and to treat hives. The Iroquois also use an infusion of bark as a hunting medicine -- they wash their traps with an infusion of several plants and the bark of the red maple tree. The Seminole make a decoction of the bark and take it to treat sores, back, and limb pain.  Some Native American communities make brown and black dyes from the bark and use it to decorate baskets.

Did You Know...

Many people refer to the wing-like seeds of the Red Maple tree as helicopters or whirlybirds because of the way they spin when the wind blows them off the trees.

Seeds are eaten by many mammals especially squirrels and chipmunks.

Another name for the Red Maple tree is a swamp maple because they often grow in or near swamps. 

Red maple wood is soft and is sometimes used for making furniture and flooring. It is also used to make clothespins, musical instruments, and boxes.

The red maple is one species whose sap is used to make maple syrup.

The leaf of the red maple tree is on the flag of Canada and, is the state tree of Rhode Island.

Pseudo- Archeology...Martians, Atlanteans, and "Lost Tribes" @ Institute for American Indian Studies October 30

The Institute for American Indian Studies is hosting the 15th annual Native American Archaeological Roundtable via zoom on Friday, October 30 for $10. To register click here. The program will take place from 11 am to 2 pm.

Pseudo-archaeology is also known as an alternate, fringe, or cult archaeology. It is a study that has drawn not only professionals but also the American public. Initially, these pseudoarchaeological ideas were most accessible through books, such as Erich Von Däniken’s Chariot of the Gods? (1968), which has sold over 65 million copies (Bond 2018). In recent decades, however, television and the internet have spread pseudoarchaeology to an increasingly large audience. Shows like Ancient Aliens comes immediately to mind.

In this evocative roundtable discussion concepts such as aliens, giants, and Atlanteans will combine with the most visible archaeological sites around the world, and the romantic fantasies generated that often offers a wider appeal than the boring truth. Yet often, the ideas behind pseudo- archaeology hold racist and even dangerous ideas. This year’s roundtable brings together scholars who study this phenomenon to help explain not only the motivations behind these theories but also why they are so attractive to us.

IAIS is proud to be hosting this event online! There will be many discussions about different sites in the Americas, and research being done to uncover them in an effort to increasing access to a public looking for answers. The goal is to find innovative ways to share real archaeological research and to discuss the pitfalls of pseudoarchaeology.

Medicinal Monday...Wild About Fox Grapes

You may have heard about fox grapes through the "grapevine" while watching the Insititute's new video, Foraging for Wild Grapes. This fascinating four-minute video talks about Concord and Fox grapes and tells you how and where to forage them. To check out the video click here. Native Americans found late summer and early autumn grapes useful in so many surprising ways.

About Fox Grapes

In the Vitis or grapevine genus, Vitis labrusca or the fox grape is native to eastern North America including Connecticut. Fox grapes are a source of many grape cultivators including Concord, Delaware, and Catawba, as well as hybrid grape varieties such as Agawam, Alexander, and Onaka. The majority of Vitis labrusca varieties are red and produce strongly flavored wine. The fox grape variety is considered "slip skin" grapes because when squeezed gently between two fingers, the thick skin slides off leaving the pulp intact as a round ball. 

This woody deciduous vine climbs by tendrils on adjacent plants and trees, and sprawl horizontally over low-growing shrubs. The leathery palmate leaves have three lobes that are hairless and directly across from a forked tendril with flowers or fruit. The underside of the leaves is fuzzy with brown-gray hairs that tend to fade away with age. The flowers have five petals and blooms in the late spring or early summer. Fertile female flowers are replaced by berries that are arranged in drooping panicles. The round berries are bluish-black and on the inside, they have juicy flesh and several seeds. Their flavor runs from sweet-tart to sweet with musky overtones. Wild Grapes are found in lowland to upland forests, near thickets, along roadsides, fences meadows, sandy hills, and along riverbanks. They prefer sun and deep rich moist well-drained soil. The trunk of the vine is brown and very shredded; mature trunks are light to reddish-brown and smooth.

Medicinal and Culinary Uses

Many Native Americans cultivated and used grapes as a source of food. Leaves and berries were also used for dyes and the vines were used for weaving or making rope.

They also used wild grapes for a number of medicinal remedies. The Cherokees made both tonics and infusions from grapes for relief from diarrhea, urinary tract infections, liver pain, and indigestion. Wilted leaves were used to reduce breast tenderness after childbirth and a decoction of bark was used to wash a child's mouth out for thrush. The Mohegan made a poultice of leaves to treat headaches and other aches and pains. To help conception along in horses, the Iroquois would mix a decoction of grapevine roots with their feed. 

Did You Know...

The foxy smell of the grapes is used to describe the unique earthy and sweet musky aroma emitted from these grapes. Foxy does not refer to the animal when describing these grapes!

In the 19th century, Ephraim Bull of Concord Massachusetts cultivated seeds from wild labrusca vines to create the Concord grape. He won first prize in 1853 at the Boston Horticultural Exhibition for the Concord Grape and in 1954 introduced it to the market. In 1869, Dr. Thomas Bramwell Welch developed the first Concord grape juice in his house from this grape.

The fox grape was probably the grape sighted by Norse explorers from Greenland when they named this maritime area Vineland.

The word grape is from the Frankish graper, to pick grapes came from Old High German krapfo meaning hook; the fruit was named for the hook used to harvest it.

If you go searching for wild grapes, be careful not to mistake it for Moonseed. This plant has similar leaves to a wild grape but it is poisonous. A moonseed's fruit has one seed in the shape of a crescent moon.

Medicinal Monday - Fanciful and Delicious Hen of the Woods!

Found in Europe, Asia, and the United States, especially in the Northeast, including Connecticut, the Grifola frondosa mushroom, commonly called "hen of the woods" has been prized by people from around the world for centuries. It is widely appreciated for its culinary and medicinal properties.

Watch A Foraging Video from IAIS

In the Institute's continuing video series on foraging and other pursuits of the Institute, watch Staff Educator, Griffin Kalin as he forages for and explains how to identify the hen of the woods mushroom. To watch the video click here.

About Hen of the Woods

This mushroom, also called Maitake grows on dead or dying trees and is usually found on the stumps or at the base of the tree. Grifola frondosa is a polypore, named because of the many pores that this group of mushrooms has on the underside of its cap and from where its spores are dispersed. Like all mushrooms, it is a parasite and most commonly feeds off a host tree, that is usually an oak but can also be other deciduous trees and sometimes conifers. The part of this mushroom that is eaten is the fruiting body composed of layers of ruffles resembling the feathers of a hen. The edible body is part of a much larger organism that resides underground as an extensive network of a fine filamentous vegetative structure called a mycelium. This subterranean structure sends up the fruiting body to release spores. People can harvest the fruiting body without hurting the mycelium which is why this mushroom can be found in the same place year after year. 

Medicinal and Culinary Uses

Native American communities all over America have known and used a variety of indigenous fungi, including the hen of the woods in every imaginable manner. The odor of this mushroom is pleasant and nutlike and is said to taste like chicken. It is thought that many Native American communities would grill or use this mushroom in a stew. Some mushroom uses were important and retained as a secret. Within certain Native Communities, sacred medicines were cloaked in secrecy in order to protect the medicine itself in order to assure the maximum strength and efficiency in working the desired cure. Today we know that the hen of the wood mushroom supports immune health and is noted for its antiviral effects. It contains a variety of beta-glucans, minerals, and amino acids. Recent studies have found that this mushroom has a unique set of sugars and proteins that can attack and suppress malignant cancer cells.

Did You Know

The Latin genus name Grifola is derived from a mythical Greek creature, the griffin, which has the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. This association was made because it was thought that the fruiting body of this mushroom resembled the feathers of an eagle or the mane of a lion.

Maitake was a highly valued commodity in feudal Japan, where local lords would trade their subjects an equivalent weight in silver for maitake. Thus, the name “dancing mushroom” stems from the Japanese commoners who would dance for joy when they found maitake, knowing they would be greatly compensated for their discovery. 

Approximately 2000 years ago, maitake was used as a Chinese medicine called Keisho and was used to improve the health of the spleen and stomach.

There are some similar-looking species that are toxic.