Medicinal Monday...the Ceremonial Smoke of Kinnikinnick and More!

Smoking was and continues to be a part of all Native American ceremonies. Bearberries are also known as Kinnikinnick, an Algonquian word that refers to a traditional herbal smoking mixture is made from the bark and leaves of kinnikinnick.  Recipes for this mixture vary and so do the uses, from social and spiritual, to ceremonial and medicinal. The word kinnikinnick derives from the Unami Delaware for mixture and from Algonquin, kereken for mixing by hand.

About Kinnikinnick

Kinnikinnick has many names and refers to its fruits, Arctostaphylos and uva-ursi both mean bear grapes. A type of cranberry, bearberry is a favorite snack of bears which is how it gets its common name. In North America, it grows from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic coastline and creeps south as far as Virginia and north into the Arctic. This ground trailing evergreen shrub has thick rubber-like paddle-shaped leaves that are rolled at the edges. The leaves are yellow-green in the spring, dark green in the summer, and reddish-purple in the autumn. Pink clusters of flowers bloom on flexible stems from March - June. Bright red berries succeed the flowers and can persist into the winter months. The bark is papery and reddish with an exfoliating bark that is typical of woody plants growing in the Northeast. It grows best in sunny well-drained soil. 

Medicinal Uses 

Two important medicinal uses of this plant were as an astringent and as a diuretic. The Woodland Cree used bearberry as an astringent. An infusion of bearberry was taken to bring about menstruation; women also drank this to avoid miscarriages and to help recover their health after birth. For back sprains, the Cheyenne made an infusion of bearberry by boiling the entire above-ground portion of the plant in water. The resulting infusion was drunk and the leaves were applied externally. If a member of the community became mentally deranged the Cheyenne would burn the leaves of the bearberry plant and use the smoke to flush out the evil spirits. The Blackfoot applied the berries externally to treat canker sores and sore gums. They also made a salve from the berries mixed with animal grease and boiled hoof to treat dry skin, rashes, and sores. Many Native American communities use an infusion of this plant as a remedy for urinary tract infections.

The Menominee added the berries to various medicinal mixtures to make them taste better. The Ojibwa used an infusion of ground bearberry to wash inflamed and painful parts of the body. They also made a decoction of bearberry bark to treat people suffering from internal blood diseases. Ceremonially the Ojibwa smoked the leaves in a ceremony to cause intoxication. The Chippewa smoked a combination of kinnikinnick and tobacco to treat headaches. The roots were smoked ceremonially to attract game before hunting. Many western communities use kinnikinick for ceremonial use. In the culinary realm, the berries were cooked with meat to provide additional seasoning. 

Did You Know...

This mat-forming shrub is often used as a ground cover because it is happy in full sun to part shade in dry soil. 

Kinnikinnick contains glycoside arbutin, which has antimicrobial properties and acts as a mild diuretic.

Bearberry is sometimes confused with bog bilberry and wintergreen. 

Pollinators, hummingbirds, and bears love this plant.

According to Mount Sinai Hospital until the discovery of sulfa drugs and antibiotics, this plant was a common treatment for bladder-related infections.