Medicinal Monday... the Otherworldly Looking Fever Nut Shrub

Guilandina bonduc also known as  Fever Nut, Yellow Nicker, Grey Nicker, or Hawaiian Pearls, is indigenous to Hawaii. It is part of the subspecies Caesalpinia in the Fabaceae or pea family. Showy yellow flowers that mature into pods with spikes characterize this plant. Today, the seeds are strung together to make a lei that will last longer than those made of flowers. Traditionally,  Hawaiians found several interesting medicinal uses for this sprawling tropical shrub.  

About the Fever Nut Plant

This shrub has vines that can climb over 30 feet engulfing surrounding vegetation. It is like a tropical bramble that is found in colder climates. The woody (liana) stems of this shrub are lined with curved spikes. The flowers are bright yellow and fragrant. After flowering green pods form that are covered in spike - and look almost otherworldly. As the pods ripen and mature they turn from green to brown to almost black and contain one or two hard white-grey seeds.  Fever Nut shrubs are found on Ni'ihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, Hawaii, and the Northwest Islands in dry open areas. 

Photo credit Forest and Kim Starr

Medicinal Uses of the Fever Nut Shrub

The beans of this plant were harvested and pounded to produce a liquid that would be taken to purify the blood and clear the chest of fluids and phlegm. The beans also have laxative properties and were ground and taken by adults as well as infants for constipation. A medicine was made of the young leaf buds to treat venereal disease and painful urination. The roots were pounded and made into a poultice and applied to sores and bruises to help healing. A decoction of the leaves is used to treat fevers, sinusitis, and fatigue.

Photo credit James St John

Did You Know...

Traditionally, children would play with the beans much like children today play with marbles. 

Caesalpinia is named for Andrea Cesalpino, an Italian botanist and doctor, who lived from 1519 to 1603.

The name bonduc comes from Arabic and means nut.

The Hawaiian name for this plant is Kākalaioa, which means thorny. Another Hawaiian name is Hihikolo

Today, some people in Hawaii consider the fever nut plant a weed. 

Moccasin Workshop @ Institute for American Indian Studies Moccasins Are More than Just Footwear

The Institute for American Indian Studies located at 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut is holding a Moccasin Making Workshop on Saturday, March 30, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants will not only leave this workshop with a pair of moccasins that they have made, they will also leave with a greater understanding of the cultural significance this footwear has with Native American communities throughout the country.

 

Across the United States, many Native American tribes created different styles of moccasins to suit their environment. The word moccasin itself comes from the Algonkian language - meaning “shoe.” They can be hard or soft-soled, ornately beaded, or plain, fur-lined, or cuffed. In short, the style of moccasins is as diverse as the many different tribes that they originate from. Traditionally, in the Eastern Woodlands, including Connecticut, soft-soled moccasins were commonly made out of a single piece of deer, elk or moose hide, and hand-sewn using sinew. A characteristic making it an Eastern Woodlands moccasin is the center seam that is gathered at the toe giving it a puckered shape. Today, moccasin-inspired shoes find their way into modern designs and fashion statements, even as Native culture keepers continue the centuries-old tradition of moccasin making.

 

This fascinating three-hour workshop, led by Darlene Kascak, Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, and Educational Outreach Ambassador for IAIS promises to be fun and informative. Participants will make a pair of pucker-toe style moccasins out of deer hide while listening to the history of moccasins. It is a powerful feeling to make something that you can use in your everyday life, using methods that people have used for generations.

 

This workshop is recommended for adults and children ages 8 and up due to the dexterity required for sewing. To register for this workshop head to the website The Institute for American Indian Studies Museum & Research Center, call 860-868-0518, or email events@iaismuseum.org. The cost of this workshop, which includes all materials, is $80 for non-members of the museum and $70 for members.

Medicinal Monday - Eastern Red Cedar

The Eastern Red Cedar tree is important to many Native American communities, not only for its medicinal properties but also for its ceremonial and practical uses. From making furniture and carvings from wood to using the bark of this tree as a dye for coloring mats, this tree is useful.

About Eastern Red Cedar

This fragrant evergreen tree can grow up to 90 feet high and is native to eastern North America including Canada. It can be found growing as far south as the Gulf of Mexico and west to the Great Plains. It grows in a conical shape, that almost looks like a pyramid, especially when it is young. The bark is soft and silvery and peels off in long flexible strips. The finely cut leaves of this tree are blue-green to gray-green and branches are red-brown. The paper-like male cones are yellow-brown and female cones are dark blue or blue-purple and look like berries. There are one to three seeds per cone. This tree flowers in March and April and the fruits and seeds are ripe from October through November. Many nations used various parts of this tree in ceremonies. 

Varied Uses

Many Native American communities used the Eastern Red Cedar tree for its fragrance and burned it like incense. The Lakota, for example, burned leaves and twigs at funerals. It was burned in sweat lodges during purification ceremonies. The wood was considered valuable and used to make fence posts, furniture, and carvings. The reddish bark was processed and used as a dye, and many tribes dyed mats. The berries for many Native American communities were used as a source of food. The fruit and leaves were given to horses that were coughing. The Kiowa made love flutes from the scented red heartwood of this tree. The Navajo used the wood to make a wand to carry in certain ceremonies and the Ojibwa used the wood and bark to make dwellings. The Omaha burned parts of this tree and used the smoke in a variety of ceremonies, mostly purification rites. Flutes made from this tree are highly prized, especially by the Cherokee.

Medicinal Uses

The most common use of Eastern Red Cedar was to inhale the smoke of burning leaves and twigs or to make tea from the berries to treat coughs, colds, and sore throats. The Cherokee made an infusion and took it for colds. An ointment was made to treat skin irritations The Chippewa and the Iroquois made a compound decoction of twigs and used the steam to ease the pain of rheumatism. The Comanche burned the wood and inhaled the smoke for purification. The Dakota, Pawnee, Omaha, Seminole, and Iroquois burned twigs and inhaled the smoke to ease colds. The Kiowa chewed the berries to ease the pain of sores in their mouths. The Lakota burned leaves and inhaled the smoke to relieve head colds. They also ate the berries to relieve thirst. The Ojibwa ate the berries and leaves to relieve headaches and the Pawnee inhaled the smoke from burning twigs to treat bad dreams and anxiety. The Ponca made a decoction of the fruits and leaves and took it to stop coughing. The Rappahannock made a compound infusion of berries to treat respiratory illnesses. The Seminole used a combination of leaves to treat headaches and sore eyes.  They also burned leaves to treat dizziness, swollen legs, and sore muscles and joints. Some women drank red cedar tea to help them with childbirth.

Did You Know...

The Eastern Red Cedar Tree is also known as red cedar, savin, cedar apple, Virginia juniper, and eastern juniper.

The Eastern Red Cedar Tree is technically a juniper, as indicated by its name, Juniperus virginiana.

The largest known Eastern Red Cedar Tree is 75 feet wide and 57 feet tall. It is located in Georgia.

Wildlife is attracted to the blue-colored berries and some birds use the tree for their nests because it provides a dense cover.

Cedarwood essential oil is used in aromatherapy today.

Cedarwood is used today as an insect repellent and is an effect deterrent for moths.

Medicinal Monday Common Cottongrass

 Grasses grow on every continent in the world and can be found in a variety of habitats from prairies and tropical savannas to the Arctic tundra and woodland forests. It is estimated that there are more than 13,000 different types of grasses and according to the Smithsonian, identifying all of them is still a work in progress. One of these grasses is tall cottongrass which Native American communities found several uses for from medicinal to practical.

About Common Cottongrass

Eriophorum angustifolium or common cottongrass is found across the Northern United States and Canada. It is a creeping perennial that spreads extensively once it is established. Ir flowers in early April or May, the small blooms are small brown and green flowers that develop distinctive white cotton-like heads that resemble tufts of cotton. This grass grows from a rhizomatous rootstock and produces up to 20 culms in suitable conditions. It also grows from seed over a five-year period. It can be found in peat bogs, meadows, marches, and tundras. It thrives around pond margins and in acidic soil. It also grows well in clay soils and is quite invasive. Common cottongrass is hardy and can grow in cold, temperate, subarctic, and arctic regions.

Edible Uses

Many Native American communities harvested young stems and roots and ate them cooked or raw. The seeds are edible and used in traditional Native American cuisine. Eskimos ate the seeds and dried leaves and stems with seal oil.

Medicinal Uses

The leaves and roots are astringent and many Native American communities used them as a treatment for diarrhea. The Yupik of Alaska made a poultice of the seeds to treat wounds and gastrointestinal issues. The Eskimos would give raw stems to those in poor health to restore them to good health. The Ojibwa used the tops of this grass to help stop a cut or wound from bleeding. The Eskimos made a poultice from the plant to absorb pus from a wound and to stop eyes from watering.

Did You Know...

The cotton-like seed hairs are used to make candle wicks.

The cotton seed heads were used to stuff bedding.

The dried leaves and stems were woven into soft mats that could be used as coverings.

The Cherokee called this grass "rabbit tail."  

Native American Culture Keeper Experience for Women’s History Month @ Institute for American Indian Studies

“From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength, and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.” President Jimmy Carter’s Message commemorating National History Week in 1980

Women’s History Month actually began as Women’s History Week in 1978 in Sonoma County, California. By 1980, this movement gathered steam when President Carter issued a Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8th as National Women’s History Week. After a few years of lobbying efforts from around the country, Congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as Women’s History Month. 

To capture the spirit and to celebrate Women’s History Month, the Institute for American Indian Studies located at 38 Curtis Road in Washington, Connecticut is hosting a special virtual program that explores the life and legacy of Dr. Gladys Iola Tantaquidgeon (Mohegan) with her great-grandniece, Rachel Sayet (Mohegan). 

Tantaquidgeon, born in 1899 was a Mohegan Medicine Woman, whose family members began passing down herbal knowledge to her at a young age. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania beginning in 1919, she studied anthropology and focused on researching the use of herbal medicine among Native American communities living on the East Coast of the United States. For her work, she was awarded many honors and honorary degrees from prestigious Universities and organizations including Yale, the University of Connecticut, and the National Organization for Women. She also was honored for her accomplishments by many Native American tribes.  

Among her many contributions, socially, environmentally, and politically, was helping with the founding of the first Native American Museum in 1931. The Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum located in Uncasville, Connecticut is the oldest Native American-owned and operated museum in the country. The mission of this museum is to acquaint visitors with Mohegan culture, traditions, and beliefs. 

Dr. Gladys Iola Tantaquidgeon is widely considered to be an important Keeper of Native American Culture. This virtual conversation presentation and discussion featuring by Rachel Sayet, who has a master's degree in anthropology and museum studies from Harvard University will focus on the life and legacy of her great aunt, Gladys Tantaquidgeon, who passed away at 106. The conversation will highlight her work as an anthropologist, ethnobotanist, and herbalist and will touch on how her knowledge influenced her family and the Native American community. 

To join this Zoom presentation, please register online at https://iaismuseum.charityproud.org/EventRegistration/Index/15531, email events@iaismuseum.org, or call 860-868-0518. The cost of participation is $10 for non-museum members and free for members of the museum.

Medicinal Monday... Bulltongue Arrowhead

A member of the Sagittaria family, Bulltongue Arrowhead is an aquatic plant that grows in swampy ground or standing water in ponds, lakes, and streams. The tubers of this plant were a source of food for many Native American communities. It was also used medicinally and, as a love charm by the Thompson.

About Bulltongue Arrowhead

This plant, commonly found in the southeastern United States is distinguished by its large, lance-shaped leaves which grow from underground rhizomes. it can be found in every coastal state from Delaware to Texas and is considered native to Mexico Central America, and the West Indies. It is found in swampy areas, marshes, and along the shores of lakes, ponds, and streams. Flowers form at the end of thick stalks and are white and showy with three green sepals, three white or pink-tinged petals, and six stamens and pistils. The fruit of the plant is achene, a dry fruit produced by the flower that contains one seed that is dispersed by the wind or animals. The plant also spreads by its rhizomes.

Culinary and Medicinal Uses

Bulltongue Arrowhead was used as a source of food by many Native American tribes. For example. those living on Lake Okeechobee would locate and harvest the corms in the late summer and fall. They would pull plants from their canoes or wade into shallow waters and loosen the roots with their toes. As the roots rose to the top of the water, the corms were gathered and collected into floating baskets. Corms were baked in embers, boiled, or roasted in the ashes. They were then skinned and eaten whole or mashed. The Potawatomi mixed the boiled corms with deer meat and maple syrup. Because this plant was a favorite of ducks, many Native American communities planted them to attract these birds.

Medicinally, the most common use of the plant was to bathe a baby with a fever in an infusion of leaves to bring the fever down. The Seminole used a poultice of this plant to treat alligator bites and the Chippewa made an infusion of the root to treat indigestion. The Iroquois took an infusion of this plant to treat rheumatism and they also used it to treat boils and skin irritations. The Potawatomi made a poultice of ground corms and applied them to wounds and sores.

Did You Know...

Other names for this plant are duck potatoes and lance leaf arrowhead.

In Jamaica, Bulltongue Arrowhead was used to treat wounds, and in Cuba and Haiti, the roots were used to treat toothaches.

In Panama, the crushed leaves were used to treat sores, wounds, and insect bites.

This plant can tolerate brackish water but not salt water.

It is the most common arrowhead found in eastern North America.