Medicinal Monday - Astounding Bloodroot!

Many Native Americans are brought up with a rich cultural practice that teaches them that every living thing, plant or animal has a special purpose and a place in the world. Bloodroot has a long and fascinating history and was used by Native Americans in many ways from romantic pursuits to poison.  The Algonquin called bloodroot puccoon or paucon which means "blood red."  This name comes from the Powhatan Indian word, poughkone or pohcoons, which colonists in Virginia recorded as meaning red paint or red dye.

About Bloodroot

Sanguinaria canadensis or bloodroot is a beautiful wildflower that emerges in the spring and usually blooms between April and June in Connecticut. It is native to the Eastern North American woodlands from Nova Scotia through New England and can be found as far south as Florida. It is found in shaded areas surrounded by tall hardwood trees and prefers rich soil.

Bloodroot is a member of the poppy family and like its cousin, it contains opium alkaloids.  Bloodroot has an ephemeral quality because it blooms for only one or two days.  The plant reaches six to nine inches and the blossoms are about three inches across and have eight to twelve pedals making the flower rather large for its relatively small size.  

Medicinal and Decorative Uses

The name bloodroot comes from the fact that red sap is bled from the roots of these wildflowers.  This sap is used by many tribes as a dye for clothing and baskets, as well as for face paint.  The Chippewa dig up the roots in the fall and use the sap to make brilliant red dyes. The Iroquois extracted the rhizomes of the bloodroot plant to make an orange or yellow fabric dye.

In some of the Algonquin villages, bloodroot was associated with romance and men would wear bloodroot paint when they courted women. It was used as a charm by the young men of the Ponca tribe who would put the sap of this plant on their palm and shake hands with the maiden they desired to marry.  If this charm worked, the maiden would marry within five or six days.

Bloodroot was also widely used by Native Americans as a poison, and in small doses as an herbal medicine for treating ringworm, warts, polyps, fungal growths, and skin cancer.

Did you know....

Bloodroot depends on ants to spread its seeds. The ants carry the seeds to their nests and consume part of the plant discarding the seeds in their nest which is the perfect environment for germination.

Bloodroot does not have nectar, however, its large yellow anthers trick insects into transporting its pollen.

In the early years of North American settlement, bloodroot was exported to France and used to dye wool.

Today bloodroot is used in very small doses in herbal remedies to treat severe throat infections and bronchial problems.  An extract is used in some toothpaste to fight plaque.

The FDA considers bloodroot unsafe and discourages the use of this plant in herbal medicine.

The Institute for American Indian Studies

Located on 15 woodland acres the IAIS has an outdoor Three Sisters and Healing Plants Gardens as well as a replicated 16th c. Algonkian Village.  Inside the museum, authentic artifacts are displayed in permanent, semi-permanent and temporary exhibits from prehistory to the present that allows visitors a walk through time. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut and can be reached online or by calling 860-868-0518.

The Institute for American Indian Studies preserves and educates through discovery and creativity the diverse traditions, vitality, and knowledge of Native American cultures. Through archaeology, the IAIS is able to build new understandings of the world and history of Native Americans, the focus is on stewardship and preservation.  This is achieved through workshops, special events, and education for students of all ages.

Digging the Past - By Land and Lake

The Institute for American Indian Studies is hosting a free event on July 22 and on July 28 on Lake Waramaug at the Warren Town Beach located on North Shore Road off of Rte. 45 on the New Preston and Warren Town line.   From 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. participants will experience the historic legacy of our Native American past by taking a free ride in an authentically made Native American dugout canoe and watching an archeological dig that is taking place in a meadow across the street.

Dugout Canoe Rides

Today cars, cell phones, social media, and the Internet connect us, it is the way most of us share ideas and keep in touch with each other.  For the Eastern Woodland Indians, rivers and waterways served as the high-speed highways that connected tribes as the quickest way to move from place to place. The importance of dugout canoes or mishoon as they are called in Wampanoag and Algonkian languages were like today's digital cables because they connected tribes and spread ideas.  Dugout canoes also facilitated fishing, hunting, and trade during pre and post contact time. 

This free opportunity to paddle in an authentically made dugout canoe is a once in a lifetime experience that gives us a glimpse into Native American's rich cultural history of how indigenous people lived in the Eastern Woodlands.  Jeff Kalin, one of the leading primitive technologists in the country made this dugout canoe using traditional Native American construction methods.

About Native American Dugout Canoes

Making a dugout canoe is a mammoth undertaking and began with taking down a massive tree that was usually located near a river or lake.  To fell a tree for a dugout canoe, Native Americans coated the base of a tree with mud and straw and built a fire that charred the trunk.  As soon as the tree was down, the bark (that would be used to build wigwams) was removed and the ends of the trunk was cut and shaped into a point so that the canoe would move either direction. A small fire was started on top of the stripped tree trunk to burn out the top and bottom surface of the trunk.  Stone hand tools would be used to scrape out and hollow the log and flatten the bottom of the canoe.  The final step was to coat the canoe in bear grease to waterproof the wood.

Archeological Dig - July 22

If you are interested in archeology, this is your chance to dig into the past with The Litchfield Hills Archaeology Club on July 22.  The excavation will take place within walking distance of the dugout canoe launch spot on North Shore Road from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

                                     

It is exciting to watch the challenge of finding where and how ancient people once lived in Connecticut where there are so few above ground clues.  Perhaps, in this newly excavated area, an artifact may be found that has not been touched by human hands since it was discarded hundreds, perhaps thousands of years ago – artifacts that may shed light on how ancient man lived in Connecticut and in our beautiful Eastern Woodlands.

The Institute for American Indian Studies

Located on 15 woodland acres the IAIS has an outdoor Three Sisters and Healing Plants Gardens as well as a replicated 16th c. Algonkian Village.  Inside the museum, authentic artifacts are displayed in permanent, semi-permanent and temporary exhibits from prehistory to the present that allows visitors a walk through time. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut and can be reached online or by calling 860-868-0518.

The Institute for American Indian Studies preserves and educates through discovery and creativity the diverse traditions, vitality, and knowledge of Native American cultures. Through archaeology, the IAIS is able to build new understandings of the world and history of Native Americans, the focus is on stewardship and preservation.  This is achieved through workshops, special events, and education for students of all ages.

Medicinal Monday - Gooseberries or Currants?

A flavorful shrub in the currant family produces a flavorful fruit popular with Native Americans called a gooseberry.  The gooseberry is another name for several of the many varieties of currants that grow all over North America. The name gooseberry is a direct translation of the Kiowa, Omaha and Ponca terms for this fruit.

About Gooseberries

Currant bushes are small and grow no more than six feet tall and usually measure about three feet. They have fragrant yellow five petal flowers in May or June and round black, red, or blue color fruit that usually ripens in July and August. Gooseberries usually grow on hillsides or on the border of woods or near swamps and beside rivers and streams.

Cultivated forms of gooseberries are divided into either European or American; the difference is in the size of the fruit and the flavor.  North American gooseberries are said to be smaller and have less flavor than there European counterpart, however, they are more resistant to diseases.

Medicinal and Culinary Uses

Native Americans ate gooseberries raw, they also cooked with them. Gooseberries were also dried or preserved and made into jellies or jams.  The Hidatsa tribe considered gooseberries a desireable wild fruit, while the Hopi, would caution against eating too much of this fruit because it could make you sick to your stomach. The Gitksan of British Columbia put them in thin dry cakes that they ate with oil of eulachon, salmon, groundhog, or bear during the winter months. Many tribes made dried currant cakes and also used them in soup and to flavor stews.  The leaves of the plant were dried for tea and the young leaves were cooked with meat.

The Kiowa used the raw fruit of the gooseberry as a remedy for snakebite because they believed that snakes did not like this berry and kept away from this shrub. A decoction made from the steam of the skunk red current was used to prevent blood clotting after giving birth.  Other parts of this plant were used to treat colds, coughs, diabetes, diarrhea and to prevent miscarriages.

Did You Know...

There are many types of gooseberries or currants including the wax, bear, squaw, buffalo, clove, black, Missouri, golden and flowering currants.

Gooseberries are tart, low in calories, fat and cholesterol free and high in Vitamin C and A.

Gooseberries and currents can be easily distinguished by thorns; gooseberries usually have thorns and currants do not.

In the early 1900s the Federal and State Governments outlawed the growing of currants and gooseberries to prevent the spread of white pine blister rust.  Massachusetts still prohibits the cultivation of this plant.

Medicinal Monday - Beautiful Blueberries

Blueberries of the genus Vaccinium is a species that is Native to America and were used for food and medicinal purposes for centuries by Native Americans.  They cherished these berries that were used year-round in many ways.  There is also a spiritual quality to this berry.  The blossom at the end of each blueberry, called the calyx, forms a five-pointed star, Elders of the Tribe told of how the Great Spirit sent "star berries" to relieve the hunger of children during a famine.

About Blueberries

Blueberries are a perennial shrub-like flowering plant with a beautiful indigo colored berry. The flowers are bell-shaped and white, pale pink or red and the berry has a flared crown at the end of the fruit.  The berry starts off as pale green in color, then turns a reddish-purple, when ripe, usually mid.-summer, the berry is a dark blue color. Cranberries, bilberries, and grouseberries are in the same family as blueberries.

Today's cultivated blueberries are distinct from wild blueberries in a few ways. The cultivated blueberry plants are called highbush and the wild blueberries are called lowbush. The real difference has to do with size, the wild berry is much smaller than their bigger, juicy cultivated cousins.

Medicinal and Culinary Use

Today we know that blueberries are good for us because they have such high levels of antioxidant phytonutrients, especially beneficial are the anthocyanins that come from the blueberries rich color that helps neutralize damage that can lead to a multitude of ailments in our skin, tissue, and cells.

Native Americans prescribed blueberry tea as a muscle relaxant, especially for women during childbirth.  Blueberries were also boiled and reduced down into a thick heavy syrup that was used to treat coughs, colds, and sore throats. The Algonquin used an infusion of leaves for infants with colic. They also used an infusion of the roots to induce labor.  The Chippewa would put blueberry flowers on a hot stone and use the fumes as an inhalant for "craziness."  The Iroquois used blueberries in ceremonies for those desiring health in the coming season.

The First Thanksgiving Jean Louis Gerome Ferris

It is said that Native Americans gave blueberries to the pilgrims to help them through their first winter. A favorite dish of the Native Americans was Sautauthig which is like a simple pudding made with blueberries, cracked corn (or samp), and water.  The settlers liked this dish too; and eventually added sugar, milk, and butter to it.  Many historians believe that some form of this was served at the first Thanksgiving.

Native Americans enjoy this berry year round.  They dried the berries, added them whole to stews, soups, and meat as well as to puddings and cakes.  They also crushed blueberries into a powder and rubbed it on meat to help preserve it.

Did you Know...

In the early 20th century, people didn't think blueberries could be domestically cultivated.  In 1911, Elizabeth White, the daughter of a farmer from New Jersey worked with botanist Frederick Coville to crossbreed and create new blueberry varieties. In 1912, the team had a successful field of blueberry plants and by 1916 White and Coville harvested and sold the first commercial crop of highbush blueberries in New Jersey, and the rest is history!

Blueberries are grown in 38 states.  Ten states account for more than 98% of U.S. commercial production: California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, and Washington.

The largest producer of blueberries in the world is the United States followed by Canada, Poland, Germany, Mexico, France, Netherlands, and Spain.

The Institute for American Indian Studies

Located on 15 woodland acres the IAIS has an outdoor Three Sisters and Healing Plants Gardens as well as a replicated 16th c. Algonkian Village.  Inside the museum, authentic artifacts are displayed in permanent, semi-permanent and temporary exhibits from prehistory to the present that allows visitors a walk through time. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut and can be reached online or by calling 860-868-0518.

The Institute for American Indian Studies preserves and educates through discovery and creativity the diverse traditions, vitality, and knowledge of Native American cultures. Through archaeology, the IAIS is able to build new understandings of the world and history of Native Americans, the focus is on stewardship and preservation.  This is achieved through workshops, special events, and education for students of all ages.

Bark Basket Workshop June 24

Native Americans have created baskets for centuries. In fact, archeologists believe that baskets making is one of the oldest known crafts in the world.  If you have always wanted to learn how to create a Native American bark basket, join the workshop conducted by Jennifer Lee of Pequot and Narragansett ancestry on June 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Institute of American Indian Studies located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington, Connecticut. 

About Native American Baskets

Native American baskets range from very simple to very elaborate and the art of basket making was passed down from generation to generation among Native American Indian mothers to their daughters.  

Ash trinket mokok with collar 

The first step in bark basket making was the harvesting of pine, ash or birch bark in the spring.  The bark was then folded into the shape of a container and sewn together with spruce root and rimmed with Arrowwood or Red Osier Dogwood.  Bark baskets made by Eastern Woodland Indians were used for cooking, gathering berries, hauling water, storing food, as cradleboards and even for burying the dead.  

About the Workshop

Jennifer Lee is an 18th-century re-enactor and material culture presenter that offers a variety of programs including bark basket making demonstrations and workshops.  She portrays an Algonkian woman of the 1750 era. Lee is also a teller of history and traditional stories. "I want my programs to dispel old stereotypes and increase awareness of present-day Native Americans."

White Pine bark mokok with poinsettia appliqué 

Participants in this workshop will learn about the lore and tradition of basket making while creating their very own bark basket.  Lee will guide participants through the process of creating a bark basket using white pine bark, spruce root, and willow. Participants can choose from three different basket designs and are sure to treasure their creation at the end of the day.

To participate in this workshop, please pre-register by calling (860) 868-0518 or emailing general@iaismuseum.org to reserve your spot.  The cost of this workshop ranges from $50 to $60 depending on the basket that you choose to make.  Please note that prepayment is required.

Solstice, Strawberries and Summer @ American Indian Archeological Institute

Celebrating the longest day of the year during Summer Solstice has gone on for centuries, and some of the most interesting celebrations and rituals are those practiced by Native Americans.  This year Summer Solstice occurs on June 21 and the Institute of American Indian Studies in Washington Connecticut is planning to celebrate this celestial event with an easy walk, stories, and strawberries.

On Thursday, June 21, from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. get ready for an evening of fun, stories and strawberries with the staff of the American Indian Archeological Institute in Washington Connecticut. Participants on this adventure will learn about the significance of the summer solstice in various cultures and how it has been celebrated around the world.

The word solstice comes from the Latin words for sun and to stop because, on this particular day, the sun appears to pause in the sky when it reaches its northernmost point from the equator.  As you stroll along the forest path, you will learn about the many interesting rituals and celebrations that are practiced by Native Americans.  The "medicine wheel," for example, is considered to be a celestial observatory built hundreds of years ago by the Plains Indians to indicate where the sun rose and set on the summer solstice; while the Pueblo Indians created a solar marking site at Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon.  In Connecticut, according to the New England Historical Society, there are 62 ancient stone structures that are oriented to the stars and planets.

The Summer Solstice Walk concludes in a 17th-century authentic replica of the Institute's Algonkian Village.  The perfect conclusion to the walk is to sit by the fire and listen to the stories that have come down to us from the ages as the shadows fall around the surrounding wigwams.  A special strawberry treat will be served.  As one of the first fruits of summer, Native Americans believe that strawberries represent life and good health.

The Institute for American Indian Studies

Located on 15 woodland acres the IAIS has an outdoor Three Sisters and Healing Plants Gardens as well as a replicated 16th c. Algonkian Village.  Inside the museum, authentic artifacts are displayed in permanent, semi-permanent and temporary exhibits from prehistory to the present that allows visitors a walk through time. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut and can be reached online or by calling 860-868-0518.

The Institute for American Indian Studies preserves and educates through discovery and creativity the diverse traditions, vitality, and knowledge of Native American cultures. Through archaeology, the IAIS is able to build new understandings of the world and history of Native Americans, the focus is on stewardship and preservation.  This is achieved through workshops, special events, and education for students of all ages.

Strawberry Moon Festival June 16

For millennia, Native American tribes tracked the change of seasons by following the lunar full moon cycle and named each full moon for the attributes of the season. June's full moon was called the "Strawberry Moon" because of the red berries that began to ripen in early summer.  Eventually, Colonial Americans adopted Native American names for the full moon and incorporated them into the modern calendar that is used today.

It is difficult for most of us to resist a perfectly ripe strawberry; which is one of the most popular fruits in the world. There are ten varieties of strawberries that differ in flavor, size, and texture and yet all of them have the same heart shape and leafy green cap. To fete the strawberry,  that has a long history in Native Culture, the Institute for American Indian Studies is hosting the Strawberry Moon Festival on June 16 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., a delicious celebration not to be missed!

The Institute has organized games, food, and stories that honor the importance of this fruit to Native American culture.  Strawberries have been used for centuries as medicine, in cuisine, and ceremonially by Native Americans and represent life and good health.  

At the Strawberry Moon Festival, visitors of all ages will enjoy traditional Native American Music, and stories told by a traditional Native American Storyteller that teach the importance of giving thanks to the bounty of the Earth. A highlight of this event will be samplings of complimentary food such as strawberry tea and strawberry bread made from locally grown fruit.  Special activities for children are planned from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The cost of this event is $10 for adults, $8 for Seniors, $6 for children and is free of charge for members of the Institute.

A Native American Story About the Strawberry

In the beginning, there was the first man and first woman, they lived together and were very happy. Eventually, they began to quarrel and the woman left the man and started off toward the Sun land (Nundagunyi) in the east.  The man followed her, but she kept on going, never looking back.  The Creator pitied the man and asked him if he was still angry with the woman, he said no and asked the Creator to help him win her back. 

The Creator caused a beautiful patch of huckleberries to spring up on the path in front of the woman, but she did not stop.  Farther on, the Creator put a clump of blackberries on her path, which she did not acknowledge. Other fruits and trees were placed in front of her to no avail.  Then she came upon the first known patch of ripe red strawberries. She stopped and tasted a strawberry, and then another. As she began to pick the strawberries and put them in her basket she thought of her the first man, and looking west, began to miss him.

No longer upset, she packed her basket with strawberries and started for home.   The first man met the first woman on the path, his heart soared when he saw her smiling and heard her singing.  He wanted to tell her how much he missed her.   Smiling she put her hand to his lips and placed a strawberry in his mouth. Silently, the first man gave thanks to the Creator for this wonderful gift of fruit that brought the first woman back to him.  Hand in hand they returned to the village, eating strawberries along the way.

This tale is of Cherokee origin.

The Institute for American Indian Studies

Located on 15 woodland acres the IAIS has an outdoor Three Sisters and Healing Plants Gardens as well as a replicated 16th c. Algonkian Village.  Inside the museum, authentic artifacts are displayed in permanent, semi-permanent and temporary exhibits from prehistory to the present that allows visitors a walk through time. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut and can be reached online or by calling 860-868-0518.

The Institute for American Indian Studies preserves and educates through discovery and creativity the diverse traditions, vitality, and knowledge of Native American cultures. Through archaeology, the IAIS is able to build new understandings of the world and history of Native Americans, the focus is on stewardship and preservation.  This is achieved through workshops, special events, and education for students of all ages.