Paiute Story

The People of the Sky traveled so much they made trails in the
heavens. If you are patient you can see which way they go. But the
North Star does not travel. While on earth, Na-gah, the mountain sheep,
was brave, daring and courageous. Everyday he climbed and seeked out
rough terrain and the high peaks. He lived among them and was very
happy. Once a long time ago he found a very high peak where the sides
were steep and sharp, reaching for the clouds. Na-gah looked up and
said, “I wonder what is up there. I will climb to the very highest
point.”

Shinoh, the father of North Star, turned them into stars, and you may
see them in the sky at the foot of the big mountain. Always they are
travelling. They go around and around the mountain, seeking the trail
that leads upward to Na-gah, who stands on the top. He is still the
North Star.

Native American tribes in the nation’s
heartland have launched an unprecedented drive to harness the
inexhaustible wind resources of the Great Plains, to generate
renewable power and help stop global warming.

http://www.nativewind.org/

The Mi’kmaq spoke a language which was a member of the Algonkian family. It was closely related to that spoken by their neighbours the Malecite and Passamaquoddy, and distantly related to other Algonkian-speakers such as the Beothuk and the Innu. In the early historic period, the fundamental unit of Mi’kmaq society was the extended family, which could consist of a leader (sagamaw) of a group of related people including the sagamaw’s immediate family, his married children and their families, and other relatives who lived with him. At times and places where food was plentiful, a number of these local groups could form bands which in the summer could range up to two to three hundred people. On occasion, the sagamaws came together in a kind of council to discuss important matters, especially those having to do with peace and war. A traditional account of the Mi’kmaq people also holds that their land was divided into seven regions and that each region was led by a chief. The Cape Breton regional chief was considered a Grand Chief. It is not clear if this arrangement existed in prehistoric times, and most authorities believe that Mi’kmaq society was essentially an egalitarian one whose leaders were chosen because of the prestige and status that they had earned. Their leadership, it is argued, largely consisted of being able to create agreement within a band about what to do. Such leadership was particularly important in resolving conflicts within a group, negotiating alliances with other people, going to war with enemies, and making decisions about when and where to hunt and fish.

Since the Mi’kmaq lived a bit too far north to be able to depend upon aboriginal crops such as corn, beans, and squash, they relied upon the resources of the forests and the sea. To do so, Mi’kmaq groups had to follow precisely-timed schedules. According to Father Biard, in January they hunted seals on the coasts and off-shore islands, while the period from February to the middle of March was spent inland hunting moose, caribou, beaver and bear. In the last half of March, the people moved out to the coasts and estuaries to catch smelt, and by the end of April herring were available. The spring also brought migratory sea birds and salmon. From May to the middle of September the Mi’kmaq fished and gathered shellfish. Then they moved to the tributaries of the larger rivers to take eel, and in October and November groups moved inland to hunt moose, caribou and beaver. In December, young cod were taken under the ice.

The Mi’kmaq did not make a distinction, as Europeans did, between
what was natural and what was supernatural or spiritual. On the contrary,
not only people, but animals, the sun, rivers, or even rocks, could have a
spirit–could be a person. The sun had special significance, but the
Mi’kmaq believed that all of the universe was filled with a spirit called
mntu or manitou. The universe had become understandable
to the Mi’kmaq in part because of Glooscap or Klu’skap,
who taught the people how the world had come into being and how it
worked now. In the 19th century, a Nova Scotia Baptist missionary
named Silas Rand collected many of the oral traditions of the Mi’kmaq,
including a number of tales recounting Glooskap’s exploits.

Like most hunter-gatherer peoples, the Mi’kmaq had shamans,
religious specialists, who lived among them. These individuals,
called puoin, had the power to cure ills (and to cause them),
and they were relied upon to interpret the spiritual world to the
people. Although Christian missionaries tried to discredit the
puoin and the world-view that they represented, many traditional
beliefs and practices persisted, some down to the present day.

© 1997, Ralph T. Pastore
Archaeology Unit & History Department
Memorial University of Newfoundland

Mi’kmaq people have always known about medicine. They have always
understood how roots and herbs from mother earth can be used to heal.

Mi’kmaq people have always known about medicine. They have always
understood how roots and herbs from mother earth can be used to heal
illnesses. Mi’kmaq shared their knowledge with the French and Europeans
and in many cases helped to save their lives when they
became ill. Their knowledge of roots and medicines make up the basis of
many of the prescription drugs that you see in the stores today. This
is a major contribution that the Mi’kmaq made to all of society.

When tuberculosis and smallpox were a threat to the mi’kmaq people, it
has been said that those who had a kettle of gigoesosg or pagosi
steeping at all times in their homes often avoided these diseases.

Here are some of the medicines used by Mi’kmaq for ailments.

- written and researched by Sarah Denny/Eskasoni, Nova Scotia
Black root - magteoegeoe - maqtewe’kewey
Good for babies with sore eyes - steep and bathe eyes. It is also good as tonic for women before and after giving birth. (viburnam compound noted patent medicine). It is from the honeysuckle family. Also good for flu and sore throat - steep and gargle.
Trillium - ogamlamonipgeg - wkwamulamunipkek
It is known to be good for babies colic, teething babies. Grate small amount and mix small amount in baby’s bottle. It wil stop the baby’s cramp, good for heart ailment -steep and drink.
Fir balsam - oisapegelao - wisapeklaw
Native people used it as tooth cleaner, relief of heartburn and cracked hands. Just chew for teeth and heartburn. For hands, crush and make into a paste with butter or lard. The paste will also relieve sore back. As a berm killer -boil some in a can with small holes, good as incense, good for laryngitis, sores and wounds.
Sarsperilla - gtjigaoapi - kji’ka’wapi
This is an all purpose medicine, especially for stomach, good for t.b. grate and boil and drink as tea.
Gold threads - oisaotagtjitjgl - wisawtaqji’jkl

Good for diabetes, sore mouth, milk tongue, ulcers, fertilitiy of women sore stomach. Picked around the end of august. Chew as they are for sore mouth or steep and drink for stomach ailment.

Ground - hemlock - gastog kastik
Use as a conditioner for falling hair (pot boiled). Good for blood and sore back, for bladder and kidney trouble. Steep and drink liquid.
Bay berry - geltjimanagsi - kl’jimanqsi
Boil together with mullen leaves. It is good for kidney trouble and arthritis. Boil for 20 minutes and drink 4 times a day.
Sweet flag - gigoesosg - ki’kwesu’sk
An all purpose medicine. Good for flu and bad colds. A native hunter’s belief: chew and spit on deer tracks - it will slow down the deer.
Tansi - tansil - tansi’l
For bad sprains, rheumatism and headache. Bandage leaves on infected area or boil and use water as liniment on affected area. For headache, place leaves on the head.
Labrador leaves - apoistegietjitjit - apuistekeie’ji’jit
Good for kidneys and flu and cold. Steep and drink liquid.
Bone medicine - gagagotjoinmosi - ka’qaqujuinmusi
For sprains or fractured bone. Crush into a powder and apply to the affected area.
Nits - ganatjitjg - kna’ji’jk
Good for diarrhea. Boil and drink 4 times a day or chew the leaves as they are.

DID YOU KNOW THAT……….

The seven hunting districts, the original tribal territories of
the Mi’kmaq extended from Newfoundland along the east coast including
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, parts of Maine and
Quebec along the Gaspe’ Penninsula. These hunting districts remain as a
recognized territory today.

Those districts are: kespukwitk; sikepne’katik; eski’kewaq; unama’kik;
piktuk aqq epekwitk; sikniketewaq; and kespe’kewaq.

The seven points of the sun represent the seven districts. An
eight point was added to the Mi’kmaq star, which was seven pointed
to represent the new district/ nation - the British.

Circle of Drums

Juaneno Band of Mission Indians

Acjachemen Nation

Native American Herbal Remedies

Asthma

Skunk Cabbage.

Used by the Winnebago and Dakota tribes to stimulate the removal of phlegm in asthma. The rootstock was official in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1882 when it was used in respiratory and nervous disorders and in rheumatism and dropsy.

Mullein.

Introduced by Europeans. The Menominees smoked the pulverized, dried root for respiratory complaints while the Forest Potawatomis, the Mohegans, and the Penobscots smoked the dried leaves to relieve asthma. The Catawba Indians used a sweetened syrup from the boiled root, which they gave to their children for coughs.

Backache

Arnica.

The Catawba Indians used a tea of arnica roots for treating back pains. The Dispensary of the United States (22nd edition) states this drug can be dangerous if taken internally and that it has caused severe and even fatal poisoning. Also used as a wash to treat sprains and bruises.

Gentian.

The Catawba Indians steeped the roots in hot water and applied the hot fluid on aching backs.

Horsemint

The Catawba tribe crushed and steeped fresh horsemint leaves in cold water and drank the infusion to allay back pain. Other tribes used horsemint for fever, inflammation, and chills.

Bronchitis

Creosote Bush.

A tea of the leaves was used for bronchial and other respiratory problems.

Pleurisy Root.

The Natchez drank a tea of the boiled roots as a remedy for pneumonia and was later used to promote the expulsion of phlegm,

Wormwood.

The Yokia Indians of Mendocino County used a tea of the boiled leaves of a local species of wormwood to cure bronchitis.

Burns

Yellow-Spined Thistle.

The Kiowa Indians boiled yellow-spined thistle blossoms and applied the resulting liquid to burns and skin sores.

Childbirth

To Speed Childbirth:

Partridgeberry.

The Cherokee used a tea of the boiled leaves. Frequent doses of the tea were taken in the few weeks preceding the expected date of delivery.

Blue Cohosh.

To promote a rapid delivery, an infusion of the root in warm water was drunk as a tea for several weeks prior to the expected delivery date. To Speed Delivery of the Placenta:

American Licorice.

A tea was made from the boiled roots.

Broom Snakeweed.

Navajo women drank a tea of the whole plant to promote the expulsion of the placenta. To Stop Post-Partum Hemorrhage:

Buckwheat.

Hopi women were given an infusion of the entire buckwheat plant to stop bleeding.

Black Western Chokecherry.

Arikara women were given a drink of the berry juice to stop bleeding.

Smooth Upland Sumac.

The Omahas boiled the smooth upland sumac fruits and applied the liquid as an external wash to stop bleeding. To relieve the Pain of Childbirth:

Wild Black Cherry.

Cherokee women were given a tea of the inner bark to relieve pain in the early stages.

Cotton.

The Alabama and Koasati tribes made a tea of the roots of the plant to relieve the pains of labor.

Colds

Boneset.

Boneset tea was one of the most frequently used home remedies during the last century. The Menominees used it to reduce fever; the Alabamas, to relive stomachache; the Creeks, for body pain; the Iroquois and the Mohegans, for fever and colds.

Colic

Catnip.

The Mohegans made a tea of catnip leaves for infant colic.

Contraceptives

Ragleaf Bahia.

The Navajos, who called the Ragleaf bahia herb twisted medicine, drank a tea of the roots boiled in water for thirty minutes for contraception purposes.

Indian Paintbrush.

Hopi women drank a tea of the whole Indian paintbrush to “Dry up the menstrual flow.”

Blue Cohosh.

Chippewa women drank a strong decoction of the powdered blue cohosh root to promote parturition and menstruation.

Dogbane.

Generally used by many tribes, a tea from the boiled roots of the plant was drunk once a week.

Milkweed.

Navajo women drank a tea prepared of the whole plant after childbirth.

American Mistletoe.

Indians of Mendocino County drank a tea of the leaves to induce abortion or to prevent conception.

Antelope Sage.

To prevent conception, Navajo women drank one cup of a decoction of boiled antelope sage root during menstruation.

Stoneseed.

Shoshoni women of Nevada reportedly drank a cold water infusion of stoneseed roots everyday for six months to ensure permanent sterility.

Coughs

Aspen.

The Cree Indians used an infusion of the inner bark as a remedy for coughs.

Wild Cherry.

The Flambeau Ojibwa prepared a tea of the bark of wild cherry for coughs and colds, while other tribes used a bark for diarrhea or for lung troubles.

White Pine.

The inner bark was used by Indian people as a tea for colds and coughs.

Sarsaparilla.

The Penobscots pulverized dried sarsaparilla roots and combined them with sweet flag roots in warm water and used the dark liquid as a cough remedy.

Diabetes

Wild Carrot.

The Mohegans steeped the blossoms of this wild species in warm water when they were in full bloom and took the drink for diabetes.

Devil’s Club.

The Indians of British Columbia utilized a tea of the root bark to offset the effects of diabetes.

Diarrhea

Blackcherry.

A tea of blackberry roots was the most frequently used remedy for diarrhea among Indians of northern California.

Wild Black Cherry.

The Mohegans allowed the ripe wild black cherry to ferment naturally in a jar about one year than then drank the juice to cure dysentery.

Dogwood.

The Menominees boiled the inner bark of the dogwood and passed the warm solution into the rectum with a rectal syringe made from the bladder of a small mammal and the hollow bone of a bird.

Geranium.

Chippewa and Ottawa tribes boiled the entire geranium plant and drank the tea for diarrhea.

White Oak.

Iroquois and Penobscots boiled the bark of the white oak and drank the liquid for bleeding piles and diarrhea.

Black Raspberry.

The Pawnee, Omaha, and Dakota tribes boiled the root bark of black raspberry for dysentery.

Star Grass.

Catawbas drank a tea of star grass leaves for dysentery.

Digestive Disorders

Dandelion.

A tea of the roots was drunk for heartburn by the Pillager Ojibwas. Mohegans drank a tea of the leaves for a tonic.

Yellow Root.

A tea from the root was used by the Catawbas and the Cherokee as a stomach ache remedy.

Fevers

Dogwood.

The Delaware Indians, who called the tree Hat-ta-wa-no-min-schi, boiled the inner bark in water, using the tea to reduce fevers.

Willow.

The Pomo tribe boiled the inner root bark, then drank strong doses of the resulting tea to induce sweating in cases of chills and fever. In the south, the Natchez prepared their fever remedies from the bark of the red willow, while the Alabama and Creek Indians plunged into willow root baths for the same purpose.

Feverwort.

The Cherokees drank a decoction of the coarse, leafy, perennial herb to cure fevers.

Headache

Pennyroyal.

The Onondagas steeped pennyroyal leaves and drank the tea to cure headaches.

Heart and Circulatory Problems

Green Hellebore.

The Cherokee used the green hellebore to relive body pains.

American Hemp and Dogbane.

Used by the Prairie Potawatomis as a heart medicine, the fruit was boiled when it was still green, and the resulting decoction drunk. It was also used for kidney problems and for dropsy.

Hemorrhoids

White Oak.

The Menominee tribe treated piles by squirting an infusion of the scraped inner bark of oak into the rectum with a syringe made from an animal bladder and the hollow bone of a bird.

Inflammations and Swellings

Witch Hazel.

The Menominees of Wisconsin boiled the leaves and rubbed the liquid on the legs of tribesmen who were participating in sporting games. A decoction of the boiled twigs was used to cure aching backs, while steam derived by placing the twigs in water with hot rocks was a favorite Potawatomi treatment for muscle aches.

Influenza

Native Hemlock (as opposed Poison Hemlock of Socrates fame).

The Menominees prepared a tea if the inner bark and drank it to relieve cold symptoms. A similar tea was used by the Forest Potawatomis to induce sweating and relieve colds and feverish conditions.

Insect Bites and Stings

Fendler Bladderpod.

The Navajos made a tea and used it to treat spider bites.

Purple Coneflower.

The Plains Indians used this as a universal application for the bites and stings of all crawling, flying, or leaping bugs. Between June and September, the bristly stemmed plant, which grows in dry, open woods and on prairies, bears a striking purplish flower.

Stiff Goldenrod.

The Meskwaki Indians of Minnesota ground the flowers into a lotion and applied it to bee stings.

Trumpet Honeysuckle.

The leaves were ground by chewing and then applied to bees stings.

Wild Onion and Garlic.

The Dakotas and Winnebagos applied the crushed bulbs of wild onions and garlics.

Saltbush.

The Navajos chewed the stems and placed the pulpy mash on areas of swelling caused by ant, bee and wasp bites. The Zunis applied the dried, powdered roots and flowers mixed with saliva to ant bites.

Broom Snakeweed.

The Navajos chewed the stem and applied the resin to insect bites and stings of all kinds.

Tobacco.

A favorite remedy for bee stings was the application of wet tobacco leaves.

Insect Repellents and Insecticides

Goldenseal.

The Cherokee pounded the large rootstock with bear fat and smeared it on their bodies as an insect repellent. It was also used as a tonic, stimulant, and astringent.

Rheumatism

Pokeweed.

Indians of Virginia drank a tea of the boiled berries to cure rheumatism. The dried root was also used to allay inflammation.

Bloodroot.

A favorite rheumatism remedy among the Indians of the Mississippi region - the Rappahannocks of Virginia drank a tea of the root.

Sedatives

Wild Black Cherry.

The Meskwaki tribe made a sedative tea of the root bark.

Hops.

The Mohegans prepared a sedative medicine from the conelike strobiles and sometimes heated the blossoms and applied them for toothache. The Dakota tribe used a tea of the steeped strobiles to relieve pains of the digestive organs, and the Menominee tribe regarded a related species of hops as a panacea.

Wild Lettuce.

Indigenous to North American, it was used for sedative purposes, especially in nervous complaints.

Thrush

Geranium.

The Cherokee boiled geranium root together with wild grape, and with the liquid, rinsed the mouths of children affected with thrush.

Persimmon.

The Catawba stripped the bark from the tree and boiled it in water, using the resulting dark liquid as a mouth rinse.

Sources: Millspaugh, Charles F. American Medicinal Plants. NY: Dover Publications, 1974.
Mooney, James. Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Nashville TN: Charles and Randy Elders, Publishers, 1982.
Weiner, Michael. Earth Medicine Earth Food. NY: Fawcett Columbine, 1980.

THE RIVER
from the Book
Legends of the Passamaquoddy
by
Charles G. Leland

“Ato-kah-win —– tell me a story?”

“Yes, I will tell you a story. Once upon a time there was an Indian village by a little river.

All the water they had to drink came from this river. There were no brooks or springs or ponds far or near—-nothing to drink from but this and the rain. Now, there came a long dry summer. Suddenly in one night the river ceased to flow. In a few days there was not so much as a puddle from which to quench thirst. This was hard for the Indians.

“Now, when they were almost dying for a drink, they held a meeting, and after a long debate sent an Indian up the river to find why it had ceased to flow; and far away and near its source he discovered the cause. There was another village there, whose inhabitants had built a dam and made a pond, which they kept all to themselves. The messenger complained to them that this was very selfish. They bade him speak to their chief. He did so; but what was his amazement at seeing that this chief was more of a monster than a man. He was an immense bloated creature, with a great paunch many times larger than that of the fattest live man. To him the messenger complained of the dam, but only met with abuse. “If you want water, go somewhere else.” said the monster. “What do I care if your people die of thirst. Begone!”

But at last, moved by the prayers of the messenger, he bade one of his men take an arrow and pierce a small hole in the dam, so that a little water might run down the stream.

“The Indian returned, and for a few days his fellow-villagers had a scanty allowance of water. By and by this ceased again to flow. Then the poor people became desperate. There was among them a fearless and powerful warrior. They told him to go to the bloated chief, and, unless the monster would take away the dam, to proceed to extremes and do his worst. “We may as well be killed,” said they.”as die of thirst with our families.” So the brave man, who cared for nothing so much as a fight, got ready and departed.. He came to the village of the dam, and saw the fat chief. Neither was pleased with the other’s appearance, and when the brave man said that he had come to order the dam to be destroyed, and that he expected it to be done immediately, the chief in a rage called to his followers. Whereupon the brave man, quick as lightning, split the chief’s head with a tomahawk, and then thrust his spear into the great belly. But what a wonder! In an instant, village, Indians, and all vanished; for it was all m’tuolin, and from the paunch of the monster came rushing in torrents the whole river, which he had swallowed.”

“Was this the end?”

“No-it was the beginning of a new race of beings; for the Indians of the lower village, being terribly thirsty, did as hungry men do when they sit to tell one another what they would like to have to eat if they could get it. “I said one, one as they lounged on the rocks which had once been wet, would like to wind about in nice soft mud or moss, and keep wet, and now and then drink my fill.” “I, said a long-legged young man, would dive from a rock all day and then swim ashore. Oh! How I would swallow the water!” “Ah I would do better than that.” Said a third, for I would live in the river, and only when the weather was fine bask on a log or stone, and then plump head over heels into the depths.” “Ho! you none of you know how to wish,” cried a fourth. “I am the only one who is sa’gm’o* of the wishers. I would live in the water, swimming all the time, and never come out.”

“Now, it so happened that all this was said in the hour when all men get their wishes. And so the first was turned into a water-lizard, which wiggles about in mud and moss; and the second, who wanted to take headers into the river, took them in earnest, for he became a frog, and a splendid jumper he is. Indeed, I have seen the time when I have been after a deer when I wished that I,too, had such legs as Mr. Tchk-wul-suk.”

“So that is the Indian for frog?”

“Yes; it sounds like it, doesn’t it? But the fourth u’skedzin or Indian — he that was the chief of the wishers— became a fish. And all the rest of the village, down to the very children, as they were all wishing for something of the same kind in their hearts, became tadpoles, or leeches, or water snakes, or such things. Before this happened there were no creatures in the waters; so now you know how all such animals came into the world.”

“How about the one who wished to sit on the log in sunshine and then slip down into the water?”

“Oh, that was Tchick-we-nocktch,or turtle, and a turtle he is to this day, Yes; his name is hard to pronounce, and if he is a snapper he is a hard fellow to deal with, and when he takes hold he never lets go till it thunders. But he is the best of all to eat— the harder the shell the sweeter the nut; and I hope I may find one the next time I go into a pond, so that I don’t find it out by getting hold of me first.”