Native American Herbal, Plant Knowledge

a list of diseases or conditions for which that particular chemical

has been thought to be helpful -- this ranges from what Native

people reported to ethnobotanists in the 19th century to what

antiquated herbalists thought in the quaint terminology of plant

pharmacopaeia books to modern experimental testing by qualified doctors and

scientists, so there's no real way to evaluate that listing. it's a mish-mash If there is

no such listing, the data guys didn't find any bodily uses of that chemical.

Generally, the info in these tables is a guide to further research. It cannot be

trusted as reporting solid facts, real and confirmed quantities obtained by reliable

techniques, nor are the bodily uses, especially disease cures, mentioned in the

listouts for each chemical to be considered reliable. This is a beginning, not a set of

answers. To me, one of its best uses is a helpful explanation of many traditional

plant uses -- yes, there is validity, but this is not the final explanation of it.

My cautions on other pages are repeated here: presumably the

people who performed the ID's of the plants were certain of the

species -- but botanists have revised species namings of varioius

plants from time to time. Too, lab techniques have changed a lot

over the years. Finally, the lab analysts, whoever and whenevber

they were, did not necessarily analyse plants as Native

practitioners treated or used them -- they were usually dried, sometimes smoked,

steamed, boiled, baked, or fermented in water by themselves or with other plant

parts. Both for medicines and for general health tonics (vitamins and minerals,

nutritional health), mixtures were often used. And not all were eaten or drunk --

not even when infusions or teas were made. Some were sprinkled on hot rocks of

sweat lodges. Some were smoked in medicine pipes. Some were washes or poultices

for skin or wound treatment. If you indiscriminately chug down old recipes, you

might be drinking the equivalent of a skin antiseptic or hairtonic or something.

Long ago, certain people -- not everyone -- knew a lot of

practical knowledge about plants. This wasn't necessarily

communicated to ethnobotanists, even if the practitioner wanted

to do so. Language problems would prevent much sublety from

getting across (interpreters were often ignorant half-breed

drunks). Many of the ethnobotanists had no real respect for

native knowledge, and considered that they were recording primitive supersitions,

rather than practical biology, and complexities of organic chemistry (which in any

case they often knew nothing about themselves). Most of the older knowledge has

been lost. Not every "elder" knows everything -- indeed most know nothing --

about plants and their uses. All of this must be kept in mind by students of any age.

Another caution is the fact that many wild plants now grow in polluted

USDA plant table notes

http://www.kstrom.net/isk/food/tableuse.html (2 of 3) [5/17/2004 11:51:35 AM]