This was never public knowledge, and much of it was learned only by apprenticing
to a particular doctor to learn his or her particular medicines.True doctors were all specialists: they knew a few remedies, and those with
different problems had to find the right specialist. This means -- for now -- that any
old person who claims to be an "elder who knows all about all plants" is inevitably
a fake, a charlatan usually involved with New Agers who want to believe everything
is easy.3. All native people who really know anything about uncultivated ("wild") plants
know that prayers and thanks are to be given to the Great Mystery who provides
and reveals their proper uses by people. Usually an offering is made of tobacco,
sometimes silver is buried by the "chief plant" of a group, representing the spirit of
those particular plants. This isn't just a gabble of some formulaic "prayer". All of
this is part of an attitude, a culture, a religious outlook, a local society, and a
history which it does not seem to me can or should be acquired on this medium. I
will here present and discuss only foods and flavorings -- an adjunct to a
cookbook. As in the wild rice section (a sacred gift), I will often try to show some of
the history, feelings, etc., from my own experiences. I.e. our involvement with
traditional foods shouldn't be like opening a can or microwave package. (but
there's the practical aspect of feeding a family or lots of people.) But I'm no anthro,
to talk of rituals and ceremonies. Discussions of history, etc., are likely to include
accounts of arrests and harassments of Native people, bad laws and land thefts,
environmental pollutions, destruction of Native lands and waters in respect of
ability to survive from their natural gifts.4. for city dwellers, in most major cities of the U.S. and some in Canada, there are
health foods stores -- co-ops, usually -- where many herbal products are carried.
Rarely, if ever, are these provided by Native people. There is a whole little industry
of herb growers, gatherers, and distributors who provide quality, reliable,
clean-processed non-standard plant products for these stores. It has occurred to
me that this is an ideal mini-enterprise for some tribal people, including youth
during summers. To learn the locally-available plants thoroughly, perhaps to
garden larger supplies of some of them, to process and package them and connect
with some of these co-ops and co-op product distributors. Such an enterprise
would involve youth working with and learning from knowledgeable elders. In the
sales and distribution of local herbs, youth would learn practical business methods
too.Users of traditional plants for flavorings, teas, and tonics should be aware that all
of them definitely have a certain general health value: nutritional, vitamins and
minerals. People of the north did not have green vegetables, fresh fruits, etc.Native Foods -- Recipes--Herbal Teas
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