MINT FAMILY
Jump to Page Navigation buttons===>Mint, as used by Ojibwe women of the White Earth reservation in northern
Minnesota, from 1907-1923, when Frances Densmore interviewed them with Mary
Warren English of White Earth as interpreter and (really) co-researcher, was
identified (in one or two specimens) as Monarda Mollis L, with two Ojibwe names:
bibigwunukuk ("looks like a flute") and waabinowusk (" comes from the dawn,
east"). I have found no pix of this species. That would be important if the mint were
to be considered medically, but its medical uses were not heavy-duty: treatment of
burns and boils, and a very strong tea to expel worm parasites (intestinal
infestations from bad meat). Densmore identified Koellia virginiana (Mountain
mint), Ojibway name Namewuskons (Little Sturgeon-fish plant) as a food plant,
especially used in cooking fish, with another plant that has a fish name, Wild
Ginger (Namebin) I'll treat on another page.Women used mint teas for women's medicines, too -- settlers referred to certain
mints as "squaw-mint" (a pejorative way of saying the Ojibwe word ikwe meaning
woman). Usually with medicines there was a mixture of several herbs, and in
general root-scrapings were part of most medicines. For pleasure, and a food-value
beverage, many species of wild mint were used. They had many names --
individuals often named a plant themselves, and plants were given different names
according to the function being named. We are considering herbs and plants only
for pleasure/nutrition, here, not medicine.Photos below show some common wild mints. They were taken by several
professional photographer-herbalists for the Herb Research Foundation (associated
with the American Botannical Council), and are available in larger sizes on their
image database, which is slow to access and slow-loading.Native Foods -- Herbal Teas -- mints
http://www.kstrom.net/isk/food/mint.html (1 of 4) [5/17/2004 11:47:57 AM]