=Highbush Cranberry= (_Viburnum opulus_ L. var. _americanum_ [Mill.]
Ait.) “aˈnibîmîˈnûgaˈwûck” [anib means elm, berries, bush].[101] The
Pillager Ojibwe used the inner bark as a physic, and also drank the tea
to cure cramps in the stomach.
Among the white men, _Viburnum opulus_ is considered to be the same
as _Viburnum prunifolium_, only less potent. It is recommended as
an antispasmodic in asthma, hysteria, puerperal convulsions, and
dysmenorrhea.
CARYOPHYLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY)
=White Campion= (_Lychnis alba_ Mill.) “basiˈ bûgûk” [small leaf]. The
Flambeau Ojibwe use the root of this for a tea to physic a patient.
There is no record of its use by white men.
CELASTRACEAE (STAFF TREE FAMILY)
=Climbing Bittersweet= (_Celastrus scandens_ L.) “manîdobimaˈ kwît”
[spirit-twisted]. The Pillager Ojibwe use the red berries of this plant
for stomach trouble.
The white man uses the berries for decorative purposes, and has used
the bark for emetic, diaphoretic and antisyphilitic purposes.
COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY)
The composite family is represented by many species in northern
Wisconsin and also in northern Minnesota. There are probably three
times as many plants in this family as in any other, hence it furnishes
numerous medicines.
=Woolly Yarrow= (_Achillea lanulosa_ Nutt.), “waˈ bîgwûn”
[white-flower]. The Flambeau Ojibwe, under the name given, use the
leaves of this plant as a poultice to cure the bite of a spider. The
dried flowering heads are smoked in mixture with other things, much as
kinnikinnik, not for pleasure, but more for ceremonial purposes.
It has not been distinguished by the eclectic practitioner from the
Common Yarrow, which was used for its bitter and aromatic principles.
It was used as an emmenagogue and for various ailments of the
reproductive organs. It was sometimes used to cure diseased conditions
of the entire gastro-intestinal tract.
=Yarrow= (_Achillea millefolium_ L.), “adjidamoˈ anûk” [squirrel
tail].[102] The Pillager Ojibwe used the florets in ceremonial smoking
and placed them on a bed of coals inhaling the smoke to break a fever.
Yarrow has always been a home remedy of the white man, and the Germans
still use the dried flowers in a tea, called “schafesgarbetee”, to
break a fever. Other uses are the same as above.
=Pearly Everlasting= (_Anaphalis margaritacea_ [L.] B. & H.), “basiˈ
bagûk” [small leaf]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the flowers of this plant,
calling attention to the fact that it smells like acorns, reducing them
to a powder which is sprinkled on live coals as a “nokweˈ sîgûn” or
perfume. This is inhaled by a party who has had a stroke of paralysis
and is said to revive him.
The Pearly Everlasting has never been properly analyzed by white men,
but the flowers have been locally used by them as soothing expectorants
and are known to have more or less marked stomachic properties.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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