=Jack Pine= (_Pinus banksiana_ Lamb.), “gîgaˈ ndag”. The leaves are
used as a reviver,—“nokweˈ sîkûn” according to the Flambeau Ojibwe.
There is no record of its medicinal use by the white men.
=Norway Pine= (_Pinus resinosa_ Ait.), “abakwanûg iˈmûg” [bark in
plates], shown in plate 63, fig. 2. The Norway Pine is used in all
particulars by the Flambeau Ojibwe, just as the White Pine.
=White Pine= (_Pinus strobus_ L.), “jîngwak kweseskweˈ tûk” according
to Bearskin of the Flambeau Ojibwe, shown in plate 63, fig. 1, “jîngwak
waceskweˈdo” according to Charley Burns of the Flambeau Ojibwe. The
bark medicine is, “jîngwak onaˈ gêk” and is gathered in the same manner
as by the Menomini, with a song to grandmother Earth, and the placing
of tobacco on the ground. The cones, when boiled and likewise the
bark of the young tree trunk yield a pitch which is medicine, called
“jîngwak bûgîo.” The dried leaves are powdered and used as a reviver or
inhalant. There are three names referring to this sort of treatment,
as said before,—“nokweˈ sîkûn”, “sasaˈ bîkwat” and “abaˈ bûsûn”. Of
these three terms, “sasaˈ bîkwat” is the proper one to use when White
Pine needles are employed in this manner. White Pine is a very valuable
remedy with all Ojibwe, but Norway Pine is sometimes substituted for
it. White Pine bark is used in making cough syrup, by white men, but it
possesses only feeble properties as an expectorant.
=Arbor Vitae= (_Thuja occidentalis_ L.), “giˈ jîkandag” [sky or cedar
tree].[117] The Flambeau Ojibwe use the leaves as a perfume, “abaˈ
bûsûn” and also as a tea for headache. During ceremonies of the
medicine lodge, it is necessary to purify sacred objects and the hands
and persons of participants. A plate of live coals is used and dried
Arbor Vitae leaves placed upon them. The servitor wafts the incense
over sacred objects by fanning the smoke with his hands. Others hold
their hands over and in the smoke, waving it upon their persons.
The Pillager Ojibwe call it by the simple name “giˈ jîk” [sky or
cedar]. They also use it as a purifying incense, and as an ingredient
for the sweat bath with White Pine, Balsam, Hemlock and other plants.
They drink the boiled leaves claiming that the steam goes through the
blood and purifies it. This treatment cures coughs.
The U. S. Pharmacopoeia formerly required that leaves for medicinal
use be in a fresh state but the new formulary only requires them
to be recently dried and leafy. Internally it has been used for an
emmenagogue, for fevers, bronchial catarrh, rheumatism and to remove
intestinal worms. Externally it is applied in ointment to treat ulcers,
warts and cancerous growths.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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