=Wild Strawberry= (_Fragaria virginiana_ Duchesne), “odeˈ imînîdjiˈ
bîk,” [heart berry root].[120] The root of the common Wild Strawberry
is used to make a tea good for the stomach-ache, and especially for
babies. The white man uses the herb as an astringent and tonic for
convalescents and especially for children having bowel and bladder
weakness.
=Large-leaved Avens= (_Geum macrophyllum_ Willd.), “wicaˈwasaˈ konek”
[yellow light]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use this for a female remedy.
Eclectic practitioners consider the root tonic and astringent.
=Rough Cinquefoil= (_Potentilla monspeliensis_ L.), “tcodeˈ imînagaˈ
wûnj” [like a strawberry]. This plant seemed to be known to all the
Pillager Ojibwe, even the eight-year-old girls, as a physic. There is
no record of its use as a medicine by white men.
=Marsh Five-finger= (_Potentilla palustris_ [L.] Scop.), “bebaˈ
akwûndek” [floats about]. This was dug from the water by John
Whitefeather’s wife, Flambeau Ojibwe, who said it was a cure for
cramps in the stomach, and is used alone as one medicine. Under the
Pillager Ojibwe name of “mûckiˈ godjiˈbîk” [swamp root], John Peper
said that it was medicine with them, but he did not know how to use it.
There is no record of its use as medicine by white men.
=Pin Cherry= (_Prunus pennsylvanica_ L. f.), “baeˈwimînûn”. The inner
bark is a valued remedy for coughs. Most of the species of cherry have
been used by white men for the bitter principle contained, which suits
it for use as a stomachic and bitter tonic in gastric atony and general
debility. The syrup of wild cherry has been used as a pleasant vehicle
for other drugs.
=Wild Cherry= (_Prunus serotina_ Ehrh.) “okweˈ mîn” [worm out of
a fly’s egg; refers to the little worms in a cherry when it is
ripe].[121] The Flambeau Ojibwe value the bark of this species to make
a tea as a remedy for coughs and colds. It is used the same as Pin
Cherry by white men.
=Choke Cherry= (_Prunus virginiana_ L.), “aˈ sasaweˈ mînagaˈ
wûnj.”[122] The Pillager Ojibwe make a tea for lung trouble from the
inner bark. This is the official bark in the pharmacopoeia, which
is used as a stomachic and bitter tonic useful in gastric atony and
general debility. Wild cherry syrup is used to mask other unpleasant
drugs.
=Smooth Rose= (_Rosa blanda_ Ait.), “ogîneˈ mînagaˈ ons” [rose
berries].[123] The Pillager Ojibwe use the skin of the fruit or “rose
hip” for stomach trouble. The Flambeau Ojibwe call it “ogîni” or
“ogîniˈ gawûnj” [rose berries]. They dry and powder the flowers for use
in relieving heartburn. The skin of the rose hips is a medicine for
indigestion. Rose hips are described by white men as refrigerant and
astringent, but are only used in medicine to prepare the confection of
hips. Roses are used almost wholly today to impart their pleasant odor
to pharmaceutical preparations.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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