=Field Horsetail= (_Equisetum arvense_ L.), “gîjiˈ bînûsk” [duck
food].[137] The Pillager Ojibwe gather this for their domesticated
ducks to eat and also to feed their ponies, to make their coats glossy.
ERICACEAE (HEATH FAMILY)
=Bog Rosemary= (_Andromeda glaucophylla_ Link.), “bîneˈ mîkci” [swamp].
Young, tender leaves and tips of this plant are used by the Flambeau
Ojibwe to boil for a beverage tea. While they often pick and use it
fresh on the hunting trail, they also gather and dry it for later use.
It is not a bad substitute for “store tea.”
=Leather Leaf= (_Chamaedaphne calyculata_ [L.] Moench.), “wabackîkiˈ
bûg” [rabbit leaf]. This is another beverage tea leaf, prized by the
Flambeau Ojibwe. It is used on the trail or dried and saved for future
use. The Pillager Ojibwe also use it in the same manner, under the
name,—“mackiˈ gobûgons” [little swamp leaf].
=Wintergreen= (_Gaultheria procumbens_ L.), “wînîsiˈ bûgûd” [dirty
leaf], shown in plate 75, fig. 2. While the Flambeau Ojibwe use this as
a rheumatic medicine, they also use the leaf tea from the youngest,
tenderest leaves as a beverage tea, and especially favor it because it
“makes them feel good”. They also eat the wintergreen berry which they
call “owînîsiˈ mîn”.
=Labrador Tea= (_Ledum groenlandicum_ Oeder.), “waboskîkiˈ bûg” [rabbit
leaf], shown in plate 76, fig. 2. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the tender
leaves of this plant for a beverage tea, and will even eat the leaves
in the tea. It is a well known tea to many northern and Canadian
Indians.
=Cranberry= (_Vaccinium oxycoccos_ L.), “mûckiˈ mîn” [swamp berry]
shown in plate 67, fig. 2. This is an important wild food of the
Flambeau Indians and also of the Pillager Ojibwe, who use a slightly
different pronunciation, “mûckîtciˈ mîn” [swamp berry]. The train
men that go through that reservation never seem to tire of getting
Johnnie Frog to say “cranberry pie” for them in Ojibwe. It sounds
so complicated because they really have no word for pie in their
language but must say, “swamp berries made into sauce rolled between
bread”,—“mûckiˈ gimînûn backiˈ mînasîgûn wiwegidaˈsîgûn”.
=Blueberry= (_Vaccinium pennsylvanicum_ Lam.), “mînûn” [berries]. The
Flambeau and the Pillager Ojibwe harvest quantities of blueberries both
for themselves and to sell. They dry them in large quantities on raised
scaffolds of rush mats, like currants, or raisins, which they somewhat
resemble. In the winter, they like to cook them with dried sweet corn,
sweetened with maple sugar. They also cook them with wild rice, and
venison and make a sweet bread with them. They have different names for
different varieties of blueberries. The Low Blueberry (_V. vacillans_
Kalm.) is called “gimîneˈsît” while the low Black Blueberry (_V.
nigrum_ [Wood] Britton) is called “makateˈ mîn” [black blueberry]. No
specimens of the last two were secured, but the names were common among
the Ojibwe.
FAGACEAE (BEECH FAMILY)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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