=Blue Flag= (_Iris versicolor_ L.) “wikê”.[149] Both Flambeau and
Pillager Ojibwe use this as a charm against snakes and claim that
Indians all over the country use it the same way. When the Ojibwe
go out blueberrying all day, every one carries a piece of it in his
clothes and will handle it every little while to perpetuate the scent.
They believe that snakes will shun them while so protected. They say
that the Arizona Indians use it when they hold their snake dances and
are never struck as long as their clothes are fumigated with it. They
also chew it to get the odor into their mouths, preparatory to taking
rattlesnakes into their teeth. The rattlesnake never offers to bite
them so long as the scent of the Blue Flag persists.
LABIATAE (MINT FAMILY)
=Heal-all= (_Prunella vulgaris_ L.), “basiˈbûgûk”. The Flambeau Ojibwe
use the root of this plant to make a tea to drink before going hunting.
It is supposed to sharpen their powers of observation.
LILIACEAE (LILY FAMILY)
=Northern Clintonia= (_Clintonia borealis_ [Ait.] Raf.), “adotaˈgans”
[little bell].[150] The Pillager Ojibwe claim that dogs chew the roots
of this plant to poison their teeth, and if they then bite an animal it
will die. A man may protect himself from such a bite by using the same
root as a poultice on the wound.
=Sessile-leaved Bellwort= (_Oakesia sessilifolia_ [L.] Wats.),
“neweîaˈkwisînk” [one sided]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the root of this
plant as a part of their mîcaoˈgacan hunting medicine to bring a buck
deer near the hunter.
ORCHIDACEAE (ORCHIS FAMILY)
=Rein Orchis= (_Habenaria bracteata_ [Willd.] R. Br.), “gokoˈcgûnda
mîneskweˈmîn” [pig does, red root]. This plant is a sort of love charm
among the Pillager Ojibwe often put to bad use.
=Slender Ladies’ Tresses= (_Spiranthes gracilis_ [Bigel.] Beck),
“bîneˈbûg” [partridge leaf]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the root as an
ingredient of their hunting charm to bring game to them.
PLANTAGINACEAE (PLANTAIN FAMILY)
=Common Plantain= (_Plantago major_ L.), “cecaˈgûski bûgeˈsînk” [leaves
grow up and also lie flat on the ground].[151] The highly colored base
and root of this plant appeal to the Flambeau Ojibwe who always carry
some of the ground root in their pockets to ward off snakes.
POLYGONACEAE (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY)
=Swamp Persicaria= (_Polygonum muhlenbergii_ [Meisn.] Wats.)
“agoñgosiˈmînûn”. The Flambeau Ojibwe dry the flower of this plant and
then include it in their hunting medicine, which is smoked to attract
deer to the hunter.
=Curled Dock= (_Rumex crispus_ L.), “ciobûg”. The dried seeds of this
dock are smoked when dried by the Flambeau Ojibwe, as a favorable lure
to game when mixed with kinnikinnik.
PRIMULACEAE (PRIMROSE FAMILY)
=Starflower= (_Trientalis americana_ [Pers.] Pursh.), “nawoˈbûgûk”
[four-leaved clover]. The root of this is mixed with many others to
make the smoking scent that attracts the deer to the hunter, according
to the Flambeau Ojibwe.
RANUNCULACEAE (CROWFOOT FAMILY)
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