Menominee herbal healing

I S H A S H R E S T H A , C A L L Y S C H U L Z , J A K E Z E L I N , B R E T T H O R O W I T Z

MENOMINEE HERBAL HEALING

HISTORY

• Call themselves Mamaceqtaw (ma-ma-chay-tau)

• Other tribes call them Menominee “wild rice people” because it’s a major source of food.

• Lived around Green Bay when the French explorer Jean Nicolet arrived there in 1634.

• 5 clans: Ancestral Bear, Eagle, Wolf, Moose, and Crane

• Hunting/fishing/gathering society that spoke Algonquin.

COSMOLOGY Cosmology• Earth Separates the upper/lower worlds. Good/evil?• Highest level=Sun• White Deer= level below Earth contributes to origins of Medicine Dance

COSMOLOGY/SHAMAN• Mythology contains ethical meanings/connection to sacred Native

American literature• Humans have guardian spirits• Power gained from guardian through dreaming• Shamans assist in dream interpretation

ROLE OF THE SHAMAN• At puberty, boys and girls

retreated to fasting and isolation inside a wigwam

• The shaman would interpret animal meanings in dreams

• Shamans maintain high level of spiritual power

• Specialize in hunting charms, love medicines, cures for spiritual illness

• Medicine Lodges were organized to insure healthy long lives

• Knowledge of spiritual medicines and herbs were key

CONNECTION TO THE READINGSVine Deloria, Jr. “Two Essays”

• Key points of focus: “Isolation” from healing and respecting those who allow weaker members of the community to rely on them.

• Comparison: Menominee Medicinal/Healing Practices to visiting a doctor in a hospital.

• Healing practices were communal concepts guided by a Shaman. In this way, each person takes an active part in their healing and search for inner knowledge with the guidance of a Shaman.

• A doctor visit in the hospital often leaves most of diagnosis and treatment up to the physician. This can cause a feeling of isolation with the healing process of the individual.

USES OF HERBS

Large toothwort, Cardamine maxima• Gastrointestinal aid -

good medicine for the stomach

USES OF HERBS

Hoary puccoon, Lithospermum canescens• Sedative - compound infusion

take and rubbed on body to quite a person near convulsions

USES OF HERBS

Eastern waterleaf,Hydrophyllum virgianianum• Analgesic – compound

decoction of root used for chest pain

• Antidiarrheal – astringent root used for flux

USES OF HERBSgreat St. Johnswort, Hypericum ascyron• Kidney aid – compounded with black-

cap raspberry roots and used for kidney troubles

• Pulmonary aid – root used for weak lungs

• Tuberculosis remedy – used in first stages of consumption

USES OF HERBSSweetscented joepyeweed, Eupatorium purpureum• Gynecological aid – compound

decoction of root taken after childbirth “for internal healing”

• Urinary aid – plant used for diseases of the genitourinary canal

DO THESE HERBS WORK?• According to Moerman, the

author Native American Medicinal Plants: an ethnobotanical dictionary, the short answer is yes.

• However, the question is tricky.

• Asking about the effectiveness of a drug, is not a simple biological or medicinal issue but a complex problem of culture and meaning.

CONTEMPORARY USES OF HERBS

• Eupatorium purpureum• Used in many disorders of the

urino-genital passages• Similar to historical uses

• Hypericum ascyron• Not used because of endangered

status

• Hydrophyllum virgianianum • No evidence of use in present day

medicine

CONTEMPORARY USES OF HERBS

• Lithospermum canescens• Used to treat certain callous

infections

• Cardamine maxima• No evidence of use in present day

medicine

• We attempted to contact a member of the tribe to find out if any of these herbs were still used but we did not get a response.

WORKS CITED• Deloria, Vine, and James Treat. For This Land: Writings on Religion

in America. New York: Routledge, 1999. Print. • "The McCune Collection: Leary, Stuart and Co." The McCune

Collection: Home. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. <http://www.mccunecollection.org/leary_stuart.html>.

• "Menominee History - Indian Country Wisconsin." Milwaukee Public Museum. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. <http://www.mpm.edu/wirp/icw-153.html>.

• "Menominee Indian Tribe History." Access Genealogy: A Free Genealogy Resource. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. <http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/menominee/menomineehist.htm>.

• Moerman, Daniel E. Native American Medicinal Plants: an Ethnobotanical Dictionary. Portland, Or.: Timber, 2009. Print.

• Spearing Salmon By Torchlight, painting by Paul Kane• Welcome to the PLANTS Database | USDA PLANTS. Web. 17 Feb.

2011. <http://plants.usda.gov/java/>.