Chapter IV: Part 4

=Yellow Lotus= (_Nelumbo lutea_ (Willd.) Pers.), “wesawasaˈ kwuneˈk odîteˈabûg” [yellow light, flat heart-shaped leaf].[141] Most of the Wisconsin Ojibwe know about this favored wild potato; and also use the hard chestnut-like seeds to roast and make into a sweet meal. They cut off the terminal shoots, at either end of the underground creeping rootstock and the remainder is their potato. These shoots are similar in shape and size to a banana, and form the starchy storage reservoirs for future growth. They have pores inside, but have more substance to them than the stems. They are cut crosswise and strung upon basswood strings, to hang from the rafters for winter use. They are soaked when needed and then cooked with venison, corn or beans.

OLEACEAE (OLIVE FAMILY)

=Red Ash= (_Fraxinus pennsylvanica_ Marsh.) “aˈgîmak” [snow-shoe wood]. The cambium layer of the ash is scraped down in long, fluffy layers and cooked. It is called “sagîmaˈ kwûn”, which incorporates the name of the ash with “wûn” or eggs. They say it tastes like eggs. Many other trees are given the same sort of treatment for food purposes.

PINACEAE (PINE FAMILY)

=White Pine= (_Pinus strobus_ L.), “jîngwaˈ k”. In the spring the Ojibwe use the young staminate catkins of the pine to cook for food. It is stewed with meat. One might think this would taste rather like pitch, but they assured the writer that it was sweet and had no pitchy flavor.

=Hemlock= (_Tsuga canadensis_ [L.] Carr.), “gagagiˈ wîc”. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the leaves of Hemlock to make a beverage tea. This sort of tea is oftentimes used by the Indian Medicine man to carry his medicaments and disguise the fact that the patient is taking medicine.

POLYPODIACEAE (FERN FAMILY)

=Brake= (_Pteris aquilina_ L.), “ana ˈganûck” [general fern name]. The Flambeau Ojibwe are fond of young fern sprouts as a soup material. The young fern tips, with coiled fronds, are about like asparagus tips, only not stringy with fibrovascular bundles like asparagus. The tips are thrown into hot water for an hour to rid them of ants, then put into soup stock and thickened with flour. The flavor resembles wild rice. Hunters are very careful to live wholly upon this when stalking does in the spring. The doe feeds upon the fronds and the hunter does also, so that his breath does not betray his presence. He claims to be able to approach within twenty feet without disturbing the deer, from which distance he can easily make a fatal shot with his bow and arrow. After killing the deer, the hunter will eat whatever strikes his fancy.

RANUNCULACEAE (CROWFOOT FAMILY)

=Marsh Marigold= (_Caltha palustris_ L.), “o ˈgîteˈ bûg”. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the leaves as a green to cook with pork in the springtime.

ROSACEAE (ROSE FAMILY)

=Smooth Juneberry= (_Amelanchier laevis_ Wiegand), “gozîgagoˈ mînûn” [thorny berry]. According to John Whitefeather, Flambeau Ojibwe, this is the name of the Juneberry, while Charley Burns on the same reservation called it “bîsegaˈ gwomîn”. Both knew it only as a food, although some tribes use the bark as a medicine. Juneberries were also dried for winter use, the Indians often preferring them to blueberries. The Pillager Ojibwe also use them as a food and use the bark as a medicine.

=Red Haw Apple= (_Crataegus_ sp.), “mînesagaˈ wûnj”. The Pillager Ojibwe use the haw apples as a food in the fall of the year.

=Wild Strawberry= (_Fragaria virginiana_ Duchesne), “odeˈ imîn” [heart berry]. Both Flambeau and Pillager Ojibwe have the same name for the Wild Strawberry, and call it the heart berry from its shape and color. They are very fond of it in season and make preserves of it for winter use.

=Wild Plum= (_Prunus nigra_ Ait.), “bûgeˈ sanatîg”. The Pillager Ojibwe find quantities of the Wild Plum in thickets and gather it for food and for preserves.

=Pin Cherry= (_Prunus pennsylvanica_ L.f.), “baeˈ wimînûn”. The Pin Cherry is abundant around the Flambeau Reservation and the Ojibwe are fond of it. It is an education in itself to see a group of Ojibwe women working on mats with a supply of fruit laden branches beside them. With one hand they will start a stream of berries into the mouth and the stream of cherry stones ejected from the other corner of the mouth seems ceaseless. The Pillager Ojibwe also have the tree and use it in the same manner.

=Sand Cherry= (_Prunus pumila_ L.), “sewaˈkomîn”. The Flambeau Ojibwe find plenty of this species on sandy openings in the forest, and gather the fruit for food.

=Wild Cherry= (_Prunus serotina_ Ehrh.), “okweˈ mîn” [worm from egg of a fly]. The Flambeau Ojibwe prefer this cherry to all other wild cherries, and dry it for winter use. Some of them also make whiskey from the ripe cherries.

=Choke Cherry= (_Prunus virginiana_ L.), “saweˈ mîn”. Although the fruit of this cherry is sufficiently acrid to be unsatisfactory to the whites as a food, the Pillager Ojibwe like it, especially after the fruit has been frosted.

=High Bush Blackberry= (_Rubus allegheniensis_ Porter), “odatagaˈ gomîc” [blackberry stem].[142] The Flambeau Ojibwe relish the Blackberry and also the Dewberry (_Rubus villosus_ Ait.) although we found no specimen nor distinctive name for it. They make a jam of the berries for winter use.

=Red Raspberry= (_Rubus idaeus_ L. var. _aculaetissimus_ [C. A. Mey.] Regel & Tiling) “meskwaˈ mîn” [red berry]. This is a favorite fresh fruit of the Flambeau Ojibwe and is also used for making jams for winter use.

SALICACEAE (WILLOW FAMILY)

=Large-toothed Aspen= (_Populus grandidentata_ Michx.), “asadiˈ” [bitter bark]. The Ojibwe scrape the cambium layer to obtain a food which is boiled and is something like eggs. They also scrape the cambium of several other trees for food.

SAXIFRAGACEAE (SAXIFRAGE FAMILY)

=Prickly Gooseberry= (_Ribes cynosbati_ L.), “meˈ skwacaboˈ mînûk” [red berries with thorns]. The Flambeau Ojibwe relish these berries when ripe and make them into preserves for winter use.

=Wild Black Currant= (_Ribes americanum_ Mill.), “amîˈkomîn” [beaver berries], shown in plate 70, fig. 1. The Pillager Ojibwe eat these berries fresh, in jams, and preserves and dry them for winter. In the winter, a favorite dish is wild currants cooked with sweet corn. The Flambeau Indians use them in a like manner, but call them “kagagîtciˈ mîn” [raven berries].

=Wild Red Currant= (_Ribes triste_ Pall.), “mîcitciˈ mînûk”. The Flambeau Ojibwe gather these currants and use them as they do the Wild Black Currants.

=Smooth Gooseberry= (_Ribes oxyacanthoides_ L.), “caboˈ mînûk” [smooth berry]. The Flambeau Ojibwe gather this berry for fresh food, and also make it into preserves for winter use. It is often cooked with sweet corn.

SOLANACEAE (NIGHTSHADE FAMILY)

=Ojibwe Potato= (_Solanum tuberosum_ L.), “opîn” [potato].[143] The Ojibwe have cultivated this early potato, according to their traditions since aboriginal times, and it surely looks primitive enough. It is round in circumference, about two or three inches long, has purplish flesh, and never cooks to a mealy consistency. It is much prized for soups and is always firm and crisp when cooked. White Cloud’s potato patch on Bear Island, Leech Lake, Minnesota, is shown in plate 58, fig. 1.

URTICACEAE (NETTLE FAMILY)

=Hop= (_Humulus lupulus_ L.) “jiˈwîciniˈ goniˈ bûg”. The Pillager Ojibwe often use the hop fruit as a substitute for baking soda.

VITACEAE (VINE FAMILY)

=Virginia Creeper= (_Psedera quinquefolia_ [L.] Greene), “manîdoˈ bimakwît” [spirit twisted]. The Pillager Ojibwe say that the root of this vine was cooked and eaten a long time ago by their people and that it had been given as a special food by Winabojo.

=River-bank Grape= (_Vitis vulpina_ L.), “cîˈ wimînûn”. The Pillager Ojibwe use these grapes after they have been frosted, and make them into jelly for winter use.

OJIBWE VEGETAL FIBERS

The Ojibwe Indians have always been far removed from the beaten paths of the white men, and for this reason make good use of their native plant materials. Oft times, it seems to the white man that they bestow considerable labor, upon making cord, string, mats, baskets and similar articles that might as easily be purchased at a store. But money is not plentiful, and many of the things that can be purchased have inferior lasting qualities. Disgust for a poor substitute, pride in their own resourcefulness, and the habit of centuries has kept them constantly proving that they are the master of their environment and continuing to make their products in the good old Ojibwe way.

Outside of yarn sashes, they have not woven textiles for a long time. Perhaps the last of their textile work is in storage bags made from nettle fiber or basswood string. Cedar bark fiber was used long ago for some coarse textiles but not within the past century.

Their bark wigwams are quite comfortable and probably more Ojibwe live in these native houses, shown in plate 46, fig. 2, and plate 58, fig. 2, than in frame houses. Certainly they use more of these than any other Wisconsin tribe. The mats for the benches or beds at the outer rim of the wigwam, or for the floor inside, are skillfully made. They can make their wigwams wind and waterproof with sewed cat-tail mats and birch bark, as shown in plate 46, fig. 2, and can even live very comfortably in their wigwams in sub-zero temperatures.

There are several agency schools scattered about the reservations, where the children may go to school, and happily the teachers usually encourage the children to learn their own Indian arts. The schools are really boarding schools, where the children stay continuously for nine months, being completely clothed by the Indian service. Sometimes boys and girls will escape and run home to hide, but the disciplinarian and Indian policeman usually ferret them out and bring them back, or else seize the father and hold him in jail until the scholar is produced again. Indian children are taught more of the useful arts and household arts than are the white children, but also have access to a college education through their university or normal schools.

Under the head of vegetal fibers, we also consider their uses of forest trees, since these are so closely related. As before, the plant families are listed alphabetically, and descriptions of uses are made along the same lines as in the preceding divisions of this bulletin.

OJIBWE FIBER PLANTS

ACERACEAE (MAPLE FAMILY)

=Red Maple= (_Acer rubrum_ L.), “cicigîmeˈwîc”. This leaf is frequently used in the Ojibwe beadwork designs. In fact, many leaves, flowers and fruits furnish designs. Since the plants are sacred to their midewiwin or medicine lodge, it is common for them to use especially valuable remedies in their designs. These may be worked in either porcupine quills or beads. Shell and copper beads were used in the older work, while tiny glass beads obtainable from the whites are now used. Indian women are usually most apt at their own aboriginal designs and do a rather poor job, when they are given a white man’s design to copy. In the early days, the Indian men drew outline pictures on birchbark scrolls to remind them of midewiwin rituals, practices and medicines. Indian women experimented with plant materials laid upon birch bark until they found the design that suited them. Deer horns burned in the fire to furnish charcoal or else flour was used to coat the underside of a leaf, which was then pressed upon birch bark to leave its outline as from a carbon copy. The birch bark design would be placed beneath the native bead loom, as shown in plate 48, fig. 1, and the pattern copied in beads. Sashes, anklets, bracelets, kneelets, belts, coats and waists were beaded, also moccasins. The public is not very discerning in choosing real Indian designs, but the ethnologist can quickly pick the originals, even though he may never have seen that tribe of Indians before.

=Mountain Maple= (_Acer spicatum_ Lam.), “cacagobiˈmûk” [emetic bark]. The three-lobed leaf of the Mountain Maple is a great favorite with Ojibwe women for design work for beading, and it is more often seen than any other kind of leaf.

=Sugar Maple= (_Acer saccharum_ Marsh.), “înênatîg” [Indian tree].[144] Paddles for stirring maple sugar or wild rice while scorching or parching it, bowls and many other objects of utility were made by the Ojibwe from this wood.

APOCYNACEAE (DOGBANE FAMILY)

=Spreading Dogbane= (_Apocynum androsaemifolium_ L.), “wesaˈwûskwûn” [nearly blue flowers]. The Flambeau women used to use the outer rind for fine sewing. In the fall, when mature this fiber makes one of the strongest native fibers, stronger even than the cultivated hemp to which it is related.

BETULACEAE (BIRCH FAMILY)

=Paper Birch= (_Betula alba_ L. var. papyrifera [Marsh.] Spach) “wîgwas”. Birch occupies almost as important a position in the life of the Ojibwe as dates do in the life of an Arabian or cocoanuts in the life of a South Sea Islander. The bark is used for buckets, baskets, wigwam covering, and canoes. Patterns for their decorative art were made upon the bark; records of their medicine lodge ritual were kept on its virgin surface. It and cedar form the two most sacred trees of the Ojibwe, both of which are so useful to them. They regard the birch bark as a distinct contribution from Winabojo and point to the fact that it is the last part of the tree to decay. It keeps its form even after the wood has changed to dust and can be readily slipped from the wood in decayed logs. It also has the property of protecting from decay articles stored in it. They claim that a birch is never struck by lightning, hence offers a safe harbor in a thunderstorm.

No birch or cedar is gathered by the Ojibwe without due offering of tobacco to Winabojo and Grandmother Earth. Families make a pilgrimage to birch groves during the latter part of June and in July to gather their supply of birch bark, because it peels most easily at that time. As everyone knows, there are many layers of bark on a birch tree ranging from the thinnest paper to quite heavy pieces that make very durable canoes.

George L. Waite, Honorary Curator of Botany in this museum, made a special series of pictures, thirty in number, detailing every step in the manufacture of their canoes or “tciman” as they call them. Ogabeˈgijîg [rift in the clouds] and his wife Cawasînoˈkwe [rays of light from cloud] both 80 years old, about the only old couple at Lac du Flambeau, still remembering the proper Ojibwe method of making a birchbark canoe were engaged to carry on the work. Important steps are shown in plates accompanying this bulletin.

To find a tree with thick bark suitable for canoe-making often necessitates a considerable journey on foot as it did in this case. The trunk should be ten to fifteen inches in diameter, smooth and straight as can be selected. Paper birches are of slow growth and the usual specimen of that diameter will be from fifty to seventy years old. This tree was collected with all the proper ceremony. Into a hole in the ground at the base of the tree, tobacco was placed as an offering. Tobacco was smoked by the man, who saluted the cardinal points of the compass, and likewise heaven and earth. The tree was then cut down. They say that usually it will be left standing on the stump, so that the bark may be undamaged, but for this canoe where the outside of the bark becomes the inside of the canoe, they felled crossed logs to hold it off the ground.

To remove the bark, a long perpendicular slit is made the length desired. From this cut the bark is laid back on either side, with an axe, and peeled from the log as shown in plate 52, fig. 1. To overcome the natural curl of the bark, it is then rolled up with the inner side outmost, in proper lengths and tied with inner bark of the basswood, which is their ready cord material. With a tump-line over the head, as shown in plate 52, fig. 2, the man is ready to carry the bark home, where he will make the canoe.

The framework was made of White Cedar or Arbor Vitae because it is light, elastic, strong and easy to split. In plate 53, fig. 1, Ogabeˈgijîg is shown splitting the cedar log to obtain the ribs and framework. There are two lengths, sixteen feet for top rails, and six feet for ribs, as shown in plate 53, fig. 2. The curves of the prow and stern are obtained by slitting a stave twelve times so that it may be bent at right angles, tied securely with basswood string, and held in place until dried as shown in plate 54, fig. 1.

A staked form eighteen feet long is next laid out on the ground, as shown in plate 54, fig. 2. The bark is secured between the two stakes so that it cannot slip and is then ready for sewing together. Large rocks are piled inside to overcome any tendency of the bark to curl. The sewing material is the root of Jack Pine. These are especially suitable since they are long and straight. Ogabeˈgijîg is seen pulling them out of the ground after digging with a grub hoe, in plate 55, fig. 1. The central core is tough and is about the same diameter at the tip as it is close to the main trunk of the tree. It is split into two and coiled, to furnish a very tough flexible cord. The coils are shown with Cawasînoˈkwe under the Jack Pine tree from whence they came in plate 55, fig. 2. Both cedar sticks and root fiber are sunk in the lake till needed.

Sewing makes awl holes necessary, and a White Oak wood awl is used. Both ends are drawn through the same hole with a lock stitch, like the shoemaker used to use in putting on half soles. All holes must be caulked and made watertight. Pitch is obtained from a Balsam, Norway Pine, or White Pine. Notches made in the tree trunk fill with resin in ten days. This is boiled with tallow in a kettle, as shown in plate 56, fig. 1. The resin is cooked a second time to obtain the pitch and Hemlock or Larch bark is used to furnish the heat, because it produces more steady heat than a wood fire.

Cawasînoˈkwe is seen again sewing the canoe into its form in plate 56, figure 2, and is shown applying pitch to the seams in plate 57, figure 1. Decorations are made with native dyes such as blue clay and red ochre. Nowadays white men’s colors are used and clan marks painted on each end. Ogabeˈgijîg uses a bear picture for his clan mark while Cawasînoˈkwe belongs to the chicken clan. The finished canoe is seen in plate 57, fig. 2, as they are launching it upon Flambeau Lake. Very few Ojibwe can still make a real birch bark canoe in this manner and the museum considers this series of photographs a valuable one.

The tree is later salvaged for firewood, but the bark may be used right away as soon as obtained. Emergency trays or buckets may be fashioned at once in the woods, or the bark may be stored for future use. The application of heat is all that is necessary to bend it in any shape desired. Although it is highly inflammable, still buckets of birch bark can be used to cook meats. Where water covers the inside of the vessel, it will not burn. The Ojibwe woman saves scraps of birchbark to kindle or light fires with them. A handy torch which will burn all night can be made by rolling birch bark tightly. It is often used by the Ojibwe in lieu of candles.

Nearly any kitchen utensil common to the white man, can be duplicated in birchbark by the Ojibwe. Even funnels for pouring hot lard are easily made. The mokoks or baskets are made for gathering and storing berries, for storing maple sugar, dried fish, meat, or any food. The birchbark keeps the food from spoiling. Some of the mokoks for gathering berries or carrying maple sap, have bark handles like bucket handles, as shown in plate 49, fig. 1, while larger storage baskets have no handles, but a lid, or sometimes a flap of the basket itself is used to close it tightly. All sorts of drying trays are made from birch bark. Shallow trays for winnowing wild rice are also made of it.

Sheets of bark are sewed together with basswood string and made into birchbark rolls, used as waterproof roofing for wigwams, as shown in plate 46, fig. 2. Sticks tied across the end of the roll keep it from splitting and tearing. A fine opportunity to see these bark rolls was afforded during the Court of Neptune pageant in 1926 on the lake front in Milwaukee, when the writer brought down over a hundred Ojibwe Indians from Lac Court Oreilles, Wisconsin, and set up a model old time village of eleven wigwams. There they lived for a week demonstrating their former methods of life, jerking meats over open fires, as shown in plate 47, fig. 2, and practicing their native arts and crafts.

=Low Birch= (_Betula pumila_ L. var. _glandulifera_ Regel), “bîneˈmîc” [partridge bush]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the twigs of this dwarf birch for the ribs of baskets, where sweet grass is the weaving material.

=Hazelnut= (_Corylus americana_ Walt.), “mûkwoˈbagaˈnak”.[145] A crooked stick with an enlarged base such as can often be obtained in a hazel bush makes the favorite drum stick for the Flambeau Ojibwe. The finer twigs are bound into a bundle, with the tips sheared, to serve as a primitive broom or brush to be used on the bare ground in the wigwam. The finer twigs may also be used as ribs in making woven baskets for collecting or storing acorns or hard fruits.

CAPRIFOLIACEAE (HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY)

=Downy Arrow-wood= (_Viburnum pubescens_ [Ait.] Pursh), “wabanweˈak” [east stick]. The bark of this species furnished one of the ingredients of a Pillager Ojibwe kinnikinnik, which the writer smoked and pronounces good.

COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY)

=Woolly Yarrow= (_Achillea lanulosa_ Nutt.), “wabîgwon” [white flower]. The flower heads are used in the kinnikinnik mixture for smoking by the Flambeau Ojibwe. This mixture, is not however smoked for pleasure, but in medicine lodge ceremonies for ceremonial purposes.

=White Sage= (_Artemisia ludoviciana_ Nutt.), “bebejiˈgoganjîˈ wîˈngûsk” [horse hollow tube]. While the Pillager Ojibwe use this plant as a horse medicine, they report that their neighbors the Sioux use it in their smoking tobacco.

CORNACEAE (DOGWOOD FAMILY)

=Alternate-leaved Dogwood= (_Cornus alternifolia_ L. f.), “mosoˈmîc” [moose tree]. The bark of this dogwood is used for kinnikinnik, while the twigs are used in thatching and for various purposes by the Pillager Ojibwe.

=Panicled Dogwood= (_Cornus paniculata_ L’Her.), “meskwabiˈmîc” [red tree]. The Flambeau Ojibwe make kinnikinnik from the bark of this species for smoking.

CYPERACEAE (SEDGE FAMILY)

=Wool Grass= (_Scirpus cyperinus_ [L.] Kunth.), “gaîeˈwûckûk”. The Flambeau Ojibwe use these small rushes for a certain kind of mat, and formerly used them for woven bags for storage.

=Great Bulrush= (_Scirpus validus_ Vahl.), “jîkaˈmiûskûn”. The Pillager Ojibwe use this rush for their best mats. The bleached rushes are shown in plate 51, fig. 1, after they have been immersed in water for a few days and then cleansed. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the same rush in the same way. They select long rushes, with small diameters, so that the pith content is small. When the mat is in service, such a fiber will not crush readily. The rush when gathered is an intense green, white only at the base where it stands in water. All rushes must first be bleached pure white, and afterwards colored as desired. They are pulled, rather than cut, in order to obtain the maximum length. When thoroughly bleached and dried, they dye them with white men’s dyes. Formerly they used native dyes, which they really prefer. The writer tried for a long time to secure the proper dyes for Whitefeather, but without success. They had a small quantity of German dye bought in 1914, which was satisfactory, but the six lots sent them were not equal to the small sample in penetration nor permanence. The bleached rushes preponderate in any rug, and are ivory-white in color. The finished rug or mat is three feet wide and from four to eight feet long, and sells for from $8 to $30.[146] The edge is bound securely with nettle fiber cord. The Flambeau Ojibwe use a more general term in referring to the rushes “anaˈganûck” meaning rushes in general.

EQUISETACEAE (HORSETAIL FAMILY)

=Scouring Rush= (_Equisetum hyemale_ L.), “gîjiˈbînûsk” [duck plant]. The Pillager Ojibwe, besides using this for a medicine, employ a handful of the stems to scour their kettles and pans.

FAGACEAE (BEECH FAMILY)

=White Oak= (_Quercus alba_ L.), “mîtîˈgomîc”. The wood is of much value to all the Ojibwe, especially for making awls to punch holes in birch bark as they are sewing it with Jack Pine roots. They use it in making wigwams and for several other things. In fact, all the oaks are used and appreciated.

GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY)

=Sweet Grass= (_Anthoxanthum odoratum_ L.), “wîckoˈbimûckoˈsi” [sweet grass]. While Sweet Grass is scarce around the Flambeau and Pillager reservations, they secure it elsewhere for making baskets, and say that in olden times it was used ceremonially because of its persistent sweet scent.

HYDROPHYLLACEAE (WATERLEAF FAMILY)

=Virginia Waterleaf= (_Hydrophyllum virginianum_ L.), “nebîneˈnanikweˈîag.” [having hair on only one side]. According to White Cloud, Pillager Ojibwe, this root was chopped up and put into pony feed to make them grow fat and have glossy hair.

JUGLANDACEAE (WALNUT FAMILY)

=Shell-bark Hickory= (_Carya ovata_ [Mill.] K. Koch.), “mîtîgwabaˈk” [wooden?]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the wood for making bows. Some are quite particular about the piece of wood they select, choosing a billet from the tree that includes heart wood on one side and sap wood on the other. The heart wood is the front of the bow in use, while the sap wood is nearest the user. It is likewise a wood of general utility.

JUNCACEAE (RUSH FAMILY)

=Dudley’s Rush= (_Juncus dudleyi_ Wiegand), “jîgomiˈûskûn”. The Pillager Ojibwe use this tiny rush in their finest mat work, for small pieces.

LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY)

=Creamy Vetchling= (_Lathyrus ochroleucus_, Hook.), “bûgwaˈdjûk pîniˈkmîneˈbûg” [unusual potato, berry leaf]. The leaves and roots of this were used by the Pillager Ojibwe to put spirit into a pony just before they expected to race him.

=Marsh Vetchling= (_Lathyrus palustris_ L.), “bebejiˈgoganjiˈ mackiˈki” [horse medicine or literally “animal with only one hoof” medicine]. The foliage was specially fed to a pony by the Pillager Ojibwe to make it grow fat.

MYRICACEAE (BAYBERRY FAMILY)

=Sweet Fern= (_Myrica asplenifolia_ L.), “gibaimeˈnûnagwûs” [coverer]. This word is almost the same as the Menomini word for Sweet Fern and means the same thing. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the leaves to line their buckets when they pick blueberries and also cover them with the leaves, to keep them from spoiling.

OLEACEAE (OLIVE FAMILY)

=Black Ash= (_Fraxinus nigra_ Marsh). Black Ash is the wood chosen for basketry splints by the Ojibwe. While our Wisconsin Indians are skilled at basket making, their product is more useful than highly ornamental. If they had the yucca leaves, the devil’s claw fiber, the sumac twigs, the bunch grass, and the other splendid basketry fibers of the southwestern Indians, no doubt they would make equally fine baskets. The Wisconsin Indians exercise possibly more ingenuity in gathering and preparing their basketry material. They select a Black Ash log from a swamp and peel it carefully. Then with a butcher knife, they make a cut about a half inch deep and by pounding with an axe head cause it to split up from the log, as seen in plate 50, figure 1. By inserting wedges, and continually pounding ahead of them, they cause the wood to separate along the annual rings. Then a further cut is made in the center of the annual ring and the two halves peeled back leaving a glossy surface. These splints are curled up into coils to be immersed in kettles of dye stuffs. Then they are woven by the women of the household as shown in plate 50, figure 2.

=Red Ash= (_Fraxinus pennsylvanica_ Marsh.), “aˈgîmak” [snow-shoe wood]. All ash wood is quite valuable to the Ojibwe, as they use it for bows and arrows, snow-shoe frames, sleds, basketry splints and cradle boards as shown in plate 49, fig. 2. The Red Ash is not used for the basketry splints when they can get Black Ash.

PINACEAE (PINE FAMILY)

=Balsam Fir= (_Abies balsamea_ [L.] Mill.), “jîngoˈb” [any kind of fir tree]. More properly “jîngoˈb pikewaˈndag” [fir tree that goes up to a peak]. The Ojibwe chop a hole in the trunk and allow the resin to accumulate and harden. When gathered and boiled it becomes a canoe pitch. It is usually boiled a second time with the addition of suet or fat to make a canoe pitch of the proper consistency. Another name given the tree is “jîngoˈbandag”.

=Tamarack= (_Larix laricina_ [DuRoi] Koch), “mûckiˈgwatîg” [swamp tree]. Larch roots are also used as a sewing material by the Flambeau and Couderay Ojibwe and they used to sew canoes with them. They also make bags from the root fibers, which are considered especially durable.

=Black Spruce= (_Picea mariana_ [Mill.] BSP.), “jîngwûp” [its name]. The Flambeau and Couderay Ojibwe used these roots to sew canoes, and from incisions in the bark gathered the resin to be boiled with tallow to make pitch for caulking canoes.

=Jack Pine= (_Pinus banksiana_ Lamb.), “gîgaˈndag” [its name]. Jack Pine roots have ever been esteemed by all Ojibwe as fine sewing material for their canoes and other coarse and durable sewing. They dig the roots with a grub hoe as shown in plate 55, fig. 1, and often find them fifty or sixty feet long. These are split lengthwise into two halves starting at the tree end, and are wrapped in coils as shown in plate 55, fig. 2. They are then sunk in the lake which loosens the bark and enables them to be scraped clean, as well as adding to their flexibility. They are an ivory white when used and very tough and flexible. An Ojibwe woman is shown sewing a canoe with them in plate 56, figure 2.

=Norway Pine= (_Pinus resinosa_ Ait.), “abakwanûgiˈmûg” [bark in plates], shown in plate 63, fig. 2. The Flambeau Ojibwe gather resin from the Norway Pine just as they do from the White Pine, Balsam and Spruce, by chopping a hole into the trunk and collecting the resin as it forms. It is boiled twice, being combined with tallow the second time, to make a serviceable waterproof pitch. This is not only used for caulking canoes, but for mending roof rolls of birch bark and other things. The wood is also utilized.

=White Pine= (_Pinus strobus_ L.), “jîngwaˈkwacêskweˈdo” [white pine cone], shown in plate 63, fig. 1. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the pitch from the boiled cones, along with the resin that flows from boxed trees, for caulking and waterproofing purposes.

=Arbor Vitae= (_Thuja occidentalis_ L.), “giˈjîg” [cedar or sky]. The Ojibwe worships the Arbor Vitae or White Cedar and the Paper or Canoe Birch, as the two most useful trees in the forest. The pungent fragrance of the leaves and wood of the Arbor Vitae are always an acceptable incense to Winabojo, and the wood is their choice for light, strong straight-grained canoe frames and ribs, as shown in plate 53, figure 2. In earlier times, the tough stringy bark was used in making fiber bags, but these are scarcely ever seen today.

=Hemlock= (_Tsuga canadensis_ [L.] Carr.), “gagagiˈwîc” [its name]. Hemlock bark was used by the Flambeau Ojibwe for fuel, when boiling their pitch the second time, because the heat from it was more easily regulated than that from a wood fire.

ROSACEAE (ROSE FAMILY)

=Hawthorn= (_Crataegus_ sp.), “mîneˈsagaˈwûnj”. The Flambeau Ojibwe women use the sharp thorns for sewing awls on finer work such as buckskin sewing with sinew.

SALICACEAE (WILLOW FAMILY)

=Shining Willow= (_Salix lucida_ Muhl.), “azisiˈgobmîc” [its name]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use this bark for their kinnikinnik or native smoking mixture. It is peeled and toasted over a fire and reduced to flakes.

SPHAGNACEAE (SPHAGNUM MOSS FAMILY)

=Sphagnum= (_Sphagnum dusenii_ C. Jens.), “asaˈgûmîg” [moss]. The Flambeau and Pillager Ojibwe find Sphagnum Moss, shown in plate 66, fig. 1, readily available. They gather and dry it to make mattresses.

TILIACEAE (BASSWOOD FAMILY)

=Basswood= (_Tilia americana_ L.), “wigub” [its name]. The tough fibrous bark of young basswood trees furnishes all Ojibwe with ready cordage and string in the woods, but it is also prepared by the women for future use. They strip the bark and peel the outer edge from the inner fiber with their teeth. The rolls are then kept in coils or are boiled and kept as coils until needed, being soaked again when used, to make them pliable. While they have countless uses for this cordage perhaps the most important is in tying the poles together for the framework of the wigwam or medicine lodge, as shown in plate 46, figure 2. When these crossings of poles are lashed together with wet bark fiber, it is easy to get a tight knot which shrinks when dry and makes an even tighter joint. The bark of an elm or a balsam, cut into broad strips is then sewed into place on the framework with basswood string. In olden times, an oak wood awl was used to punch holes in the bark, but at Leech Lake when they made the writer’s wigwam, as shown in plate 58, figure 2, they used an old file end for an awl. The writer lived in this new wigwam all the time he was among the Pillager Ojibwe and scarcely a night passed without a group of them visiting him and sitting around the campfire, telling old time stories.

TYPHACEAE (CAT-TAIL FAMILY)

=Cat-tail= (_Typha latifolia_ L.), “abûkweˈskwe” [wigwam cover; that is, the plant leaves]. The Flambeau Ojibwe women use the cat-tail leaves to make wind and rain-proof mats to be placed on the sides of the medicine lodge or any temporary wigwam or sweat lodge. They sew with a bone needle and nettle or basswood fiber with a hidden stitch, and bind the edges securely with their sewing cord. These mats are made quite large to cover the wigwams, and are rolled and carried around with them. They are not quite rain-proof as a roofing material, so birchbark rolls are used for that purpose. The fuzz or seed of the cat-tail is called “bebamasûˈn” [it flies around], and is used to make mattresses and sleeping bags. They say the fuzz will blind one if it gets into his eyes. They gather the heads and boil them first, which causes all the bugs to come out of them. Then they dry them and strip the fuzz, to make a mattress, which they claim is as soft as feathers, but very prone to mat together, so that it must be shaken often and thoroughly. They also make a quilt of it, and from the quilt a sleeping bag. This is declared to be soft and warm in the coldest weather.

URTICACEAE (NETTLE FAMILY)

=Wood Nettle= (_Laportea canadensis_ [L.] Gaud.), “masanaˈtîg” [woods fiber]. The Pillager Ojibwe say that their old people used the rind of this nettle as a sewing fiber.

=Slippery Elm= (_Ulmus fulva_ Michx.), “aniˈb” [its name]. The Pillager Ojibwe strip this bark to use as a wigwam cover, for the sides of the wigwam.

=Lyall’s Nettle= (_Urtica lyalli_ Wats.), “masan” [woods]. In aboriginal times, the Flambeau Ojibwe used the bark or rind of this nettle to give them a fine, stout sewing fiber.

OJIBWE VEGETAL DYES

Some of the old people among all Ojibwe still use vegetable and native dye stuffs, especially upon a mat or piece of material that they expect to keep for their own use. For the tourist trade, they will use “Diamond” dyes or any sort they can get as they are not especially interested in how well the color lasts in that case. John Whitefeather, Flambeau Ojibwe, asked the writer to find a good dye for them, as he had been unable to buy any since 1914. Several lots were sent to him, but none was found that had the penetration and permanence of the German dyes that he had before the war. He had to resort to native dye stuffs to get those qualities, but, of course, could not get the same range of colors in native dye stuffs. That was the main reason he sought more of the white man’s dyes.

They boil the material they wish to color in the mixture of plant parts and some earth to set the color. For this they use various clays, the red or black sand that bubbles up in a spring, or stone dust, perhaps with a few, rusty, iron nails thrown in the kettle for good measure. Sometimes the bark of Black Oak (_Quercus velutina_ Lam.) was used to set the color.

OJIBWE DYE PLANTS

ANACARDIACEAE (SUMAC FAMILY)

=Smooth Sumac= (_Rhus glabra_ L.), “bakwaˈnak” [binding tree]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the inner bark and the central pith of the stem of the Smooth Sumac, mixed with Bloodroot to obtain an orange color. The material is boiled in the mixture.

=Staghorn Sumac= (_Rhus typhina_ L.), “bakwanaˈtîg”. The Pillager Ojibwe do not have the Smooth Sumac, but use the Staghorn Sumac in the same way as the Flambeau Ojibwe use the other. The writer was unable to discover how they set the color unless it was with some stone dust that accumulated in the base of the kettle.

BALSAMINACEAE (TOUCH-ME-NOT FAMILY)

=Spotted Touch-me-not= (_Impatiens biflora_ Walt.), “oˈsawaskodjiˈbîk” [yellow root]. The whole plant is used by the Pillager Ojibwe to make a yellow dye and the material is boiled in the mixture with a few rusty nails.

BETULACEAE (BIRCH FAMILY)

=Speckled Alder= (_Alnus incana_ [L.] Moench.), “wadoˈb” [its name]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the inner bark for dyeing a light yellow, or with other ingredients to get a red, red brown or black. In occasional cases where sweet grass is dyed reddish yellow, the woman chews the inner bark and draws a wisp of sweet grass through her mouth weaving it in for color.

=Paper Birch= (_Betula alba_ L. var. _papyrifera_ [Marsh.] Spach), “wîgwas” [birch]. The innermost bark of the White Birch is boiled to extract a reddish dye by the Flambeau Ojibwe.

=Hazelnut= (_Corylus americana_ Walt.), “mûkwoˈbagaˈnak”. The Flambeau Ojibwe make use of the seed hulls of the Hazelnut in setting the black color of butternut dye. They are boiled together and the tannic acid of the hull sets the color.

FAGACEAE (BEECH FAMILY)

=Bur Oak= (_Quercus macrocarpa_ Michx.), “mêtîˈgomîc”. The Flambeau Ojibwe use this bark in combination with other materials to set color.

=Black Oak= (_Quercus velutina_ Lam.), “mêtîˈgomic”. The Flambeau Ojibwe use this bark for a reddish yellow dye and it sets its own color.

JUGLANDACEAE (WALNUT FAMILY)

=Butternut= (_Juglans cinerea_ L.), “bagaˈnag”. The Flambeau and Pillager Ojibwe find this one of their best brown dyes, because they can get it from the tree at any time of the year. It is usually used in other combinations for brown and black colors.

MYRICACEAE (BAYBERRY FAMILY)

=Sweet Gale= (_Myrica gale_ L.), “waˈsawasniˈmîke” [yellow catkins]. In the fall of the year, the tips of the branches grow into an abortive scale or gall-like structure that is plucked and boiled to yield a brown dye stuff. The Flambeau Ojibwe seem to be the only Ojibwe that know this.

PAPAVERACEAE (POPPY FAMILY)

=Bloodroot= (_Sanguinaria canadensis_ L.), “meskwaˈdjibîkûk” [red root]. The Ojibwe use this root in four or five combinations in dyeing various materials. It is not necessary to mix it with other materials to set the color and alone it gives a dark yellow or orange color. They use it to paint the face, also, making different clan marks with it. Either the fresh root or dried root may be used.

PINACEAE (PINE FAMILY)

=Hemlock= (_Tsuga canadensis_ [L.] Carr.), “gagagiˈwîc”. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the bark together with a little rock dust to set the color, to dye materials a dark red brown.

RANUNCULACEAE (CROWFOOT FAMILY)

=Goldthread= (_Coptis trifolia_ [L.] Salisb.), “weˈsawadjiˈbîkweˈak” [yellow root?], shown in plate 75, fig. 1. The Flambeau Ojibwe add the golden-colored roots to other plant dyes to emphasize the yellow color.

=Bristly Crowfoot= (_Ranunculus pennsylvanicus_ L. f.), “manweˈgons”. The entire plant is boiled by the Flambeau Ojibwe to yield a red coloring dye. Bur Oak is added to set the color.

ROSACEAE (ROSE FAMILY)

=Wild Plum= (_Prunus nigra_ Ait.), “bûgesanaˈtîg”. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the inner bark as an astringent color fixative in dyeing with other plant dyes.

MISCELLANEOUS USES OF PLANTS

John Whitefeather, of the Couderay Ojibwe, in explaining the four degrees of the medicine lodge, told the writer about the many uses of charms or bewitching plants that the initiate learned in the fourth degree. The Mîde who perfected himself in the fourth degree was called a juggler or “Jessakîd”. He is supposed to have supernatural powers of magic, and can read the thoughts of others, as well as call forth the ghosts or spirits of the other world. He can give Indians charms or lures which will aid them to do almost anything they have in mind, and he is most feared and respected among the Ojibwe.

These charms are supposed to work without physical contact and are thus different from medicines. They are addressed and prayed over, often with ceremonial tobacco offered to the four points of the compass, to heaven and the earth. They are usually referred to as medicine, and are carried in little buckskin packages about the person of the owner. Much of the contents of the war bundle, hunting bundle or medicine bundle, is composed of such charms. They guarantee a safe journey, the winning of a lacrosse or bowl and dice game, and the ability to find persons lost in the woods or lost articles. They can bewitch a man’s wife, win the love of the opposite sex, work evil, and attract game to be shot, or small animals to one’s traps. There is no doubt that medicines were often applied with as much faith in their power to charm as belief in the medicinal value of the medicine root for that specific disease. The connection between actual and superstitious remedies was oftentimes close.

Although a juggler or witch doctor had the power to cast these spells or charms, he was also supposed to have the power to dispel them and cure them. John Whitefeather called attention to the frequent wry mouth or twisted side of an Indian’s face, and said that it had been caused by some witch doctor, but that it could be corrected by the victim, if he would pay the medicine man more to heal it than the one had paid for bringing on the affliction in the first instance. Many of their people think this unjust and the medicine man who does it may have to leave the village and flee for his life. This actually happened in the case of Anawabi and the boy who died of pneumonia, the parents claiming that Anawabi took his breath away. Of course, Anawabi was not within miles of the boy and assured the writer that he had nothing at all to do with that case, nor had even thought about it, but he made a hurried trip to Oklahoma and remained a couple of years until the anger of the parents had lessened.

Some plants had been used in various tanning processes a very long time ago by the Ojibwe, but none know anything about it now, so far as the writer could discover.

APOCYNACEAE (DOGBANE FAMILY)

=Spreading Dogbane= (_Apocynum androsaemifolium_ L.), “magoˈsiñeˈcnakwûk” [needle like].[147] The Pillager Ojibwe say that this is one of the roots the use of which is taught in the fourth degree of the medicine lodge, and that it is not only eaten during the medicine lodge ceremony, but is also chewed to keep the other witch doctors from affecting one with an evil charm.

ARACEAE (ARUM FAMILY)

=Sweet Flag= (_Acorus calamus_ L.), “naˈbûgûck” [something flat]. The root tea of this is used by Big George, Flambeau Ojibwe, on his gill net to bring him a fine catch of white fish. The net still smelled of the Calamus root after being in the water more than twelve hours, and he caught 121 white fish in one pull of the net in Flambeau Lake. It is combined with the root of Sarsaparilla.

ARALIACEAE (GINSENG FAMILY)

=Wild Sarsaparilla= (_Aralia nudicaulis_ L.), “bebamabiˈk” [root runs far through the ground]. This root is mixed with Sweet Flag root to make a tea to soak a gill net before setting it to catch fish during the night. Big George Skye, at Lac du Flambeau, was quite successful in catching them.

ASCLEPIADACEAE (MILKWEED FAMILY)

=Common Milkweed= (_Asclepias syriaca_ L.), “înîniˈwûnj” [Indian plant].[148] The Pillager Ojibwe use the milk of the Common Milkweed along with the milk of Canada Hawkweed to put on a deer call, thinking that it will better imitate the call of a fawn that is hungry or in distress.

COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY)

=Blue Wood Aster= (_Aster cordifolius_ L.), “naskosiˈîcûs”. A number of the composites as well as plants from other families are used in the Ojibwe hunting charms. The deer carries its scent or spoor in between its toes, and wherever the foot is impressed into the ground, other animals can detect its presence. It is thus dogs track them. It is a peculiar scent and the Ojibwe tries successfully to counterfeit it with roots and herbs. The root of this aster is but one of nineteen that can be used to make a smoke or incense when smoked in a pipe, which attracts the deer near enough to shoot it with a bow and arrow. They say that the white man drives the deer away when he smokes cigarettes or cigars, but the Indians bring them closer.

=Large-leaved Aster= (_Aster macrophyllus_ L.), “naskosiˈîcûs”. This is one of the Flambeau Ojibwe hunting charms. It is smoked to attract deer.

=Horse-weed= (_Erigeron canadensis_ L.), “wabîˈgwûn” [white flower]. This is one of the Flambeau Ojibwe hunting charms. The disk florets are smoked.

=Philadelphia Fleabane= (_Erigeron philadelphicus_ L.), “mîcaoˈgacan” [odor of split hoof of female deer]. The Pillager Ojibwe use the disk florets of this plant to smoke to attract the buck deer. They say that cows and deer eat the blossoms.

=Canada Hawkweed= (_Hieracium canadense_ Michx.) Under the name “wabîˈgwûn” [white flower], some of the Flambeau Ojibwe use the flowers to make a hunting lure, and mix it with their other hunting charms. Others call it “mêmîskûˈnakûk” and say that they cut off the roots and nibble at them when hunting. The roots are milky like the stem and the hunter wanting a doe will pretend he is a fawn trying to suckle and thus attract a doe close enough to shoot with bow and arrow.

=Tall Blue Lettuce= (_Lactuca spicata_ [Lam.] Hitchc.), “dodocaˈbo” [milk]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use this plant in the same manner as they do the Canada Hawkweed to attract a doe to them for a close shot.

=Fragrant Golden-rod= (_Solidago graminifolia_ [L.] Salisb.), “waˈsawaskwûneˈk” [yellow light]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the flowers of this golden-rod to add to their hunting medicine, which is smoked to simulate the odor of a deer’s hoof.

=Tansy= (_Tanacetum vulgare_ L.), “mûckîkiˈwît” [medicine plant]. The yellow flowers are used by the Flambeau Ojibwe as an addition to their odorous hunting mixture which they smoke to attract deer.

CORNACEAE (DOGWOOD FAMILY)

=Alternate-leaved Dogwood= (_Cornus alternifolia_ L. f.), “mosoˈmîc” [moose tree]. The root is boiled by the Flambeau Ojibwe to wash a muskrat trap and make it lure the muskrat.

ERICACEAE (HEATH FAMILY)

=Shin Leaf= (_Pyrola americana_ Sweet.), “bîneˈbûg” [partridge leaf]. The Flambeau Ojibwe hunter makes a tea from dried leaves of this plant and drinks it as a good luck potion in the morning before he starts to hunt.

IRIDACEAE (IRIS FAMILY)

=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)

=Bristly Crowfoot= (_Ranunculus pennsylvanicus_ L. f.), “manweˈ gons”. The Flambeau Ojibwe smoke the seeds of this in their hunting medicine to lure the buck deer near enough for a shot with bow and arrow.

ROSACEAE (ROSE FAMILY)

=Hawthorn= (_Crataegus_ Sp.), “mînesagaˈwûnj”, shown in plate 77, fig. 2. The bark of the Hawthorn was used by the Flambeau Ojibwe in making up their deer scent for smoking to attract deer while hunting.

SCROPHULARIACEAE (FIGWORT FAMILY)

=Wood Betony= (_Pedicularis canadensis_ L.), “mandaˈmînîodjiˈbîkêns” [little corn root]. This is a sort of love charm according to John Peper, Pillager Ojibwe, who said that the root was chopped up and put into some dish of food that was cooking, without the knowledge of the people who were going to eat it, and if they had been quarrelsome, then they became lovers again. However, he said it was too often put to bad uses.

TYPHACEAE (CAT-TAIL FAMILY)

=Cat-tail= (_Typha latifolia_ L.) “bebaˈmasûn” [it flies around]. The Flambeau Ojibwe used to throw the fuzz of the fruit into the eyes of their enemies, the Sioux, claiming that it blinded them.

UMBELLIFERAE (PARSLEY FAMILY)

=Musquash Root= (_Cicuta maculata_ L.), “abagwasîˈgans”. The root of this is used in making a hunting medicine to be smoked to attract the buck deer near enough to shoot with bow and arrow.

=Cow Parsnip= (_Heracleum lanatum_ Michx.) “pipigweˈwanûck” [flute reed]. According to the Flambeau Ojibwe, there is a bad spirit “sokênau”, who is always present trying to steal away one’s luck in hunting game. He must be driven away from the camp of the hunter by smudging a fire with the roots of the Cow Parsnip. This gets into Sokênau’s eyes and he cannot see the hunter leave the camp, so naturally does not follow and bother him. Other Flambeau Ojibwe call it “acaweˈskûk” but use it in the same way. The Pillager Ojibwe have the same name for the plant, but put the seed of the plant on a fire to drive away Sokênau. They boil the root to sprinkle their fishing nets and lure fish.

=Water Parsnip= (_Sium cicutaefolium_ Schrank.), “waneˈmîgons”. The seed of this is smoked over a fire by the Flambeau Ojibwe to drive away and blind Sokênau, the evil spirit that steals away one’s hunting luck.

=Yellow Pimpernel= (_Taenidia integerrima_ [L.] Drude), “manweˈgons” or “manweˈkos”. The Flambeau Ojibwe declare that the seeds of this plant are very good for smoking in a pipe when one goes hunting for they will bring him luck.

CONCLUSION