Native American Herbal Remedies

Childbirth 

To Speed Childbirth:

Partridgeberry:  The Cherokee used a tea of the boiled leaves. Frequent doses of the tea were taken in the few weeks preceding the expected date of delivery.

Blue Cohosh. To promote a rapid delivery, an infusion of the root in warm water was drunk as a tea for several weeks prior to the expected delivery date.

To Speed Delivery of the Placenta:

American Licorice. A tea was made from the boiled roots. Broom Snakeweed. Navajo women drank a tea of the whole plant to promote the expulsion of the placenta.

To Stop Post-Partum Hemorrhage:

Buckwheat. Hopi women were given an infusion of the entire buckwheat plant to stop bleeding.

Black Western Chokecherry. Arikara women were given a drink of the berry juice to stop bleeding. 

Smooth Upland Sumac. The Omahas boiled the smooth upland sumac fruits and applied the liquid as an external wash to stop bleeding.

To relieve the Pain of Childbirth:

Wild Black Cherry. Cherokee women were given a tea of the inner bark to relieve pain in the early stages. Cotton. The Alabama and Koasati tribes made a tea of the roots of the plant to relieve the pains of labor.

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Native American Herbal Remedies

Bronchitis

Creosote Bush. A tea of the leaves was used for bronchial and other respiratory problems.

Pleurisy Root. The Natchez drank a tea of the boiled roots as a remedy for pneumonia and was later used to promote the expulsion of phlegm,

Wormwood. The Yokia Indians of Mendocino County used a tea of the boiled leaves of a local species of wormwood to cure bronchitis.

 

BURNS

Yellow-Spined Thistle. The Kiowa Indians boiled yellow-spined thistle blossoms and applied the resulting liquid to burns and skin sores.

 

CheyFire

Native American Herbal Remedies

The following exerts under this heading, Native American Herbal Remedies,  will be from: The Cherokee Messenger  Copyright © 1996 The Cherokee Cultural Society of Houston

Asthma

Skunk Cabbage. Used by the Winnebago and Dakota tribes to stimulate the removal of phlegm in asthma. The rootstock was official in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1882 when it was used in respiratory and nervous disorders and in rheumatism and dropsy.

Mullein. Introduced by Europeans. The Menominees smoked the pulverized, dried root for respiratory complaints while the Forest Potawatomis, the Mohegans, and the Penobscots smoked the dried leaves to relieve asthma. The Catawba Indians used a sweetened syrup from the boiled root, which they gave to their children for coughs.

 

Backache

Arnica. The Catawba Indians used a tea of arnica roots for treating back pains. The Dispensary of the United States (22nd edition) states this drug can be dangerous if taken internally and that it has caused severe and even fatal poisoning. Also used as a wash to treat sprains and bruises.

Gentian. The Catawba Indians steeped the roots in hot water and applied the hot fluid on aching backs.

Horsemint. The Catawba tribe crushed and steeped fresh horsemint leaves in cold water and drank the infusion to allay back pain. Other tribes used horsemint for fever, inflammation, and chills.

 

Sources: Millspaugh, Charles F. American Medicinal Plants. NY:Dover Publications, 1974.
Mooney, James. Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Nashville TN: Charles and Randy Elders, Publishers, 1982.
Weiner, Michael. Earth Medicine Earth Food. NY: Fawcett Columbine, 1980.

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Sacred Plants

Sacred Plants

Sweet grass

Positive energy, good thought, honor purification. This is one of the four sacred medicines (sage, tobacco, sweet grass, and cedar). Sweet grass represents Mother Earth's hair. In ceremony, a smoldering braid of sweet grass is taken around the circle gathered. Each participant then cups the smoke in their hands and bathes themselves in it. The smoke from the sweet grass promotes positive energy and good thoughts, so that the group's purpose remains clear. Sweet grass is a particular type of grass that grows wild in North America. It has no mind altering qualities. It is not smoked or inhaled.

Red Cedar

Cedar is burned while praying. The prayers rise on the cedar smoke to the Creator. Cedar is also spread, along with sage, along the floor of the sweat lodges of some tribes. Cedar branches are brushed in the air to cleanse a home during the House Blessing Ceremony of many Northwestern Indian ceremonies. In the Pacific Northwest, the people burn cedar for purification in much way as sage. It drives out negative energy, and brings in good influences. The spirit of cedar is considered very ancient and wise, by Pacific Northwest tribes. Old, downed cedar trees are always honored with offerings and prayers.

Sage

Sage is used to cleanse objects, places and people. Traditional elders say that before a person performs ceremony or is healed, they need to be cleansed of any bad feelings or negative thought. The cleansing can be done with sage, sweet grass or cedar. The smudging helps the healing come about in a very clear way, without ant negative energy regarding the healer or the patient. The elders also say that one should enter into a ceremony with a good heart. The proper way to dispose of sage is to throw it eastward rather than burn it or throw it down.

Tobacco

Ceremonially, tobacco is smoked as a means of communication with the spirit. The spirit world is asked for assistance and wisdom. The earthly substance, Nicotiani, is ignited, then transfigured into vapors and thus given in an honorable way to the astral lands of the spirits. It is said that the ancestors remember the pleasure of smoking the leaves and the dried blossoms. So, they return to partake in the essence of the tobacco.

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