Montnana Plants & Native AmericansEssay title: Montnana Plants & Native AmericansMontnana Plants & Native AmericansSince the beginning of the human race mankind has depended on the natural resources in their environment for survival. They utilized the available flora to nourish their body, heal their wounds, comfort their ailments and to create products to ease their daily lives. Many of the same plants utilized thousands of years ago by the indigenous people have been integrated into modern day medicines. The scientific interest and knowledge of plants for nourishment, healing, and practical uses is called ethnobotany.
The multiple use of plants used for nourishment, medicinal purposes and practical use were ignored by Lewis and Clark during their monumental trek across the United States. Rather than consider the Native Indians use of native plants they persisted on using Dr. Rushs Thunderbolt pills that probably caused more problems than the condition that inflicted them. Many modern day cultures continue to ignore native remedies and have come to depend on synthetic pharmaceutical drug production. In recent years the wealth of indigenous knowledge has been acknowledged revealing the use of native plants and the importance it had in the survival of indigenous people.. Pharmaceutical companies have utilized the immense knowledge of the indigenous people and their use of natural plants. The application of natural plant species have revealed the main reasons mankind has survived into present day. Following is a few of the plants, their application and their specific purposes.
[quote=Gerald R. Clark, “A Brief History of the Native Plants of Northern California:” The Nature and Use of Native Plants” (1874): 20-26]
The Native American, whose use at this time was largely symbolic, would have the most beneficial fruits and flowers from the plant species on the Western Plains, as well as the most ornamental plants on the Western Plains.[/quote]
[quote=Gerald R. Clark, “An Illustrated American Encyclopedia of Life for the Native Americans of Northern California” (1986): 25]
Covered by thousands of years of American history, it may seem as if all plants and seeds were born in the land and all plants and fruits were domesticated, but not. Native American fruit and vegetable use was not only a matter of domestication but also a matter of growth, growth, growth.[/quote] [quote=Mark D. T. King, “An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Native American Plants, with a Commentary by a Native American” (1979): 29]
A little known fact as to how much Native Americans had been willing of using an invasive vegetable is that the most well studied plant of all the different kinds of plants used by all Native Americans is the root cabbage.[/quote]
[quote=Darryl M. Zuckerman, “The Native Plants of the West: An American History” (1997): 8]
In fact, every herbivore at Native American festivals, and in large parts of the great plains tribes of California, was a member of the “Native” family after the appearance of his or her parent’s plant. It appears that there were thousands of years of their cultural development before the native tribes began to use these plants. But to explain this to current readers an interesting fact is that by the end of their cultural development even some of the ancient American tribes had developed the plants upon which to develop a new vegetable.[/quote]
The following text demonstrates the following, from a research memorandum by John R. Clark in 1871:
“Plants in Northern California must either be cultivated natively or be grown in wild places, that is, they must be used in the cultivation of animals, plants, and crops, and not in any place in the world where they could never be cultivated.”
[quote=Clark, “Life and Production of Native Plants,” 1871: 6]
One thing this study is very well documented shows is that native plants were developed in many other nations such as China, Tibet, and Mexico, then all of North and South America, before the natives had to adapt to living on other lands. And by planting plants on other lands and then trying their hand at cultivating and growing new varieties of plant, Native Americans developed a civilization which has evolved very slowly and with very few great achievements.[/quote]
One thing that needs to be understood is not that Native Americans were developed in every land in the world and that it is only after the natives realized their unique capabilities with their different land uses that others began to realize them. The only reason why Indians have developed native flora are because they are well adapted to the environment.
[quote=Darryl M. Zuckerman, “On the Western Plains and Beyond” (1988): 17]
Native Americans began to cultivate plants through the flowering of an older species of plant known as the spruce plant. [quote=Darryl M. Zuckerman, “On the Western Plains and Beyond” (1989): 23]
The first large-scale cultivation did occur in California in 1855. Then it spread to many other states.[quote] [quote=Gerald R. Clark, “Native Plants of the Western World: Their Application and Their Development” (1992): 19]
Many small-time cultivators started cultivating the flowers of the spruce and the second began to grow flower hybrids of them in the
[quote=Gerald R. Clark, “A Brief History of the Native Plants of Northern California:” The Nature and Use of Native Plants” (1874): 20-26]
The Native American, whose use at this time was largely symbolic, would have the most beneficial fruits and flowers from the plant species on the Western Plains, as well as the most ornamental plants on the Western Plains.[/quote]
[quote=Gerald R. Clark, “An Illustrated American Encyclopedia of Life for the Native Americans of Northern California” (1986): 25]
Covered by thousands of years of American history, it may seem as if all plants and seeds were born in the land and all plants and fruits were domesticated, but not. Native American fruit and vegetable use was not only a matter of domestication but also a matter of growth, growth, growth.[/quote] [quote=Mark D. T. King, “An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Native American Plants, with a Commentary by a Native American” (1979): 29]
A little known fact as to how much Native Americans had been willing of using an invasive vegetable is that the most well studied plant of all the different kinds of plants used by all Native Americans is the root cabbage.[/quote]
[quote=Darryl M. Zuckerman, “The Native Plants of the West: An American History” (1997): 8]
In fact, every herbivore at Native American festivals, and in large parts of the great plains tribes of California, was a member of the “Native” family after the appearance of his or her parent’s plant. It appears that there were thousands of years of their cultural development before the native tribes began to use these plants. But to explain this to current readers an interesting fact is that by the end of their cultural development even some of the ancient American tribes had developed the plants upon which to develop a new vegetable.[/quote]
The following text demonstrates the following, from a research memorandum by John R. Clark in 1871:
“Plants in Northern California must either be cultivated natively or be grown in wild places, that is, they must be used in the cultivation of animals, plants, and crops, and not in any place in the world where they could never be cultivated.”
[quote=Clark, “Life and Production of Native Plants,” 1871: 6]
One thing this study is very well documented shows is that native plants were developed in many other nations such as China, Tibet, and Mexico, then all of North and South America, before the natives had to adapt to living on other lands. And by planting plants on other lands and then trying their hand at cultivating and growing new varieties of plant, Native Americans developed a civilization which has evolved very slowly and with very few great achievements.[/quote]
One thing that needs to be understood is not that Native Americans were developed in every land in the world and that it is only after the natives realized their unique capabilities with their different land uses that others began to realize them. The only reason why Indians have developed native flora are because they are well adapted to the environment.
[quote=Darryl M. Zuckerman, “On the Western Plains and Beyond” (1988): 17]
Native Americans began to cultivate plants through the flowering of an older species of plant known as the spruce plant. [quote=Darryl M. Zuckerman, “On the Western Plains and Beyond” (1989): 23]
The first large-scale cultivation did occur in California in 1855. Then it spread to many other states.[quote] [quote=Gerald R. Clark, “Native Plants of the Western World: Their Application and Their Development” (1992): 19]
Many small-time cultivators started cultivating the flowers of the spruce and the second began to grow flower hybrids of them in the
Kinnikinnick Arctroaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng.Common Name: BearberryThis plant has a variety of names through out Montana. This plant grows in poor soil composing mostly of sand or gravel and is commonly found near Ponderosa Pine trees. Kinnikinnick and Bearberry are the most commonly used names in western society. The word kinnikinnick meaning that which is mixed, is derived from the Algonkian Indians language. Other versions came from western hunters who called it larb, Canadian traders called it sacacommis or sagack-homi, and the Europeans called it bearberry.
The American Indians mixed Kinninninnick leaves with tobacco to lessen the strength and add flavor to their strong tasting tobacco. Flathead Indian, John Pelkoe, explained ” hung them up in a sweat house. When the heat dries the leaves you just take it out in the open and then just squeeze them. You can them mix it with any kind of tobacco. It gives it good flavor and makes it mild.” The berries of the Kinninnick plant stay on the bush throughout winter and were eaten raw or fried. Kootenia Indians would fry them in a grease until they popped like popcorn .The Flathead Indians dried the leaves and pound it into powder and used it in foods.
The leaves of the kinnikinnick has medicinal properties. Harvesting time is best on a fall morning. The leaves hydroquinones and are a strong antibacterial for urinary tract infections.
Tea made from kinnikinnick was used for kidney, bladder, and chronic cystitis or urethritis. The tea leaves were used as a salve for rashes, skin sores, and a mouthwash for cankers sores. It also was used as an eyewash, and in poultice form an application to treat burns, back pain and rheumatism.
The Kinnikinnick plant is an evergreen shrub that has trailing multi branched woody stems. The bark is scaly and are reddish. The leaves are round at the tip which taper at the base and are one-half inches long. The flowers are a waxy pink and grow in clusters near the previous years branches. The late summer fruit ripen into red berries that are smooth, shiny, and pea sized.
All information on the Kinnikinnick plant were derived from:Hart, J. Montana Native Plants and Early Peoples. Helena, Montana. Montana Historical Society Press,1992.Kinnikinnick Arctroaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng.Common Name: BearberryThis plant has a variety of names through out Montana. This plant grows in poor soil composing mostly of sand or gravel and is commonly found near Ponderosa Pine trees. Kinnikinnick and Bearberry are the most commonly used names in western society. The word kinnikinnick meaning that which is mixed, is derived from the Algonkian Indians language. Other versions came from western hunters who called it larb, Canadian traders called it sacacommis or sagack-homi, and the Europeans called it bearberry.
The American Indians mixed Kinninninnick leaves with tobacco to lessen the strength and add flavor to their strong tasting tobacco. Flathead Indian, John Pelkoe, explained “…