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Plants and herbs were used a number of ways in traditional Ojibwe culture for food, medicine, herbs, dyes, and decoration. The huge variety of plants and uses demonstrated an excellent understanding of the surrounding environment, resulting in a rich and healthy diet, as well as a veritable pharmacy for injuries and ailments.

Plants as Food

Wild rice, Zizania palustris, mano’min

Wild rice served as the main grain consumed by the Ojibwe, and it’s high nutritional value (it’s is an excellent source of both fiber and protein) helped to stabilize and support their diet. To harvest the grain, two people would share a canoe; one (traditionally a man) would stand in back and pole the canoe forward, while the other (traditionally a woman) would sit in the middle and beat the rice off the stalks and into the bottom of the boat. (This is still the way wild rice is harvested today.) When the boat was full, they would paddle back to shore, where the rice was parched, pounded, and stored in containers (often of cedar or basswood).

Courtesy: Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes of the United States
Drawing by Captain Seth Eastman

Plants as Medicine

External remedies:

1. fresh roots/leaves macerated and then applied
2. dried roots/leaves pulverized, decocted, and administered
3. dried roots/leaves pulverized, moistened, and applied as a poultice
4. dried roots/leaves pulverized and sprinkled on hot stones (for medicinal fumes)
5. decoction sprinkled on hot stones (medicinal steam)
6. herbs boiled with grease to form a salve
7. dried and powdered roots mixed with grease to make an emollient

Internal remedies:

1. dried and powdered roots/leaves boiled or steeped in water
2. dried and powdered roots used as snuff or prepared with lukewarm water
3. fresh roots and herbs for chewing
4. slight incisions were made with sharp glass/flint, then dried and powdered roots placed over the incisions
5. remedies were “pricked into the skin” with needles expressly for that purpose
6. pulverized roots mixed with red willow or tobacco and smoked in a pipe
7. herbal decoction given as an enema (Densmore, 330)

"Special Concern" Plants

While there are no plants on the Endangered Species list that are traditionally used by the Ojibwe, there are five plants that are on Minnesota's "Special Concern" list published by the University of MN Press, through the Natural Heritage and Nongame Wildlife Programs, a division of the DNR.

2. Satiny Willow, Salix pellita, ozi'sigo'bimic; used to combat indigestion, and for utility purposes

plants.usda.gov:8080/plants/profile?symbol=SAPE3

4. Goldenrod, Solidago sciaphilla, gi'ziso'muki'ki; used to treat fever, ulcers, boils, cramps, convulsions, urinary trouble, and lung trouble

biology.clc.uc.edu/.../compositae/Goldenrods/

Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum, a'nina'tig

Each Ojibwe family had its own designated sugar maple tree for harvesting in the late winter. Maple sugar was another staple in the Ojibwe diet, used to season fruits, vegetables, cereals, fish, and beverages. It was also used for gifts, bartering, and to sweeten medicine. Familes returned to permanent sugar camps around March, where they would stay and prepare the sugar in birchbark lodges before returning to the main camp.

Photo courtesy: http://www.turtle-island.com/artists.html

Photo courtesy: collections.ic.gc.ca/.../midland/m_wam.htm

1. Hill's Thistle, Cirsium hilli, ma'zana'tig; used as medicine for women

Photo by A.B. Sheldon/Root Resources.

3. Canadian Black Snakeroot, Sanicula canadensis, mukude'widji'bik; used as medicine for women

http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/cn_blsnakeroot.htm

5. Eastern Hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, gaga'gimic; used to treat hemorrhage from wounds, also for food and dye

www.oplin.org/.../hemlock_eastern.html