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Indians 101: American Indian plant use in Ohio [1]
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Date: 2022-07-28
Shown above is a cornhusk doll.
Wild Foods
It has been estimated that the Indians in this area used about 130 species of plants for food.
One of the important foods in this area was maple sugar. In the spring—late March or early April—people would tap the trees, boil the sap down, and separate it into syrup, sugar, and cakes. A gash would be cut in the tree and a cedar chip driven in under the gash. The basket would be placed on the ground under the chip to catch the sap as it dripped. The maple sap was collected in birch-bark containers which were made by folding the ends of a rectangular piece of bark and tying it with willow. In a good season, a family would prepare 400-500 pounds of sugar.
The maple sugar was used in preparing fruits, wild rice, vegetables, and fish. In the summer, a cool drink was made by dissolving the maple sugar in water. Finally, the maple sugar was also used to make confections which were enjoyed by the children (and probably by the adults as well).
Cultivated Plants
While the Native peoples in Ohio had been farming for about two thousand years prior to the European invasion, farming was of secondary economic importance (hunting and gathering were of greater importance) and contributed less than half of their food. The primary crops included maize (corn), beans, squash, and tobacco.
The reduced importance of agriculture was due largely to climatic conditions. Throughout much of the region, the 140 growing day season made agriculture a risky endeavor. A later spring or an early fall meant that crop failures were a constant possibility.
Indian farmers used slash and burn agriculture. The fields would be cleared and then burned so that the wood ash would fertilize the soil. Corn would be planted first. When the corn was about a foot high, beans, squash, and pumpkin were interplanted with the corn.
Corn, beans, and squash were traditionally known as the Three Sisters. According to the Ohio History Center:
“These three crops were typically planted together, with the corn on hills of dirt, the beans climbing the cornstalks, and the squash growing between the stalks.”
Among some of the groups, such as the Shawnee, a slightly fermented corn drink was made. Flint corn would be allowed to ripen and dry on the stalk. The kernels were then boiled in water until it became a heavy whitish mass. This would be set away until it fermented and then used. It is described as tasting something like a sweet pickle.
Tobacco was an important ceremonial and trade plant. Tobacco smoking is a symbolic way of enhancing the communication between individuals, between groups, and between the people and the supernatural.
The tobacco raised by the Indians was Nicotiana rustica. Tobacco would also be mixed with other plants, such as willow bark, leaves of red-osier dogwood, sumac, hawthorn, and fleabane, to form kinnikinnik. It is estimated that 27different plants were used in making smoking mixtures.
According to the Ohio History Center:
“Pipe smoking was an essential ceremonial ritual at councils, treaties, and trade negotiations. The calumet was also smoked in religious observances and healing rituals. Tobacco was sometimes durned as an offering to the spirits.”
Tobacco was sprinkled on the water as an offering to the underwater spirits just before getting into a canoe; a pinch of tobacco would be offered to the earth where other ceremonial plants were gathered; and tobacco would be given to someone when a special request is made.
Medicinal Plants
It has been estimated that the Indian people of this area used 275 species of plants for medicine.
The spicebush stem shown above was boiled to make a tea which would reduce inflammations.
The inner bark of the black cherry was pounded out and then used to make a dressing to protect wounds.
Wild ginger root was use to help with indigestion and to flavor food.
A poultice made from blue violet leaves was used to heal abscesses.
Trees
Trees were used for making shelters (both permanent houses and wigwams, bows and arrows, farming implements such as digging sticks and hoes, containers and for a variety of tools.
Permanent houses were constructed with an ironwood post framework and horizontal elmwood pieces. These houses were covered with bark. The permanent houses were 10-20 feet wide and 20-40 feet long. The larger houses were occupied by several families and would have a fireplace at either end.
The wigwam was a round or slightly rectangular structure made with a bent pole frame and covered with bark or woven mats. These dome-shaped structures were about 12 feet long and 10 feet wide. Some would have two doors.
Basswood bark was used for shelter coverings and flowering dogwood was used for making digging tools.
More Indians 101
Indians 101: The Eastern Woodlands Culture Area
Indians 101: Aboriginal Farming in New England
Indians 101: Southeastern Agriculture
Indians 101: Southeastern Indian Hunting
Indians 101: Pine Nuts
Indians 101: Acorns
Indians 101: Wild Foods in the Great Lakes Area
Indians 201: Huckleberries
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