Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki Indians / by Huron H. Smith.

236

BULLETIN, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE.

[Vol. 4

"piasan'kwefik" [fine haired roots] (P P). This last term is the same
in Menomini. This is a powerful medicine employed for quick results.
With Mayapple root it is used as a urinary or physic. There is no
record of its use by the white man.
POLYGALACEAE (MILKWORT FAMILY)
Senega Snakeroot (Polygala senega L.), shown in plate XLIV, fig.
1, "wesatcakika'kfik1" [head dress of an Indian] (M), "wayepina'waneke'sakik" [head dress of an Indian] (PP). This is the chief
remedy of both tribes in cases of heart trouble.
Specimen 5174 of the Dr. Jones collection is the root of Polygala
senega and the medicine is called "wa'kagapi." The root is boiled and
made into a drink to be used for heart trouble. Senega is official in
all pharmacopoeias. It is used as a stimulating expectorant in acute
bronchitis, spasmodic croup, and catarrhal laryngitis.
POLYGONACEAE (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY)
Smartweed (Polygonum acre HBK.), "sakfi'ski" [weed] (M).
Neither tribe uses this plant.
Hedge Buckwheat (Polygonum dumetorum L.), "tetipa'kwe"
[twisting] (M). Neither tribe uses this plant.
Swamp Persicaria (Polygonum muhlenbergii (Meisn.) Wats.),
"wapasi'pini kokakiai'sikekipeskipaki" [white or water potato and?] and
"sakfi'ski [weed] (M), "piskapfi'k pikii'takfik" [grows in the water]
(PP). The root is used for treating sores in the mouth. The Meskwaki use it for a tea when it is "young or soft," as they express it.
The leaves and stems furnish a tea for the treatment of flux in children.
The Indians soak the drug without heat, as they claim the active principle is destroyed by heating.
Specimen 5092 of the Dr. Jones collection is a mixture incorporating the root of Polygonum muhlenbergii with five other ingredients:
Acer saccharum, Angelica atropurpurea, Pyrus ioensis, Sisyrinchium
campestre and Apocynum androsaemifolium. The mixture is boiled
and made into a drink to cure women with an injured womb. White
men do not use it.
Pennsylvania Persicaria (Polygonum pennsylvanicum L.), "wi'sakfiki" [to wipe anus] (M), "kasimitii'on" [to wipe anus] (P P).