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

240

BULLETIN, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE.

[Vol. 4

"nfimwa'pit" [dog's teat] (M and P P). The center of the flowers or
the stigmas are used for a snuff to cause sneezing.
Specimen 5136 of the Dr. Jones collection is a mixture of three
medicines containing Ranunculus delphinifolius leaves, disk florets of
Helenium autumnale and leaf bracts of Monarda punctata. The mixture is powdered and used as a snuff for catarrh and cold in the head.
The white man has no use for it.
Meadow Rue (Thalictrumn dasycarpum Fisch. & Lall.), "kakaki'
wfiskwi" [crow weeds] (M), "kakaki'wfiskwe" [crow woman weed]
(P P). This is a love medicine used to reconcile a quarrelsome married couple. It is a hollow stemmed plant and as such is used by both
tribes like a straw to drink water from a spring, hence it is called by
two other names meaning hollow stemmed, "pepikwe'niskaki" (M) and
"pfikwe'wfnfisk tapaka'wfikipatike'tak" [drink water from it] (P P).
Specimen 3640 of the Dr. Jones collection was doubtfully identified
as Thalictrum dasycarpum and is called "cactgaihimini" [garter-snake
berry or fruit]. This is a medicine which forms part of a love medicine, used with numbers 3637, 3638, 3639, 3642, 3643 and 3644.
Along with others of this family, Thalictrum contains a bitter tonic
principle, berberine, and has been used by the white man as a medicine.
RHAMNACEAE (BUCKTHORN FAMILY)
New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus L.),40 "kitfiki manito"
[spotted snake spirit] (M and P P). The Indian name for this plant
is the same in Meskwaki, Potawatomi, Menomini and Ojibwe, and all
ascribe great powers to it. All Indians refer to its twisted, intricately
knotted roots and ascribe potency to its use in the treatment of bowel
troubles. McIntosh said that it was a great medicine root, and called
attention to the fact that it was red and so twisted as to resemble the
bowels, hence it was used for bowel troubles. The Meskwaki do not use
it as a medicine. The root and bark of New Jersey Tea are strongly
astringent because of its nine per cent tannin content, and its use with
the white man is confined to its astringent properties. During the
Revolutionary war the leaves were used as a substitute for tea.
Specimen 3609 of the Dr. Jones collection is the root of Ceanothus
amnericanus, which his informant said was used formerly to cure snake
bite. It is called "sagimtwi minet6wa isigipowaitci."
chief serpent when it bites
"Present series, Vol. IV, pt. 1, pl. XXI, fig. 1.