Closed Captions Audio Described

Sandy McFarland, an enrolled Nez Perce member and forest service administrator, presents the medicinal and food uses of over 100 plants, trees, and berries available to the Nez Perce people along the Lewis and Clark trail. She documents traditional preparation methods—from teas and poultices to earth ovens—while explaining how these resources supported daily life and spiritual practices across Nez Perce territory.

Transcript

0:06 good afternoon everyone welcome to the tent of many voices and the core of Discovery 2 my name is Laura Clifford and I'm an interpretive Park Ranger with the project we are a traveling exhibit visiting communities along the Lewis and Clark Trail educating folks about all different aspects of the Lewis and Clark expedition we have a lot to offer you today the exhibit tent over here where you can walk through and look our panels
0:31 or take an audio tour replicas of many of the vessels that they used on their waterways the keelboat the dougout canoe the perogue some of our Cooperative federal agencies are set up the US Forest Service and the BLM and the Montana National Guard so please join them and and uh visit with them for a while the T of many voices was a place
0:54 designed to um bring in many professional people of professional back grounds and cultures to share with us their knowledge as it relates to the Lewis and Clark expedition and so for this hour I'd like to welcome Sandy McFarland she works for the US Forest Service in the npers National Historic Trail and she is going to be talking about Nature's Supermarket so please
1:18 welcome Sandy [Music] McFarland Kut Yao thank you tots cowt good afternoon I'll give you just a little bit of information about myself I'm an enrolled member with the NES Pur tribe I'm half French and half NES Pur my educational background I have a master's degree in anthropology from the
1:42 University of Idaho and my minor is in Wildland Recreation and tourism by trade I'm an archaeologist I've worked as an archaeologist for a number of years for p private corporations I worked for the nesp tribe as a cultural resource director for four years and then I moved into a career with a forest service I worked as an archaeologist an interpretive specialist
2:04 a tribal leoon and most recently I'm very honored and privileged to have an important position in serving as the administrator for the NES Pur National Historic Trail the nesp trail is the only Historic Trail that is administered by the forest service so it's a little bit of a uniqueness to us we take great pride in working with our sister
2:27 agencies in the Park Service BLM us Fish and Wild Wildlife Service as well as state and private folks today we're going to be talking about nature Supermarket basically everything that was available when Lewis and Clark came across the trail everything that was available prior to Lewis and Clark is pretty much available today in Nature's Supermarket I do expect you to take
2:50 notes there will be a short quiz at the end okay I have to ask this question is it warm enough for everyone are you okay oh good okay okay I grew up in a very traditional nesp home we call ourselves namu which means the people and I had the opportunity to grow up with my grandparents aunts and uncles in an
3:13 extended family and I learned a lot about the use of medicines to gather different supplemental Foods however by the time I became a teenager somehow I figured out that I knew everything and I became very disinterested I thought that this type of information was not important to me I was so wrong by the time I went to college I realized
3:36 I had made a big mistake at that point I started to come back and work with medicine women in My Tribe and also with our respected tribal Elders to try to piece together the information that I was now lacking unfortunately what happens when these tribal Elders pass away is their knowledge base and so a lot of the information is not complete as to the time of year to collect and
4:00 harvest plants to the time of the preparation what is the steps that you go through also some of the nesters names are no longer available as we go through this PowerPoint we'll have the common name and the scientific name as well as the nest purse name if you don't see a nest purse name that means we simply do not any longer have that
4:24 information can everyone hear me okay out there okay I know this isn't very conducive to the setting but trust me they're gorgeous photos because I took them okay all right here we go you know the nesp people were very resourceful and they generally utilized the entire plant when they were harvesting and processing for medicinal uses as well as supplemental
4:49 Foods my belief is by documenting this experience of the Flora that was used by these people helps us to place them in their environment of the context of what it was like for them 200 300 1,000 10,000 years ago it also helps us to understand the Dynamics of their culture as well as it gives us a good understanding of where we can find
5:12 significant cultural remains today it's really My Hope in giving these presentations that it will lead everyone here to acquire a better appreciation and an understanding of the importance of these plants and the importance of capturing this information it really is an untapped resource I think you'll find some uh really extraordinary uses that's
5:36 being used today in the medicinal fields that was being used by The Nest Pur thousands of years ago so I think there are opportunities for more medicinal discoveries as well as opportunities in feeding third world countries or maybe even our own country if it ever comes to that okay let's go ahead and get started we're going to start with some trees I have over 100 slides so I know you don't want to sit there that long so we'll
6:00 just get through as many as possible the first one you're looking at is the grand fur and the ointment they use the resin as an ointment and they would rub it on their chest for treating coals pretty much like Vic's Vapor Rub today many of the trees that we're going to look at they would boil the needles or the boughs and has anyone ever tried
6:23 that you ever chewed on a a bow before just start okay so they're pretty sour aren't they so what they would do they would often times add honey to offset that real bitter taste by boiling a tea from this particular tree it was used in treating hoop and cough which was an introduced disease they would boil the needles and they would make it into an eyewash now
6:47 as we go through these you'll notice there was quite a few different preparations for eyewashes the Louis and Clark journals mentioned this was a big problem for the nest purse when they came through the area we're not really sure why they would also used the finely pulverized dried needles and it served as a baby powder there's a lot of uses for the
7:09 subalpine fur it was used as an incense it was powdered and then it was mixed with be grease later in life it was mixed with lard and they would put it on open wounds and sores abrasions like scrapes they would also use the pulverized needles as a body deodorant so just like we go to town today day and get our deodorant we had it here
7:31 naturally in Nature's Supermarket the fur could be powdered and mixed with lard as a hair oil now here we go Rane has nothing on the nesp people they would use this as a hair restorer and it would also turn the hair a greenish Hue or color which was considered to be very attractive back then it was also highly regarded in spiritual beliefs that they
7:56 it was um one method of keeping bad spirits away way whoops sorry I touched something here that I shouldn't
8:14 have technical difficulty either they have to train you in the different uses or I bring my own laptop next time
8:38 let me get okay just kind of got out of that one form so we'll do this and then go to where you about right there yes okay okay I don't know what happened but me either okay I'm sorry about that I really do know how to use my own laptop okay um the water Birch serve one purpose they would used the hollowed out
9:01 cavities which provided a sap and it was mixed with very cool water it was considered a very refreshing beverage the next is the Western Larch often referred to as the tamarak they would use the hardened sap as a chewing gum has anyone done that yeah all right they would also use the sap as a syrup the process involved leaving the sap in the hollowed out portion of the trunk of
9:25 the tree and then it allowed a natural evaporation and it concentrated the sugars as such some say the app could be used to plaster hair into place so there we go now we have a hair gel this tree was first observed by Lewis and Clark in the Bitterroot in September of 1805 the Engleman Spruce they would use
9:48 the branches for cleansing one's home this was after there was a death in the family and when we're talking about the these his more historic uses by The Nest purse many of these are still being utiliz today I know my family we go out We Gather a number of these trees and berries and roots for the same purposes the powder from the fur tree was utilized in ridding the elk and
10:12 buffalo Robes of ticks and fleas another little antidote of Lewis and Clark they noted in their journals that the nest purse didn't have a problem with flicks and teas in the elk robes and buffalo robes however when they travel down the Columbia River as to what we call the River Indians it seemed to be more of a problem there so that was one way to take care of that the white bark part
10:36 they would utilize the seeds by roasting them and cracking them open the lodge pole one of the uses where they were going after the cambium which is the inner where you would peel the inner bark and get to the inside layer of the tree there has anyone tried that no you got to try this one it is very good sometimes it's referred to as
10:59 an emergency or starvation food because it was readily bailable throughout the winter a number of trees were used to reach the cambium layer so it wasn't just the lodge pul Pine and we'll talk about a couple of those a little bit later but these trees uh we have numerous trees along the nesper National Historic Trail which by the way as you probably know your history of Lewis and
11:22 Clark from the big hole National Battlefield all the way to the weite prairie in Idaho as they cross the bitter roots that trail is virtually parallel or one and the same so they were basically on the Lewis and or on the nesp trail when they were coming across another use is they would use the buds and they would chws chew them up and it helped when you had a sore throat
11:46 so there's our throat lozenge the other thing that the nesp women did is they would utilize the poles for their teepe poles as well as the travo poles and just as an a side note both the travo and the teps belong to the women that's another whole uh slideshow but I'll mention it for you the green con of the
12:09 western White Pine were put into a fire they would roast them and crack them open and of course they were going after the seeds which are very tasty much like sunflower seeds are today the Ponderosa Pine is another one that was very popular for the cambium that they were going after and that's primarily what this was considered the best source for medicinal qualities they
12:32 would use the green needles they would mulch them all up and they would rub them throughout the hair and it was perfect for dandruff another is they would use the pitch they would rub it on for backaches and rheumatism they also used to pitch now hang on because I think this sometimes is a little scary they used to pitch as a chewing gum anyone done that okay good
12:57 they used it as glue they used it on their torches for fishing at night in canoes and in the semi Subterranean pit houses so lots of uses for that the Ponderosa Pine was known to Lewis and Clark as the long leaf pine and they collected samples of this particular tree from the Clearwater River area in Idaho the quake and Aspen they would use
13:21 the ruptures by utilize going after the ruptures for utilizing the bark what I would call the leaves of it serve to help with coals when they turn that into a tea and they could powder and mix it with bare grease later they used lard and it was used in the promoting the healing of burns the Douglas were another one they would boil it up and make it as a tea
13:45 for treating coals the rotted wood from the tree is what they Ed for smoking hives which gave it that nice brown color the Pacific U was considered a very resilient wood so it was excellent for making bows but one of the more important qualities it had was a medicinal use this tree was brewed and drank as a tea and it pretty much helped
14:09 when a person had overall rundown feelings or no energy and of course what is it Ed for today Cancer Treatment from the taxel exactly the Western red cedar has lots of uses the bark was used to construct uh baskets it was used in Sweat House frames it was used on roof roofs of the semi Subterranean pit houses they would
14:34 use a smaller basket from the roots that was very tightly woven this particular basket was used as a cooking so they fill it up with water they would get stones that are rounded and fit in your hand and they would put the stones in the water then you could chuck your meat in there or your root or whatever you wanted to cook and it was so tightly woven it was sealed so that you could cook in that
14:58 fashion some think that the roots were gathered in Spring other informants say that it was later into the fall so not sure possibly both depending on where these people lived and the elevations they were at it's important to remember when we talk about the nest purse there were 13 different bands of Nest purse at one time so they weren't all in one congregated location they also used the cedar in
15:23 constructing rafts and canoes the Ponderosa Pine as you probably remember from your history of Louis and Clark was what they used when they burn them out there near present day orino and use Adis to heue them the rest of the way another is that they would use slivers from the Cedar and stick it into the meat when they dried it and it stopped the meat from shrinking up horribly
15:47 small in addition to these many non-medicinal uses you could use a tea from this very familiar for us and it was used in treating colds and coughs again honey was naturally what they used to offset that bitter taste okay we're going to move out of trees and into the service Berry Sarvis Berry Saskatoon known by different names
16:12 the berries were edible raw they could be cooked or even dried when they dried them they would pound them into loaves that were approximately 10 to 15 lbs of Loaf and this was stored for winter storage it could be used in a number of ways one thing that they would do is they chop off a piece and they throw it into that tightly woven basket we talked
16:34 about with their meat and prepare a stew another thing they would do is just like we eat fruit leather today chop it off and just eat it naturally the branches were used in making fishing Gaff poles these are poles that are 6 to 10 ft long very limber in gaffing salmon and steel head Lewis and Clark collected three
16:56 specimens of this Variety in 1806 in their travels one was near Rock Fort Camp another was on the Clearwater River near present day Lenor Idaho and the last place was on the L National Historic Trail the kinic you can eat the berries but a primary use of kinic was used that they mixed it with an existing tobacco
17:20 or they used it as a tobacco itself has anyone tried that one okay you you know that you need to be careful when you use this depending on the time of the year of harvest it becomes very stronger so it has quite an effect the organ red grape you can eat the berries the blueberries they normally cook them but they could also eat them raw in addition there was a
17:44 tonic that was made from the dried stems and Roots the bark was shredded and this The Roots were also served to make a yellow dye the red stem cenosis they would make a Sab by collecting the dried and powdered leaves mixing it with this be grease this was applied in treating open sores abrasions as well as Burns you could put the
18:07 leaves directly on as a pus also some say that a concoction was made from the root and used as another hair stimulant Princess Pine was used as an astringent just like we would use it today and boiling the root and they would also boil the root and drink it as a refreshing just a summary drink to
18:32 have the virgins bow the stems and leaves are boiled to make a medicine if you had an itchy skin condition the affected areas were washed with a solution or you could take the boiled uh root of the plant and rub it directly on your affected area on your skin the Red O your Dogwood this it was considered a resilient wood so they used
18:56 it in making bows they would often mix the the leav with kinic for tobacco and Louis Clark did collect this species along the clear waterer River as well how are you doing on notes are we going to be okay with 100% at the end okay not multiple choice it's fill in the blank just so you know okay all
19:19 right the black hawan berries were used raw cooked or dried and they were also used in making pkin medically the berries were mashed and used is a tonic to stimulate the heart it was gathered in July possibly as late as September depending on that particular season and the curved Thorns were used as Fish
19:42 Hooks the Ocean Spray you can eat the fruit you can cook it dry it or it can have it raw they would use the leaves and stems in boiling them up in making a tea and this worked in treating diarrhea and this is one that does work very well the prickly pear the fruit is edible you
20:04 can eat it raw or you could dry it for winter use they would split the fruit open discard the seeds and dry the pulp in the sun you could also cook it in an Earth Oven in the Hell's Canyon National recreation area within the Snake River between uh down there by Lewiston and Idaho and Clarkston Washington when the settlers are moving into the area they had a problem some times with their
20:29 livestock and sheep H not having enough to eat and another use that they did is they would actually prepare these and feed their stock with it in scarce times they singed the spines and fed the pads directly to the livestock you could place the crush pads directly on for a back ache and you can make a tea from the plant as well that was thought to treat
20:52 diarrhea the branches were dried out of the seringa they made excellent bows they made Arrow shafts as well as hair combs and pipe stems the smooth fruits from the uh sumac were boiled and it was used for a
21:15 wash for stopping hemorrhaging after childbirth The Roots could be brewed into a tea it helped prevent painful urination as well as increase the flow of urination the moist and sumac leaves or fruits were used as pus for skin rashes and some say that a tea from the green or the dried green branches were used in treating tuberculosis when it was made into a tea
21:40 you can also use the root as a throat lazin and another informant said that if you ate a number of the roots it served very well as a laxative the woods Rose sometimes called the Wild Rose of course they were eating the rose hips raw or cook and these again were available well into the winter so they were often referred
22:03 to as an emergency food or starvation food they would use the Straight wood for Arrow shafts and they would also take the sprigs of these and wrap them around the Cradle Boards of babies so it was thought to keep them safe from bad spirits or ghosts and of course what is it used for today vitamin C thank you it's excellent
22:28 source the next couple ones we're going to look at I just throw it in here they would take the time to pick these and eat them but they were not gathered in any great abundance you've all tried these haven't you the thin buber so you know how hard it is to great a lot of get a huge quantity so they didn't want to expend a whole lot of calories in trying to secure a large source of this one as well as the Blackberry but they
22:51 did utilize them the Elder Berry is one of the more important Berry crops for the as first people they ate them raw or cooked and they would utilize the sections of the large straight shoots as arrows and they would use the branches in making a musical instrument the flute the scour Willie was used as an
23:15 emergency or starvation food they were using the inner bark this tastes really really B but they would pulverize it up and and make it very fine and turn it into a flower much more compatible to eat um the other use they had was of the willow which we won't get into today because we just simply don't have the time to cover them all but it had a very different purpose so someone mentions
23:39 that to you very different purposes the Buffalo Berry was gathered in August it was often referred to as ice cream berries and the re the elders really like these they collect them and they'd use very cold water and whip them up and they became foamy and that's why they call them ice cream berries you could also collect these and dry them as well the snow Berry some of you have
24:03 probably heard is poisonous I'm obviously standing before you here today so it depends on how you prepare it the leaves and the fruit were crushed and applied to chap skin so there goes our chapstick it could be applied to open source an eyewash was made from The Boiled root and this was again for those problems we talked about with their eyes
24:26 and they used the Twigs in making Brown tea that cured fevers children were only to take a very very small dose of this the snowberry branches were rooted around cradle boards to keep bad spirits away and you could eat the berries if they were dried Huckleberry was one of the most important Huckleberry crops for the nest purse they would pick this they would
24:51 dry them out in the sun or in Earth ovens they were used in pemin they were often mixed with the black tree L as a confection now when I say black tree Lan you all know what I'm talking about that's the hairy stuff off the trees there's black and there's green as you know and I have to tell you the story my aunt ate this every morning for breakfast and she would take it and put
25:15 it in the our conventional oven and then later when we got microwave she still done that stuck it in the microwave and it gets in like a jelly and then she throw her huckleberries in there and a little bit of cream I have to tell you you have to acquire an taste for some of these and this is one I never acquired a taste for but I'm sure if I was starving it would be delicious the red berries of the grass
25:39 berries you can eat those raw cooked they too could be mixed with a tree lyen and making like a mush or confection the Yaro has a number of uses you can dry it and pound it up and turn it into a flour to be used in making like cakes of bread it also um they used the leaves on it in controlling bleeding
26:03 like on modern day bandages another use that they had was they took the leaves pulverized them up with the roots and made like a pus and they would put these on bruised areas and I've actually seen this work with people my father and my whole family has raised Appaloosa horses for years and broke them and he had a horse fall back on him and roll on him
26:25 and he was bruised really badly and his dad dad actually did this prepared this made this pus on him and it actually not only Drew out the pain from the bruising but also took that coloration away it was gone like within 24 hours amazing plant the milkweed is another one that was used you could boil it and make it
26:49 into a tea not sure what they were using that tea for but they would use the flowers as a meat tenderizer they would boil the to top part of the plant strain it and it was used as another eyewash remedy they would take the dried pulverized Roots which could be chewed automatically if you had a stomach ache or you could use it as a tea to treat um
27:13 a stomach ache cure the Milky secretions when they were hardened was used as a chewing gum you've seen the Milky secretions on these so you know what I'm talking about at the top it's a very versatile plant they would actually pound the stem of this plant the women would and they would turn that into fishing nets so don't let anyone fool you nesters women own their own fishing
27:36 nets it wasn't just men that fished the only use we have of the showy Aster is they would produce a tea from the roots and it was used in treating gonorrhea which was another introduced disease the balam sunflower Roots were harvested often as a complimentary root to the more important ones one that were not going to talk about today is what
28:00 the nespas call cow it's a desert parsley is the generic name of it that was their major root crop not to be confused with the NES prus called C cow and that one is the dowy fruited verban which is you can find on the internet that people are seeking for its medicinal qualities but some of these roots like the sunflower were considered
28:22 complimentary roots to like the cow or The Bitter Root they would use the leaves of this to line the cus bacon ovens is another source basically they were using leaves of anything that was close by but this was one plant they were using to line those ovens with you could also parch the seeds and eat them as well as peel the stems and eat them when they were young people
28:47 have done that right you've tried this a few it's good isn't it it's just like mixing like a fresh green salad it's very good the maraposa lily they were eating the bulbs by boiling them or baking them often they bake them with the Camas this one only has one use that I'm aware of they would use the root and
29:10 brew a tea and it was a hair restorer canas was the most important root crop for the nest purse you would bake them in an oven it takes just about 48 hours for them to turn color and which is a dark brown or black color they would press these into low and dry them so that they were available late into the winter as a winter food there's
29:34 lots of areas where these were harvested from Meadows uh one of the closer ones is Packer Meadows near L pass on the Idaho Montana border to US here the Camas will sometimes have a blue looking flower other times it will appear more as a purple flower anyone venture to guess why that is go ahead and holler it
29:56 out anyone it's the amount of alkaline or acidity in the soil that CA causes the color change on the Camas flower the nectar from The Indian Paintbrush was a real favorite among the children to sakan how about that you guys tried that one all good you're missing out on some really fun stuff here you need to try some of
30:19 these the nesters were eating a number of things that typically bear or elk will eat I'm not going to encourage you to go out and eat everything because I don't want you to poison yourself but typically that's a rule of thumb if a bear or an elk could eat it they would eat it and they would gather the thistle stems and eat them which were very tender they would also get the root and
30:42 bake them often with the Camas the same is true for the bull thistle they were eating the stems as well as the roots and of course we know how the big game like these as well the fox was used medically the root was boiled and it was used to treat problems with pain in the
31:06 chest basically pain with heart and today what is it used for today digitalis which is a heart medication the dried leaves were used for tea from the firewood it was thought to be refreshing you can also of course eat as you probably know this is when you can peel the stems when they're fairly Young and tender and they're good
31:30 to eat any takers on that one tried this one saw a few good and did you like it yes all right see head's going good the bulbs of the glacier Lily were usually baked and then dried and stored but you could also eat the green sea pods raw some people refer it to a pale thawn Lily dog tooth Violet of her different names this is another one they didn't
31:54 spend a lot of time doing but if it was out there they ate it we're going to look at some Forbes this is the showy Fraser also known as clustered they were eating the bulb of it baking it as just a supplemental root yellow Bells they eating the corns of the yellow bell of course cleaning
32:16 them first this wasn't not a major root crop but it was one that was considered to be a delicacy and when served with the bitteroot the bitteroot as you know was a trade item that the nesters didn't have naturally within their Aboriginal area that they mostly gathered from however The Bitter Root has been introduced to the vicinity of greville
32:39 Idaho and is flourishing quite well there the roots from the bed straw were used in making a yellow dye they would often eat the seeds just like we would eat sunflower seeds today and the geranium The Roots were mashed and used as a pus and they were put on for ladies that were breastfeeding and it helped to increase the flow of the milk to bring the milk
33:03 in and also to combat any pain associated with breastfeeding they would also use the root by boiling it and it was used to treat warts so another a wart treatment the the parsnip the cow par snip you could eat the roots fresh or dry they would often
33:27 apply these to swim feet to take water retention out of feet you can peel the stocks they would eat those raw and of course the stocks on these was one of the favorites in making elk whistles and they did this by drying this draw drying the stems of them the use of the round Leaf Alum root
33:51 was to boil the root to make a tea if you had a stomach ache if you clean the root you could chew it and get immediate relief just like an an acid today provides milk of magnesia what's the pink stuff Pepto bismo same kind of stuff The Bitter Root was highly regarded in trade before it was introduced into the area of Idaho it was
34:15 considered one of the five top roots for the nest purse namu people skunk cabbage was used as a medicine for treating arthritis the leaves also were used in lining the C baking ovens the yellow monkey flour The Roots is made into a tea and it was used as an aphrodesiac there are about 17 different
34:40 species of the monkey flow The Yuma was uh considered a very important root crop they were going after these uh eating them raw or drying them they would cook the roots of the Buttercup roast the seeds and parch those and eat those as well Water Crest even though was introduced by the Europeans and there
35:04 are a variety of species these were collected they would eat them green fresh just like we eat greens today or they would boil those and the Solomon Seal they would use the root in making a tea or chew the root itself and it was served as an elative the Western metoo they would boil it and I'm talking about the root
35:29 here as a tea it treated fevers chills colds in general this is the male species here not sure if the female species gives you those same type of effects or not the bige head Clover they would eat these fresh these are the Clover tops or they would even fry these up another favorite of big game the Nettles they would use the Nettles The Roots by
35:52 boiling them and you would soak your feet in them the other use of them is you take them and of course everyone's familiar with nles how they you know if you touch them they feel stingy right so they would take this and they would beat themselves like in the back upper arm wherever you would be sore and then they would go into The Sweat House complex so it was like a a deep heat treatment very similar to what we do with saunas today
36:16 but it was a way of opening all of those senses up and preparing those muscles so that's a a one one use of the nettle in addition to using it to soak one speed in here's the dowy Fred verin this is one that um we just mentioned earlier the nesp called C cow and uh this is one
36:41 of the controversial ones for the NES purse tribe as a whole because it's being sold on the internet for its medicinal qualities it has a number of uses you can chew on it it helps with coals I'm talking about the root you can throw it on the top of your wood stove in a pot of water serves as a wonderful vaporizer in treating Coal's upper respiratory problems won't say a whole lot more
37:04 about it but we certainly like people not to destroy all of these areas where Native Americans go to harvest these for their families in their uses um as I said can be very controversial topic on some of these the important thing is we need to recognize the importance of these plants and trees how they were used so that we can retain them for the
37:27 future generation ations the fal tore was considered a very strong medicine they would dry the flower top heads of these finally psize them up and use them like we would um I want to say an inhaler but in the nostrils up the nostrils very strong medicine it opened up decongested areas
37:50 the leaves are another one that was used in lining the cus baking ovens the only use on know of the moth Mullen is that they boiled to root and it was used as a shampoo it was thought that it made the hair a little darker in color my grandma use this one a lot I need to or else go get some dye here I noticed that lately American vet and which just
38:15 covers the hillsides back around the area of Lewiston Idaho and they were eating the stems and seeds boil them or BAC them the madag garar Perry Winkle they would use the roots in uh a tea which they drunk for overall rundown feelings just feeling like they didn't
38:36 have any energy um what do we use it for today lupus did I hear that right Hotchkins disease and Leukemia all all of the above thank you the meals ear they would chop and boil the root for medicinal qualities I'm not sure what those were
39:00 this is another one that they could use the leaf to line the cus baking ovens with bear grass is another important crop that's being harvested in great quantities on some of the forest for ornamental uses it has been another one that's somewhat controversial the leaves were used in making baskets and they
39:23 also use the leaves in um stuffing men's saddle pads next one we're going to look at is the common horse tail the stems have a tough outer layer but when you peel them and get them when they're young they're really sweet and that inner pulp is what you're going after any tiers on that one try good good I'm glad to see some people have tried
39:48 these there is a common name for you we're not going to get into a lot of the mushrooms or some of the others because we do have a time constraint but the puff ball was one that was used as a medicinal purposes and I'm I'm not sure exactly what all that was used for at this time so with that we have time to
40:12 pass out the test I think I got the 10 minute Mark here if you're interested I'm just joking of course I appreciate you coming and sitting and listening through this and I hope that you will gain a greater understanding as I would like to have this information recorded for future Generations so that more and more of it is not lost as people pass away we have minute a few minutes for questions yeah does anyone have any
40:37 questions for Sandy one back over here let me get the microphone over here so everyone can hear did you know there's two types of sumac one of them's poison and one of them's not poison yes sir yes thank you for sharing that good point other questions or a comment one right over here uh you spoke of the cus oven what
41:01 exactly was that the cus ovens uh these were pits that were dug into the ground and they were multi-layered depending basically on what they were using in the area um modern day times you can use burlap bags uh they had a fire which was built underneath and then a uh heated rocks underneath then you have your protection you put your roots in and
41:24 then you have a your steamed Leed that we talked about lining those Ovens that offered some water content to it and a fire built on top and it took approximately 48 Hours it depended on a lot of things elevation how deep your pit was just a number of things but basically that's a quick answer to how a St you know something that I found very interesting as I talked to different
41:49 families everyone had a little bit different take on how they like to prepare their their oven so I'm giving a real generic answer there all right another question right here you mentioned earlier that there was a flower that was used for the bruising on a member of your family what's the basis for that that help in that flow what's the medicinal uh uh properties that is there something that uh works on the
42:13 actual visual effect of the bruise or something underneath the the skin itself uh it actually is twofold it's both it act actually works on the actual bruise and lifting the discoloration out as well as underneath and I don't know what causes that to happen I'm not a Bist at all um and as far as my medicine history I'm an advanced DMT doesn't carry me too
42:35 far so I really don't know that to to try to give you a real good answer I'm not sure what is in in that plant that allows it to be able to offer that kind of help but it does both some really good questions we have one more back here okay I just I just have a couple comments one is the Yaro is an antiseptic we use it all the time you use it as an infusion with tea or you
42:59 can use it topically and it will kill pain like you said it works wonderfully the other one is for bosum and uh that is used for the lungs it takes fluid out of the lungs it's used for rheumatism and um for colds any kind of bronchitis as a tea great great information thank you for sharing that with us I appreciate it all right I
43:24 think we have one time for one more question from this young gentle over here just a sec do they use mushrooms at all yes they used the variety of mushrooms we have only about one more 100 slides to go through so we don't have enough time today but they yes they do at least six different varieties that I'm aware of good question all right well I'd like to
43:49 thank everyone and let's thank Sandy McFarland for coming out and sharing with us cut ya Yao thank you if anyone has any further questions for Sandy or wants to chat with her I'm sure she'd be welcome to field questions back in the back we're going to continue with our programming in the Ten of many voices for today in about 10 minutes we'll have Amy mosset she's a member of
44:13 the three affiliated tribes Sandy talked a lot about the plant use in the mountains and the Rocky Mountains and Amy mosset is going to focus on prair plant use so please join us back here in about 10 minutes for our next presentation of the day [Music] hey