Part 5

The sight of this caused the chiefs great mirth and fun, and from that day forth, it was made known to all the tribes that the bear had some human understanding, had no use for the white man and was the protector of the Indians’ domain. The act witnessed by the chiefs that day made the bear a regular member and scout of honor of all tribes facing a possible invasion of their virgin country.

In spite of all this, however, the white man resorted to the use of traps and poisoned bait to exterminate the Indians’ friend. But, advised by some intelligent instinct this animal had, the bear decided suddenly to leave, and drifted away into Mexico and to northern latitudes.

Even to this day, the bear is considered a great friend by the Indians and when one is killed or dies of natural causes, much reverence and respect is paid him by the older people who, in their minds, are still living in earlier days, now gone by.

Care of the eyes.

SALVIA COLUMBRIAE (_Ind. Pa-sal_)

This plant belongs to the food division but plays another important rôle, considering what it means to a person to be relieved of the excruciating pain caused by the introduction of a foreign substance into the eye, thus producing a temporary obstruction of the vision. Many Indians, after a hard day’s hunting or riding through severe sandstorms, had this experience, and consequently, they never neglected to give their eyes proper care.

When time to retire, the Indian would put at least a couple of seeds of the _Salvia columbriae_ under the eyelids, and, with eyes shut tight to keep the seed from dropping out, he would fall asleep. As they swelled, they would move about with every movement of the eyeball and emit a gelatinous substance which gathered up every particle of sand or any other substance present, and, when removed, left the eye clear and free of any possible inflammation. This is a good example of the care the Indian gave his eyes and accounts for his good and strong vision.

An inhabitant of the arid lands, it grows prolifically in places where in earlier days the Indians made their homes, and very often the ancient dwellings which our people used will be found covered with large beds of _Salvia columbriae_, with their beautiful blossoms of purple and lavender.

These colors were to the Indians a mournful reminder of their departed ones, in their lifelong struggle and search for food, so mightily important to sustain life. Regarding the use of the _Columbriae_ for this purpose, the method used was very simple.

It was cut and bundled by the male members of the family, brought in and heaped up on a large cleared space of ground, formed into a circle and then trodden down as hard as a cement floor. This was done with water and the bare feet and threshing with long sticks. By thus beating the heap of _Columbriae_, they released the seeds which were then winnowed by being blown before a wind current made with the aid of two baskets. After this, they were carried to the grinding stones to be ground into a fine meal which made excellent porridge—a very popular dish among Indians.

Foods, medicine, tanning and dyes.

QUERCUS VIRGINIANA (_Ind. Qui-neel_)

American Live Oak. This evergreen tree of the western mountain ranges is the most imposing of all the species of the oak family. It grows to an immense size and attains a great height. Some of these giants of the forest cover and shade an area large enough to afford protection to as many as three hundred adult persons.

A great deal has been written in song and poetry in praise of the stately oak but the Indians found out by experience that the acorns it bore were far more nutritious than poetry, and before long the noble tree was adopted as a regular member of the tribes—a bountiful provider of food.

Even so, the oak was by them much honored in war and love songs, for the many good things it furnished them besides food. The fallen leaves made warm mattress-bedding while the bark played a part in medicine and also in the tanning and dyeing of buckskin in various fast colors by blending with the bark of other oaks and roots. Let it be understood that these dyes thus produced were of a firm, non-fading nature and also excellent preservers of buckskin.

The colors produced were very beautiful and ranged from pure white to yellow, red, light and dark brown, light pink, gray and black.

Regarding the acorns, special care was given to the harvested crop and the process was simple. The acorns were put into fine, hand-woven net bags and tied with a rawhide rope to a tree close to the river bank whereupon the bags were placed in the stream. The running water would cause the acorn shell to swell and split open, thus releasing into the water most of the tannic acid which the acorns contained. After being left in the water for a week or so, they were taken out, the hulls removed and spread out to dry. Afterwards they were ground into a fine meal, sun-dried again, and then put away for winter use.

The porridge made of it jells like custard and, when well cooked, has the color of chocolate pie. It can be cut into squares and served with deer meat or eaten as a dessert with cream and sugar. Besides being very delicious and nourishing it is also a great flesh builder.

As a warning, let it be said, never to eat any acorns picked fresh from the tree, because of the tannic acid they contain; in that state they may cause severe constriction of the bowels and the glands of the throat.

Bleeding navel.

TYPHA LATIFOLIA and QUERCUS AGRIFOLIA (_Ind. Co-o-tem_) (_Ind. Qui-neel_)

American Cat-tail is an aquatic grass inhabiting shallow, stagnant lakes and swamps and is very common on the Pacific coast of California. _Tule_ is perhaps the name by which the plant is best known, although the other is also very common. This valuable grass has failed to find a place among the scientists of the world, as _Tule_ is a purely Indian name, and is far from being identical with those so far being classified by botanical science. But _Tule_ is medicinal and has healing properties which were made use of by the Indians to heal bleeding navels. Nothing could be better.

The blades of the grass were gathered and burned to the consistency of charcoal, then finely powdered and sprinkled on the bleeding parts.

When this couldn’t be obtained, the Indians further inland had recourse to the apples growing on the Scrub-Oak or _Quercus agrifolia_, and these were, of course, dried and powdered, and medicated with balsam oil. The salve proved to be very effective in healing the afflicted parts. In short, the results were first-class and saved the lives of many little Indian babies.

Indian food.

PROSOPIS JULIFLORA (_Ind. Pe-che-te_)

Mesquite Bean. An inhabitant of the southwestern deserts, it ranges as far as the northwestern and southwestern central parts of Mexico. A native of southeastern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, the _Juliflora_ was perhaps one of the trees which provided the greater part of food for the natives.

Its contents were very rich in protein and even wild animals relished it greatly. To obtain the yearly supply, the Indians made a regular pilgrimage early in the season to localities where the _Juliflora_ grew in abundance, and stood guard over the trees for many weeks until the bean pods were fully matured. Then they were harvested and ground in rock mortars to the fineness of flour, such as is used in the baking of cakes, tarts, etc.

It could also be mixed to the consistency of porridge, either with hot or cold water and taken with sun-dried venison. It formed a very nourishing diet. Sugar was never added to it.

The bean pods of the _Juliflora_ are extremely sweet, and may be eaten right off the tree if dry enough. In any other condition they are unpalatable.

PTERIS AQUILINA (_Ind. Wel-met_)

American Bracken Fern. This graceful and stately fern of great beauty of leaf design inhabits the high mountain ranges where there are well-shaded forest lands rich in mulch. This fern is well-known to every Indian for the sad historical part it played in the life of our fair and beloved sister Ramona, the daughter of Ca-we and wife of Alessandro, the immortal Indian who suffered death without a moment’s warning at the hands of a brute and coward.

The authoress of _Ramona_, Helen Hunt Jackson, mentions in her book what good use of this fern Alessandro made in preparing Ramona’s bed at the time of their elopement and tells of the hardships both young lovers underwent.

The young sprouting shoots of the _Pteris aquilina_ fern mean as much to the Indians as asparagus does to white people, as it contains much oil which is extremely rich in flavor when the shoots are properly cut and cooked.

There are ferns in song, ferns in poetry, ferns where wedding bells ring, ferns on the altars of churches and ferns in God’s acre. Also in gardens, but nature’s garden is where the Indian wants them!

Food and bleaching.

YUCCA WHIPPLEI (_Ind. Yu-ca_)

American Spanish Bayonet. The name yucca is the true native Indian name of this exquisite plant, but even Mr. Whipple, the botanist, failed, like many others, to properly describe the beauty of the yucca.

During the months of May and June when the plant is in full bloom it is nothing strange, when venturing into the desert mountains, to find oneself in a veritable forest of countless thousands of yuccas. With its erect stalk, attaining a height of from four to twelve feet, heavily and massively crowned with creamy white blossoms, the yucca closely resembles a gigantic hyacinth of the California desert and mountains, and its delicious fragrance outrivals many of the costliest perfumes.

The use of the yucca was of much importance, some of the stalks were cut just at the time the plant was in full bloom, the flowers are edible, the stalk rich in sugar which produces a fine quality of syrup, obtained by first roasting the stalks in underground pits.

Other stalks were allowed to mature, their pods yielding the finest material for bleaching buckskin fiber a pure white. Also used very much in the art of basketry, etc.

Rheumatism.

URTICA HOLOSERICEA (_Ind. Panga-tum_)

American Stinging Nettle. An inhabitant of the swamps and river beds. This plant was used in most cases of inflammatory rheumatism of the most peculiar kind known to mankind, particularly when the lower limbs were affected to such an extent that they became numb, cold and useless. The cure was very simple if your limbs were in a bad state, but rather unpleasant if in a sound condition.

The nettle was cut and brought to the Indian patient’s bedside, where the leaves were rubbed on all his ailing parts. This was repeated for several days until warmth in the affected parts and a proper circulation of the blood was attained. When the patient was able to get up and walk, a second treatment of a different nature was administered, the so-called Rock Steam-Bath of a herb compound made up of the following three plants:

PHLOX SUBULATA (_Ind. E-wa-yack_)

American Moss Pink. An inhabitant of the Mojave Desert.

PINUS MONTICOLA (_Ind. Wa-ta_)

American Scrub Pine. An inhabitant of the northern slopes of our California Mother coast range, and in a few localities on the desert floor.

ADIANTUM CAPILLUS-VENERIS (_Ind. Ta-wal_)

American Southern Maidenhair Fern. Inhabits the high coastal ranges, but further north it will be found on the lower coastal ranges.

Menstrual period.

LIPPIA LANCEOLATA (_Ind. Te-eel-p-yack_)

Lemon Verbena. Spanish _Cedron_. This shrubby tree has become nearly extinct and but few specimens are found now and then. The infusion made from its leaves and blossoms is very aromatic, somewhat like peppermint.

CRYSANTHEMUM PARTHENIUM (_Ind. Che-ke-wat_)

American Feverfew, Spanish _Artemisa_. This plant was used for the same medicinal purpose as the one mentioned above.

Diseased throat glands, scrofula.

NICOTIANA GLAUCA (_Ind. Tee-baat_)

American Tobacco Tree. This tree, very common along the Pacific coast, grows from Santa Barbara southward to the end of Lower California, and the Mexican peninsula. The tree grows in terraced gorges and ravines and is rarely to be found anywhere else.

The leaves were steamed and applied externally as a poultice over the swollen parts of the throat caused by inflammation of the throat glands, and also for scrofula. While the latter malady didn’t exist among the Indians, yet they treated and cured some of the whites who had it, with _Nicotiana glauca_.

It was also steamed into the body of those suffering from rheumatism and proved there also its value to many human beings.

I have once before spoken of other plants useful for the same purpose, but as this plant has something to recommend it for the last-named ailment, it is appropriate to mention it again in connection with scrofula and inflammation of the throat glands.

To the plant serving all these cases equally well, we must give credit where credit is due, even at the cost of repetition, in order to give the reader a fair understanding of the various diseases a plant may be good for.

Surely a wonderful provision made by nature!

Fishing.

CROTON SETIGERUS (_Ind. Tu-tal_)

American Dove Weed. The beautiful dwarf plant is very common throughout the coastal region and far into the inland valleys. It appears about July in most barley fields after the harvest. It is truly a paradise for wild turtledoves, and the hunter who goes into a place where the _Croton setigerus_ grows may be sure of bagging a good number of doves in a short time.

The Indians gathered the plant for use in their fishing operations, and some of it was stored away for winter use. The weed has a strongly intoxicating effect on fish.

A place was selected along the stream bed in a rather shallow spot and dammed across.

After this, a regular mat, formed of _Setigerus_, was laid on the surface of the water, while a large number of Indians went upstream to herd the schools of fish downstream and into the trap. Quite a simple procedure, as the herding was done by merely beating the water ahead of them. A barricade built of brushwood behind them prevented the fish from going upstream. The water in the pond having become impregnated with the _Setigerus_ affected the fish so that they soon floated helplessly on the surface of the water where the Indians just picked them out by hand. When a sufficient supply had been taken, the _Croton setigerus_ was removed and piled up on the bank of the stream to dry and be used again. The dam and barricade were also done away with and the uncaught fish were allowed to get into fresh water to recuperate.

Tonic for loss of appetite.

MONTIA PERFOLIATA (_Ind. Lah-chu-meek_)

American Miner’s Lettuce. This plant inhabits the coastal regions where it thrives only in deep, decomposed beds of oak-tree mulch at suitable points in the shady woodlands, where the circulation of water is present under a deposit of mulch.

The juice of the plant is an excellent appetite-restorer.

ALLIUM BISCEPTRUM (_Ind. Ye-sil-ta-usa_)

American Wild Onion. It is an inhabitant of the lower mid-coast ranges, and the extract obtained from it is compounded with the powdered berries of _Rhus trilobata_.

RHUS TRILOBATA (_Ind. Sa-lat_)

American Squaw-weed. An inhabitant of Southern California’s higher ranges, it makes an excellent restorative for an inactive stomach which refuses food. The Indians also obtained the fiber from the vines of the shrub by stripping it off with the thumbnail and using it for basket making.

For poisonous insect-bites.

ALLIUM CANADENSE or ALLIUM VINEALE (_Ind. Ye-sil-we-na_)

American Wild Field Garlic. A plant held in great esteem by the Indians, protecting them, when hunting or exploring, from poisonous snakes, lizards, scorpions, tarantulas and insects during the summer season.

It was the custom of the Indians then to discard their buckskin clothes and roam around with as little covering as possible until the fall of the year, when they donned their heavier clothing again for the approaching cold weather. Now, it is well-known how disagreeable the odor of garlic is to most human beings, but they don’t know that it is likewise so to reptiles and insects. The Indians, however, knew this, although they never ate it. They used it only as medicine when needed, but its greatest usefulness was to guard against being bitten by poisonous vermin.

The Indians ground the wild garlic into a pulp and then rubbed it well over their legs up to the thighs, making extra sure that the skin was thoroughly saturated with the garlic juice and thus protected. The Indian would enter any locality to do his hunting, even if it was infested with thousands of rattlesnakes, without the slightest fear or worry. The reason is very simple. Whenever the snake or insect comes within smelling distance of the garlic, it is so much affected by it as to become well-nigh asphyxiated and is rendered helpless.

The white man, in order to follow fashion, wears leggings, but I am sure that he could use the formula I have given, very much to his advantage. I give this formula freely to mankind, a formula which has remained a secret for over a century and it will mean the saving of many lives if used as described above.

Antidote.

BERTHOLLETIA (_Ind. Pacah-quit_)

American Arrow-wood. It is an inhabitant of the California River border lands within the Pacific coastal belt, and is occasionally also found on the southern border of the western desert lying in the northern part of the Pacific coast.

There has been much discussion in the past, and many arguments, many flatly declaring that the arrowwood was used by the Indians for making bows and arrow stocks.

Being an Indian, that and nothing else, let me explain the matter clearly as to this particular controversy. The young shoots of the _Bertholletia_ were selected from the parent stock, well-seasoned and then used for arrow stocks on which small arrow points were fitted for the young Indian children to practice and hunt with. It was never used for bows, however. For the making of fire through friction, it was very useful and yet, this alone would not give an adequate account of the value of arrowwood shrub. This is left to the decoction made from it, to counteract the poison in wounds inflicted by arrowheads in battle engagements, and therein lies its principal claim to the consideration shown it by the Indians.

Sedative.

PHYTOLACCA DECANDRA (_Ind. Che-ne-va-ica-cal_)

American Ink Berry. This shrub, a common inhabitant of California’s coastal regions, has been placed by the white writer in the division of poisonous plants, and we agree with him. So the only credit given the plant is chiefly for the remarkable beauty it displays with its starlike flowers and racemes of dark-blue berries. Yet it has been condemned under the label of poison, and much is being done toward its destruction wherever found. However, it is a fruitless task, and may only become a near-success when the Indians and the birds shall be known as two signs of life vanished from the face of the earth. For these two are responsible for the preservation and propagation of the shrub.

Morphine, opium, and cocaine are by far deadlier poisons than _Phytolacca_—why, then, do doctors prescribe them to soothe and ease pain, etc.? The root of the plant has some medicinal qualities to ease severe neuralgic pains, and is deemed very efficient and important in Indian medical formulas. For making dyes and inks the berries are excellent, whereas the leaves are most useful in the treatment of skin diseases, and to eradicate and clean the epidermis of pimples and blackheads.

Therefore, help to conserve and not destroy this really valuable plant.

Diseases of the liver.

RORIPPA NASTURTIUM OFFICINALE (_Ind. Pang-sa-mat_)

American Water Cress. It is an inhabitant of the coastal regions, swamps and rivers. This aquatic plant is more deserving of attention than has been given it, and is fully worthy of the name it bears, _Officinale_, which means all that the word implies. The Indians, having discovered the medicinal qualities of this plant, immediately gave it a place in their medical and food division and, up to the present year of our Lord, the plant has been used in the treatment of disorders of the liver—cases such as torpid liver, cirrhosis of the liver and as a dissolvent of gallstones, etc.

When these diseases are curable, the diet is simple—with no restrictions and no red tape to plague the patient. The first meal taken in the morning must consist of _Nasturtium officinale_, salted very sparingly, and of this the patient should eat as much as possible and do without further food until noon, when he may eat whatever he likes. This method must be repeated every morning. Care must be taken not to use liquor if one wishes to insure quick recovery.

When the liver is ulcerated it takes at least two months to heal properly, but all other cases are of short duration.

Reducing teas.

LEPIDIUM EPETALUM (_Ind. Chesa-mok-ka-mok_)

American Pepper Grass.

SALINIA (_Ind. Cheena-wah_)

American Salt Grass.

PANICUM CAPILLARE (_Ind. Ne-wa-cha-mo_)

American Witch Grass. The first two are fond of rich, agricultural soils, whereas the latter prefers alkaline lands. All three have been declared noxious weeds and are listed as such by the Department of Agriculture, although the Indians found some use for these grasses.

There were times when some of our men and women became over-fat; in fact, so fat that they had great difficulty in traveling, the exertion making them complain of heart trouble which in reality was nothing but a discomfort due to short respiration caused by excessive fatness. Accordingly, something had to be done. A search was made, and experiments with good results finally obtained. These grasses compounded with the bark of sassafras, wall-wort and others (also named for extermination, just like the three above-named plants) are excellent for reducing purposes.

The chief trouble in our schools where botany is taught seems to be that too much attention is given to the _appearance_ of plants, instead of to their medicinal value and other useful properties.

Birth control.

IVA AXILLARIS (_Ind. Na-wish-mal_)

American Poverty-Weed. This hardy plant predominates on most of the salty marshes and lake shores. It is hardly worth destroying as it mostly grows in soils totally unfit for agriculture, or anything else, for that matter.

Let me mention, however, that there is quite a history connected with the earliest beginning of the Indian’s life in connection with this plant. No doubt it will be of interest to the readers of this book to learn that the plant played an important part in what is today assumed to be a modern institution—birth-control.

The Indians knew and practiced it from the earliest times, but only in cases when women proved themselves incapable, even when at their best, to give birth to healthy children.

In such cases they were compelled to make use of this plant as a preventative and this should explain the Indian’s wonderful stamina, his sturdiness and perfect physique. Moreover, the great chiefs prohibited the raising of deformed children, as ordinarily they considered this a great sin.