The Botanical Lore of the California Indians / with Side Lights on Historical Incidents in California

by JOHN BRUNO ROMERO “HA-HA-ST OF TAWEE”
VANTAGE PRESS, INC., NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT, 1954, BY JOHN BRUNO ROMERO Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 54-8325 MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
To My Uncle Chief William Pablo of Mahum and Guana-pia-pa
Of all the books written concerning the Indians of North America, I don’t know of one which treats of the Indians’ great knowledge of medicine, the vast store which was theirs of plants and herbs which possessed curative and healing qualities, many of them far superior, even today, to the medicine used by the white physician.
There is a reason. In some instances the white man did not get the correct information from his Indian brother due to the latter’s inability to make himself understood—this was, of course, also true of the former. Again, some information given was intentionally wrong due to the ill-feeling the Indian had for the white man. And again, many of those healing plants were held in such veneration by the Indians, that to impart their virtues to a white man was an unpardonable crime, and the punishment meted out to the offender was of the severest form.
I am an Indian, proud of it and of my forefathers, whose bitterness toward the white man was only too well justified. But time changes all things and bitterness and hatred never made for understanding nor happiness.
In this spirit I wrote this book, in the spirit of doing good. And in this I have the help and permission of my dear uncle, Chief Pablo, of the Mahuna tribe of Indians of Southern California, who permitted me to describe certain plants whose curative properties have been kept a secret by the Indians for over one hundred years. This is the first time they are made known.
The Indian, living close to and with nature—the greatest teacher of all for those who have eyes to see—became nature’s most intelligent pupil. Gifted with the keenest observation and the ability to reason, he searched the discovered plants which nature herself had provided for any ailment, sickness, or mishap which might befall him.