COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY)
The composite family is represented by many species in northern Wisconsin and also in northern Minnesota. There are probably three times as many plants in this family as in any other, hence it furnishes numerous medicines.
Woolly Yarrow (Achillea lanulosa Nutt.), “waˈ bîgwûn” [white-flower]. The Flambeau Ojibwe, under the name given, use the leaves of this plant as a poultice to cure the bite of a spider. The dried flowering heads are smoked in mixture with other things, much as kinnikinnik, not for pleasure, but more for ceremonial purposes.
It has not been distinguished by the eclectic practitioner from the Common Yarrow, which was used for its bitter and aromatic principles. It was used as an emmenagogue and for various ailments of the reproductive organs. It was sometimes used to cure diseased conditions of the entire gastro-intestinal tract.
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium L.), “adjidamoˈ anûk” [squirrel tail].[102] The Pillager Ojibwe used the florets in ceremonial smoking and placed them on a bed of coals inhaling the smoke to break a fever.
Yarrow has always been a home remedy of the white man, and the Germans still use the dried flowers in a tea, called “schafesgarbetee”, to break a fever. Other uses are the same as above.
Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea [L.] B. & H.), “basiˈ bagûk” [small leaf]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the flowers of this plant, calling attention to the fact that it smells like acorns, reducing them to a powder which is sprinkled on live coals as a “nokweˈ sîgûn” or perfume. This is inhaled by a party who has had a stroke of paralysis and is said to revive him.
The Pearly Everlasting has never been properly analyzed by white men, but the flowers have been locally used by them as soothing expectorants and are known to have more or less marked stomachic properties.
Lesser Cat’s-Foot (Antennaria neodioica Greene) “gagîgeˈ bûg” [everlasting leaf]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the whole herb as a valued remedy to make a tea to be given to the mother after child birth. It is to purge the afterbirth and heal them internally.
Eclectic practitioners have used this plant as a hemostatic.
Common Burdock (Arctium minus Bernh.), “giˈ masan” [big stickers]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the root of burdock as one of the ingredients of a medicine for pain in the stomach. It is also supposed to have a tonic effect.
Burdock root has quite a reputation among home practitioners among the white men as a diaphoretic, diuretic, alterative, aperient and depurative. It has been used for rheumatism, gout, pulmonary catarrh, chronic skin diseases such as scrofula and syphilis, and to dissolve urinary deposits. Externally it has been used as a salve or wash for eruptions, burns, wounds, hemorrhoids and swelling.
White Sage (Artemisia ludoviciana Nutt.) “îmbjîˈgoa” according to White Cloud, Bear Island Ojibwe, but “wîngûskw” or “bebejiˈgogaˈnji” [horse medicine] by John Peper, another Bear Islander. Peper said the Pillager Ojibwe used it as a horse medicine, but the Sioux smoked it.
Miners and frontiersmen prized it in their treatment of “mountain fevers.”
Large-leaved Aster (Aster macrophyllus L.), “naskosiˈ îcûs”. The Flambeau Ojibwe consider this a feeble remedy but also good as a charm in hunting. Young roots were used to make a tea to bathe the head for headache. The informant giving this latter use called it “megîsiˈ bûg” [eagle leaf]. There is no record of its use by the whites.
Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum L.). The Flambeau Ojibwe had no name for this, as they said it was from the south, and they do not use it.
Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense [L.] Scop.) “masaˈ nûck” [prickly]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the plant for a bowel tonic. Canada Thistle is one of the worst American weeds, and white men have used the dried plant for a diuretic and tonic.
Common Thistle (Cirsium lanceolatum [L.] Hill), “jiˈ masaˈnûck”. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the root of this for alleviating stomach cramps in both men and women. The dried plant has been used by the whites as a diuretic and tonic.
Philadelphia Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus L.) “mîcaoˈgacan” [odor of deer hoof]. The Pillager Ojibwe use the flowers to make a tea to break fevers. The smoke of the dried flowers is inhaled to cure a cold in the head. The disk flowers, pulverized, were snuffed up the nostrils to cause the patient to sneeze and thus loosen a cold in the head. The whites have used the Canada Fleabane as a remedy in the pharmacopoeia, and also have used the Philadelphia Fleabane locally, but for different purposes. It is diuretic rather than astringent.
Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron ramosus [Walt.] BSP). The Flambeau Ojibwe do not assign this plant a special name but class it as a “nokweˈ sîgûn” or perfume for curing sick headache. Several species of Erigeron have been substituted by white men for the Canada Fleabane, which is used as a diaphoretic and expectorant.
Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum L.), “bûˈ gîsowe” [bathing]. The Flambeau Ojibwe make a strong solution of the root, with which to wash a papoose up till the time he is six years old. This is supposed to strengthen him.
Joe-Pye is officinal but not official among white men. Official designates that it is authorized by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia while officinal means that it is regularly kept for sale in drug stores. Officinal remedies are much used by eclectic practitioners. The root has the odor of old hay and is diuretic, stimulant, astringent and tonic. It has been used in chronic urinary disorders, gout, rheumatism, and hematuria.
Tall Blue Lettuce (Lactuca spicata [Lam.] Hitchc.), “dadocaˈbo” [milk]. The Flambeau Ojibwe employ the plant to make a tea given to women with caked breasts to render lactation easier. A dog whisker hair is used to pierce the teat. Among white men Lactuca was formerly employed as a soporific and sedative.
White Lettuce (Prenanthus alba L.), “wecaˈ wûs waˈ ckwînêsk” [yellow light]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the milk of the White Lettuce as a diuretic, especially in female diseases. The root is also used as a female remedy.
White men have used the root decoction internally for dysentery. Old time herb doctors gave the milk of the plant internally, and used the leaves, steeped in hot water, as a poultice for the bite of a snake.
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta L.). The Flambeau Ojibwe claim that this plant is adventive from the south and have no name or use for it. It has been used by the white men as a diuretic.
Golden Ragwort (Senecio aureus L.).
Entire-leaved Groundsel (Senecio integerrimus Nutt.) Both of these plants are considered adventive by the Pillager Ojibwe and neither was named nor used.
Under the name squaw weed, white men have exploited the Golden Ragwort as a female regulator, claiming diuretic, pectoral, diaphoretic and tonic properties. It is also said to be useful in treating gravel and other urinary affections.
Indian Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.), “asasaˈ weskûk” [square stem]. According to John White Feather, of the Flambeau Ojibwe, this root was carried from Iowa and transplanted on the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Reservation. They all accept it as great medicine. A tea is made from the root for lumbago and some other kinds of rheumatic pains in the back. John Peper, Pillager Ojibwe, gave it the same Indian name and said that an old Indian had brought it to Bear Island from Iowa a hundred years ago, and had planted it in his field, whence it escaped to the south end of the island. He said they use it for stomach trouble, and hemorrhage. White men have used the Indian Cup Plant root for its tonic, diaphoretic and alterative properties. It has also been used in intermittent fevers, ulcers, liver affections and debility. The resinous gum collected from the stem has been used by the whites as a stimulant and antispasmodic.
Fragrant Golden-rod (Solidago graminifolia [L.] Salisb.), “wasaˈ waskwûneˈk” [yellow light]. Besides being of use in hunting medicine, the flowers in infusion were used by the Flambeau Ojibwe for a pain in the chest.
Golden-rod leaves and flowers have at times held a rather important place in materia medica, for their carminative, and antispasmodic properties. They have also been used as an intestinal astringent.
Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare L.) “muckikiˈwît” [medicine]. The Flambeau Ojibwe have no distinctive name for this plant, claiming it came from the south and they were told it was good for fevers.
Among white men, it is deemed tonic, emmenagogue and diaphoretic. It has been used in a cold infusion in convalescence from exhausting diseases, dyspepsia, hysteria and jaundice.
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale Weber) “wesaˈusakwûnek” [yellow light].[103] While the Flambeau Ojibwe do not use this plant, the Pillager Ojibwe give it a name and use the root for a tea for heartburn. It was found growing at the north end of Bear Island in Leech Lake, Minnesota.
Among the whites, the virtues of the root are much overrated. The dried root is steeped in boiling water and is used as a stomachic and tonic, with slight diuretic and aperient action.
Cocklebur (Xanthium commune Britton), “sakatiˈkomûk” [stickers]. Although giving it a name, the Flambeau Ojibwe did not use it. It has been used by white men in intermittent fevers, also as a diuretic, diaphoretic and sialagogue.