Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians

by Huron H. Smith

IRIDACEAE (IRIS FAMILY)

Blue Flag (Iris versicolor L.) “wikê”.[149] Both Flambeau and Pillager Ojibwe use this as a charm against snakes and claim that Indians all over the country use it the same way. When the Ojibwe go out blueberrying all day, every one carries a piece of it in his clothes and will handle it every little while to perpetuate the scent. They believe that snakes will shun them while so protected. They say that the Arizona Indians use it when they hold their snake dances and are never struck as long as their clothes are fumigated with it. They also chew it to get the odor into their mouths, preparatory to taking rattlesnakes into their teeth. The rattlesnake never offers to bite them so long as the scent of the Blue Flag persists.