Small doses of the partially dried root have been used by the white man in the treatment of chronic bronchitis, asthma, flatulent colic and rheumatism, certainly widely different maladies. The juice of the fresh corm in lard has been used by the white man as a local application to cure ringworm.
ARALIACEAE (GINSENG FAMILY)
Wild Sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis L.) “bebamabiˈ k” [root runs far through the ground]. The Flambeau Ojibwe recognize the root of this plant as a strong medicine, but do not steep it to make tea. The fresh root is pounded and applied as a poultice to bring a boil to a head or to cure a carbuncle. Among the Pillager Ojibwe, the writer found two names applied to this, one of which he thinks to be a case of mistaken identification by the informant. “O kadak” [wild carrot] is more likely to refer to Aralia racemosa though no specimens were found there. They used it under this name as a special squaw remedy for blood purification during pregnancy. The root was pounded in a mortar, then boiled in hot water. Under their name “waboˈ s ûskwe” [rabbit] the root was prepared the same way and the tea was used to cure a cough.
Among the white men, this root has the same properties and uses as the Indian Spikenard (Aralia racemosa); namely, stimulant, diaphoretic, and alterative.
Ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.) “jîssêˈns.” Evidently the word they used was an attempt to pronounce the white man’s term for it. The writer was unable to discover any medical use made of it by the Ojibwe, though they gathered it assiduously for sale to the traders. Their method of gathering was a thoughtful one. Although they undoubtedly recognized it in any stage of growth, they only gathered the root when the red berries were mature, but before they were ready to drop. Into the hole from whence the root came, they would thrust the whole fruiting top, and carefully firm the soil upon it. Knowing the location well, they would revisit the place in three to five years and find more roots than they harvested in the first instance.
According to our pharmacopoeia, the medicinal value of ginseng is almost nothing, but there is a great market for it in China, where it is worshipped as a sort of fetish, and is acclaimed as a panacea for sexual impotency, nervousness, vomiting and dyspepsia. The more nearly the root approximates the human torso, the more valuable it is to the Chinese. Thus one root in a six hundred-pound bale may be worth many times the entire remainder of the bale, and when ten dollars a pound is the price, one can realize the extreme value of such a piece.
ARISTOLOCHIACEAE (BIRTHWORT FAMILY)
Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense L. var. acuminatum Ashe.) “nameˈ pîn” [sturgeon potato].[96] The Pillager Ojibwe called this a potato for sick people. They are supposed to chew the root, and then they can eat anything they desire.
The white man calls this Canada Snakeroot in his dispensatories, considering it a feeble remedy with tonic, aromatic and diuretic properties. Cases of convalescent acute febrile infections are sometimes given the extract of wild ginger root.