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.