Hawthorn (Crataegus sp.), “mîneˈsagaˈwûnj”. The Flambeau Ojibwe women use the sharp thorns for sewing awls on finer work such as buckskin sewing with sinew.
SALICACEAE (WILLOW FAMILY)
Shining Willow (Salix lucida Muhl.), “azisiˈgobmîc” [its name]. The Flambeau Ojibwe use this bark for their kinnikinnik or native smoking mixture. It is peeled and toasted over a fire and reduced to flakes.
SPHAGNACEAE (SPHAGNUM MOSS FAMILY)
Sphagnum (Sphagnum dusenii C. Jens.), “asaˈgûmîg” [moss]. The Flambeau and Pillager Ojibwe find Sphagnum Moss, shown in [plate 66], fig. 1, readily available. They gather and dry it to make mattresses.
TILIACEAE (BASSWOOD FAMILY)
Basswood (Tilia americana L.), “wigub” [its name]. The tough fibrous bark of young basswood trees furnishes all Ojibwe with ready cordage and string in the woods, but it is also prepared by the women for future use. They strip the bark and peel the outer edge from the inner fiber with their teeth. The rolls are then kept in coils or are boiled and kept as coils until needed, being soaked again when used, to make them pliable. While they have countless uses for this cordage perhaps the most important is in tying the poles together for the framework of the wigwam or medicine lodge, as shown in [plate 46], figure 2. When these crossings of poles are lashed together with wet bark fiber, it is easy to get a tight knot which shrinks when dry and makes an even tighter joint. The bark of an elm or a balsam, cut into broad strips is then sewed into place on the framework with basswood string. In olden times, an oak wood awl was used to punch holes in the bark, but at Leech Lake when they made the writer’s wigwam, as shown in [plate 58], figure 2, they used an old file end for an awl. The writer lived in this new wigwam all the time he was among the Pillager Ojibwe and scarcely a night passed without a group of them visiting him and sitting around the campfire, telling old time stories.
TYPHACEAE (CAT-TAIL FAMILY)
Cat-tail (Typha latifolia L.), “abûkweˈskwe” [wigwam cover; that is, the plant leaves]. The Flambeau Ojibwe women use the cat-tail leaves to make wind and rain-proof mats to be placed on the sides of the medicine lodge or any temporary wigwam or sweat lodge. They sew with a bone needle and nettle or basswood fiber with a hidden stitch, and bind the edges securely with their sewing cord. These mats are made quite large to cover the wigwams, and are rolled and carried around with them. They are not quite rain-proof as a roofing material, so birchbark rolls are used for that purpose. The fuzz or seed of the cat-tail is called “bebamasûˈn” [it flies around], and is used to make mattresses and sleeping bags. They say the fuzz will blind one if it gets into his eyes. They gather the heads and boil them first, which causes all the bugs to come out of them. Then they dry them and strip the fuzz, to make a mattress, which they claim is as soft as feathers, but very prone to mat together, so that it must be shaken often and thoroughly. They also make a quilt of it, and from the quilt a sleeping bag. This is declared to be soft and warm in the coldest weather.