Thursday, November 14, 2019
Montana Plants & Native Americans Essay -- essays research papers
Montnana Plants & Native Americans      Since the beginning of the human race mankind has depended on the natural resources in their environment for survival. They utilized the available flora to nourish their body, heal their wounds, comfort their ailments and to create products to ease their daily lives. Many of the same plants utilized thousands of years ago by the indigenous people have been integrated into modern day medicines. The scientific interest and knowledge of plants for nourishment, healing, and practical uses is called ethnobotany.      The multiple use of plants used for nourishment, medicinal purposes and practical use were ignored by Lewis and Clark during their monumental trek across the United States. Rather than consider the Native Indian’s use of native plants they persisted on using Dr. Rush’s Thunderbolt pills that probably caused more problems than the condition that inflicted them. Many modern day cultures continue to ignore native remedies and have come to depend on synthetic pharmaceutical drug production. In recent years the wealth of indigenous knowledge has been acknowledged revealing the use of native plants and the importance it had in the survival of indigenous people.. Pharmaceutical companies have utilized the immense knowledge of the indigenous people and their use of natural plants. The application of natural plant species have revealed the main reasons mankind has survived into present day. Following is a few of the plants, their application and their specifi c purposes. Kinnikinnick Arctroaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. Common Name: Bearberry This plant has a variety of names through out Montana. This plant grows in poor soil composing mostly of sand or gravel and is commonly found near Ponderosa Pine trees. Kinnikinnick and Bearberry are the most commonly used names in western society. The word kinnikinnick meaning that which is mixed, is derived from the Algonkian Indian’s language. Other versions came from western hunters who called it larb, Canadian traders called it sacacommis or sagack-homi, and the Europeans called it bearberry.          The American Indians mixed Kinninninnick leaves with tobacco to lessen the strength and add flavor to their strong tasting tobacco. Flathead Indian, John Pelkoe, explained ... ...ong, and shorter stalks are 20-100mm long. The flower length from the axils are one to three centimeters long. The optimum flowering time is from May through August. The fruit are pod shaped with seedlings coiled into two to three spirals with a strong net vein three to four millimeters long (montanaplant-life.org).                          Where noted information was derived from, http://www.montanaplant-life.org Retrieved 3-19-2004.                                        All other information was derived from: Hart, J. Montana Native Plants and Early Peoples. Helena. Montana Historical Society Press. 1992.                                        Â
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