Table of Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction xxi
Editor's Note xxxvii
Abbreviations: BBW=Buffalobird-woman; PW=Poor Wolf; GB = Goodbird;
SW=Sioux Woman; GLW=Gilbert Wilson;
WC=Wolf Chief; MS=Michael Scullin
1 Plants That Are Eaten
Domesticated plants (MS) 3
Sunflowers (BBW) 17
Corn-smut (BBW) 20
Prairie turnips (BBW) 22
Jerusalem artichokes (BBW) 31
Hogpeanut (BBW, WC, GB) 36
Chokecherries (BBW) 43
Buffaloberries (BBW) 50
Gooseberries (BBW) 52
Black currants (BBW) 54
Wild grapes (BBW) 56
2 Plants That Can Be Eaten
Hawthorns (BBW) 59
Wild white onions (BBW) 61
Ball cactus (BBW, WC) 63
3 Plants That Are Sweet
Juneberries (BBW) 71
White juneberries (BBW) 78
Wild plums (BBW) 79
Strawberries (BBW) 83
Roses (BBW) 85
Red raspberries (BBW, SW, GB) 91
Biscuitroot (BBW) 93
Nannyberries (BBW) 97
Purple prairie clover (BBW) 99
4 Plants That Are Good to Chew
Sticky gum (BBW) 103
Pine pitch (BBW) 105
5 Plants That Smell Good
Purple meadow-rue (BBW) 109
Blue giant hyssop (BBW) 111
Sweetgrass (BBW) 112
Wild bergamot (BBW) 117
Pine needles (BBW) 119
Perfumes used in beds (BBW) 121
Beaver musk (BBW) 123
6 Plants That Have Medicinal Uses
Big medicine (BBW) 127
White and red baneberry (BBW) 128
Gumweed (WC) 130
Purple coneflower (WC) 132
"Medicine in the woods" (BBW) 134
Poison ivy (BBW) 135
Unknown grass (BBW, GB) 137
Peppermint (BBW) 138
7 Plants Used for Fiber
Dogbane (WC) 141
Upright sedge (BBW) 155
Grasswork ornaments on leggings 159
8 Plants Used for Smoking
Tobacco 9a (BBW) 163
Tobacco 9b (WC) 172
Red-osier dogwood (BBW) 187
Bearberry (BBW) 189
Bearberry or kinnikmnick (WC) 191
9 Plants Used for Dye and Coloring
Yellow owl's-clover (BBW) 197
Water smartweed (BBW) 198
Dye plants-unidentified (BBW) 199
10 Plants Used for Toys
Umakixeke, or game of throwing sticks (BBW, GB) 203
Popguns (BBW) 204
A toy horse 205
Reed whistle (GB) 206
11 Plants Used for Utilitarian Purposes
Cordgrass (BBW) 211
Buckbrush (BBW) 213
Cattails (BBW) 219
Boxelder (BBW) 222
Buffalograss (BBW) 226
Big bluestem (WC) 228
Common rush (BBW) 231
Scouringrush horsetail (WC) 237
Puffball (BBW) 239
Snakewood (BBW, WC) 241
Goldenrod (BBW) 244
Prairie grasses as fodder (WC) 246
12 Plants Used for Rituals or with Ritual Significance
The three kinds of sage (WC) 2-51
Pasture sage 1 (BBW, GB) 256
Pasture sage 2 (BBW, WC) 258
Common sagewort (BBW, WC, GB) 261
Black sage (BBW, WC) 262
Fringed sage (PW) 268
juniper (Cedar) (BBW, WC, GB) 269
Creeping juniper (BBW, GB) 270
Prairie sandreed (WC) 271
Bittersweet (WC) 275
13 Sources of Wood
Wood as a resource (MS) 279
Cottonwood (WC) 284
Ash (BBW) 289
Peachleaf willow (BBW) 291
Sandbar willow (BBW, WC, GB) 294
Heart-leaved willow (BBW) 297
Quaking aspen (BBW) 299
American elm (BBW) 300
Water birch (BBW) 301
Boxelder (BBW) 302
14 Uses of Wood
Gathering firewood (WC) 305
Digging-sticks (BBW, WC) 311
Mortar and pestle (BBW) 314
Making a bullboat frame (BBW) 316
Making a wooden bowl (WC) 320
Rakes (and the bison scapula hoe) (BBW, WC) 325
Paddle for working clay pots (cottonwood bark) (GLW) 329
15 Arrows
Significance and utility (MS) 333
Making arrows (WC) 335
Types of arrows (WC) 344
Bows (WC) 347
Arrows for boys (BBW, GB) 350
Mock battle with grass arrows (WC) 354
16 Earthlodges
Building an earthlodge (BBW) 359
On Earthlodges (The observations of Hairy Coat and Not A Woman) 370
Winter lodges and twin lodges (BBW) 374
The peaked or tipi-shaped hunting lodge (BBW) 378
The use of sod as an earthlodge covering 382
Dismantling an old earthlodge (BBW) 384
Like-a-Fishhook Village and environs (WC) 389
17 Miscellaneous Material
Basket making (BBW) 395
Native drinks of the Hidatsas (BBW) 403
How our meals were served (GB) 406
Nettles (BBW) 409
Forest fire (GLW) 411
Conclusion 413
Appendix: Frederick N. Wilson's Comments on "The Hidatsa Earthlodge" 419
Bibliography 427
