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H46 Polypodiaceae

(Common Fern Family)





Fern (species and genus unknown)



1923 Smith 48. The root decoction was drunk for worms.

"Gitksan: The large, round, green root-stock, but not the rootlets,
mashed with bark of balsam fir (Abies grandis) and devil's club
(Fatsia horrida Sm. B. and H.), a little gum of scrub pine (Pinus
contorta) or tideland spruce (Picea sitchensis), and root of skunk
cabbage (Lysichitum kamtschatcense), warmed a little, and applied to
a boil or ulcer, which it brought to a head. Also used for
rheumatism, and as a plaster on the chest for hemorrhage of the
lungs."





H48 Adiantum pedatum L.

(Maiden-hair fern)



1945 Gunther 14. The Makah, Lummi, and Skokomish took the water from
the soaked leaves and used it as a hair rinse.

The Quinault burned the leaf for an ash to rub on the
hair to make it long, black and shiny.

The Makah chewed the leaves to relieve a sore chest,
stomach problems and to stop internal bleeding during wars (Densmore,
313 & 316).



1971 Turner and Bell 68. Here are references to Gunther, Densmore and
Drucker.



1982 Turner and Efrat 29. The dried fronds were burned, the ashes
mixed with another unknown ingredient and steeped in water. The
tea "was drunk for shortness of breath and to give strength and
endurance, especially for dancers in winter. Hesquiat dancers would
take nothing but this medicine on days when they were dancing; it
made them `light on their feet' and helped them continue dancing for
a long time without tiring". The green fronds were also chewed for
the same effect.



1983 Turner, et. al., 61. John Thomas tells how the dancers would rub
their feet with this fern to make them light-footed. Fenn, 1979 wrote
that Nootka athletes and dancers also considered this a "good
medicine" plant. Densmore, 1939, wrote that the fronds were chewed by
the Makah for stomach trouble, for a sore chest, and for internal
hemorrhaging.





H49 Athyrium filix-femina (L.) Roth

(Lady-fern)



1928 Smith 48. Asplenium cyclosorum Rupr. "Little roots cleaned off,
from five to ten centres, mixed at times with roots or branches of
the currant (Ribes laxiflorum Pursh.) boiled strongly, but for a
short time only, and the decoction used as a wash for sore eyes."



1945 Gunther 14. The Cowlitz used a tea internally made from the
rhizomes to relieve body pain.

The Makah pounded and boiled four fern stems, for a woman
to eat to ease labor. "` In preparing this medicine the fronds of the
fern were stripped from the stalk with a downward motion toward the
roots and a prayer was offered that the child would `slip' as easily
as the fronds of the fern were removed.'" (Densmore, 317)



1973 Turner 196. See Smith 1928.



1982 Turner and Efrat 29. "Like bracken fiddleheads, they were eaten
as a medicine for internal ailments."



1990 Turner, et. al., 88. This fern, simmered for a tea, to drink
for "vomiting blood (?ulcer)".





H49 Blechnum spicant (L.) Roth.

(Deer-fern)



1930 Boas 216. Struthiopteris spicant L. The Kwakiutl took licorice
fern, hemlock roots, juniper bush and deer fern for a remedy to stop
stomach pains and diarrhea. The drink was made by first washing the
ferns, then all four ingredients were boiled together.



1966 Boas 381. Struthiopteris spicant L. The Kwakiutl boiled deer-
fern with spruce (Picea sitchensis), gooseberry (Ribes sp.), hemlock
(Tsuga heterophylla), and blackberry roots (Rubus ursinus), for a
drink to use instead of water for diarrhea. Another remedy was to
hold the deer-fern roots, without any chewing, in the mouth, then to
swallow the juice for diarrhea.



1945 Gunther 15. Struthiopteris spicant. The Quileute made a tea from
the leaves to drink for general feelings of sickness.

Fresh leaves were put directly on paralyzed body parts.

The young raw leaves were chewed for colic.

The Makah ate the green leaves for lung problems or
stomach distress (Densmore, p. 313).



1973 Turner and Bell 264. The Kwakiutl took the inner part of the
rhizome for diarrhea. See Boas, 1930 above.



1982 Turner and Efrat 29. After watching deer rub their sore stubs
after their antlers break off, the Hesquiats used the fronds
similarly for skin sores.

One woman with internal cancer ate the fronds as medicine
and lived a long life.



1983 Turner, et. al., 63. According to Fenn, 1979, the Nootka used
these fronds as a tonic or all-around good medicine.

Ida Jones of the Nitinaht said that deer-fern fronds and
salal leaves were eaten to relieve hunger or to suppress hunger pains
when someone was lost in the woods.





H50 Cryptogramma crispa (L.) R. Br.

(Parsley Fern)



1990 Turner, et. al., 88. The Thompson washed the fronds to infuse
them for an eyewash or for a tea to drink as a gallstone remedy.





H51 Dryopteris austriaca (Jacq.) Woynar

(Mountain Wood-fern)



1945 Gunther 14. D. dilatata. The Klallam people pounded this root
into a pulp which was then put on cuts as a poultice.

The Snohomish used the soaked leaves for a hair wash.



1982 Turner and Efrat 29. Deer were seen to rub their sore antler
stubs on this fern like the deer-fern.

The Hesquiats used the young fronds in a similar fashion
as lady fern and bracken and gave this the same name.





H51 Dryopteris filix-mas (L.) Schott

(Male Fern)



1928 Smith 48. Aspidum spinulosum. Shield fern. The Bella Coola ate
this root raw in to "neutralize poisoning from eating several kinds
of shell-fish" early in the summer.



1973 Turner 197. In the fall the rhizome has white edible "fingers".
Eaten raw, they are said to be "good for losing weight".





H52 Polypodium glycyrrhiza DC. Eat.

(Licorice-fern)



1928 Smith 48. P. vulgare. Parasitic Sword Fern. Bella Coola. "Roots-
sometimes mixed with leaves of the red cedar (Thuja plicata) or with
other medicinal roots which the informant had forgotten-boiled, and
the warm decoction taken internally for pains in the stomach, but not
for vomiting or diarrhea. Neither an emetic nor a purgative.

Roots chewed for swollen sore throat."



1945 Gunther 13. P. vulgare. This was used by the native peoples of
Western Washington as a demulcent, laxative, expectorant in cases of
chronic catarrh and asthma, and as a purgative. For some time
licorice fern was in the United States Dispensatory list, and the
European settlers used it as taught to them by the native healers.

To relieve a cough, the Makah would roast, peel, and chew
the rhizome, then swallow the juice.

The Cowlitz crushed the rhizome, mixed it with young fir
needles, then boiled this for a tea to drink for a case of the
measles.

The Quinault considered the ones that grow on alder moss
as the best quality. They baked the root or used it raw as a cough
medicine.



1971 Turner and Bell 69. "The Saanich and Cowichan chewed the
rhizomes as a medicine for stomach trouble, sore throat, or a cold
(Paul, 1968; Harry, 1969).



1973 Turner and Bell 264. People sucked on the root, then swallowed
the juice for sore throats or to just flavor the mouth (MS; DM).



1982 Turner and Efrat 30. The spring rhizomes were collected for food
and a mouth sweetener. George Ignace says, "Just pick it up, chew it,
and suck it and swallow the juice" for relief of a cough or sore
throat.



1983 Turner, et. al., 64. The licorice tasting rhizomes are chewed
and the juice swallowed for a sore chest and a cough. Ida Jones
comments that these taste sour, so you drink water to chase the
juice. Many native groups in the Northwest have used these for colds,
coughs and sore throats, but all others consulted just chew the sweet
rhizomes for their pleasant taste.



1990 Turner, et. al., 91. The Thompson people chew the rhizomes or
make a tea from them for a cold or sore throat. The rhizomes were
also used for sore gums.







H53 Polystichum munitum (Kaulf.) Presl.

(Sword Fern)



1945 Gunther 13. The curled, young leaves were chewed raw, then
swallowed for sore throats and tonsillitis. This was also done to aid
childbirth. The same was used as a poultice held on with salmonberry
bark, for sores and boils. The liquid from boiled rhizomes was made
into a wash for sores or dandruff in hair.

Spore sacs, scraped from the leaves, were sprinkled onto
a burn.



1971 Turner and Bell 69. "The Songish dried spores from the backs of
the leaves and used the fine powder to cure sores and boils (Boas,
1890)."



1982 Turner and Efrat 32. For uterine cancer, the fiddleheads were
chewed as medicine.







H54 Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn

(Bracken fern)



1902 Chestnut 304. Bracken was used as a diuretic for horses, "but
its action is violent and dangerous".



1971 Turner and Bell 69. The leaves were part of Songish girls'
puberty rituals.



1982 Turner and Efrat 32. The early spring fiddleheads were used
for "troubles with one's insides" such as uterine cancer, as were
fiddleheads from lady fern, spiny wood fern, or sword fern.



1983 Turner, et. al., 63. Here is cited a study about naturally
occurring substances that can induce tumors, noting that this plant
is considered carcinogenic and should not be used as a food source
until further research is carried out. However it is possible that
the long heat processing, such as with pit cooking, to prepare these
as food or medicine may have changed the damaging chemicals.



1990 Turner, et. al., 90. The Thompson would pound fresh rhizomes,
then place them on broken bones as a poultice. Annie York says, "It
sets the bone in its place". Julie Kilroy adds that is was the
fronds, not the rhizomes used and that they were put on sores.

"... If you break your bone, you boil that (fronds) and
stick it in there, put the leaves in there, and you get better ...
When there's sores ... (you) smash it really hard ... with a rock,
those green leaves, pine pitch, and melt that (pitch), and you strain
it clean and you mix it in there ... and you rub that (on) if you get
sore. That's what one lady tell us ... (You leave it on) one day,
maybe every day, do that and it'll get better."

Mabel Joe also tells about making a poultice or a wash
from the leaves that was put on a broken bone area. "It gets better
fast." She continues saying that the rhizome "tea" was drunk for
internal injuries or for vomiting blood. This was made by mashing the
leaves with a rock, then steeping these in boiling water for a short
time. This tea was also drunk for a lagging appetite or for a cold.

An arthritis sufferer lay on a steam-pit made with red-
hot rocks, then covered with bracken leaves, with a little water
poured on top.







Wood Sap



1928 Smith 66-67. "The sap that oozes from any kind of wood when
burning considered a good remedy for sores."

Charcoal was rubbed under the eyes to help prevent
snowblindness.

The Bella Coola took burning twigs of very dry hemlock to
sear the skin for all kinds of internal ailments (moxibustion).

"Northern Carrier: Hot coals used as a blister (sic) for
a bad pain in the leg before applying an ointment."







H56 Taxaceae

(Yew Family)





H57 Taxus brevifolia Nutt.

(Pacific Yew)



1928 Smith 48. "Branches with leaves boiled, and the decoction taken
internally for the lungs. Neither a purgative nor an emetic."



1945 Gunther 16. Yew wood was made into bows and other things which
required great strength. It was associated medicinally with imparting
strength. A young man might rub himself with smooth yew wood to
increase his strength.

The branches were rubbed on the body when bathing.
Soaking crushed leaves in water, which was then made into bath water
for the old and also for the very young to increase their
perspiration and to make for an improved health condition. Another
tribe, takes the same preparation and boils it to make a drink
for "any internal injury or pain".

The Cowlitz moisten leaves of yew, grind them, and apply
the pulp to wounds.

Also the chewed leaves were spit onto wounds, which is
said to sting, but is supposed to heal.

The Quinault are also the only group making use of the
(peeled, dried and boiled) bark as a tea to drink for lung medicine.



1980 Turner, Bouchard, & Kennedy 35. A sunburn ointment was made by
scraping yew-wood and mixing this with Vaseline.



1988 Turner 184-186. Yew was used in cleansing and for scent. It is
also connected with death and bereavement.

A bark decoction was drunk as a tonic and general
medicine.

The fleshy part around the seed was eaten. The wood was
used in making bows, snowshoes, wedges, spears, mat needles, handles
and digging sticks.



1990 Turner, et. al., 112. Thompson. Annie York tells how "bereaved
people (such as widows and orphans) scrubbed themselves with yew
branches rather than hemlock to purify themselves. The bark,
collected in the morning from the sunrise side of the tree, was
boiled and the decoction drunk for 'any illness'."





H57 CUPRESSACEAE

(Cypress Family)





H57 Calocedrus decurrens (Torr.) Florin.

(Incense-cedar)



1902 Chestnut 306. Libocedrus decurrens. Torr. Boiled leaves
are "occasionally used to relieve stomach troubles".



1957 Train 67. Libocedrus decurrens. Torr. Only one report of this
plant was "secured ... and that of a rather dubious efficacy. Some
families" make a boiled twig and bark tea to protect against
infection from any contagious disease like smallpox.





H58 Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (Don) Spach

(Yellow Alaska Cedar)



1928 Smith 49. "Bella Coola: A little soft bark used to cover
poultices of false bugbane (Trautvetteria grandis Nutt.) and of tall
buttercup (Ranunculus acris L.)"



1930 Boas 217. Kwakiutl. For his wife's swollen kidneys, a husband
went to the spruce patch to dig the roots and pray for a cure. He
shaves off the root bark until "he has enough", then put the "acrid
roots" in a basket. (It is unclear whether this is the root bark or
the roots.) Then he prays with a yellow cedar tree and picks some of
the soft ends of the leaves. At home, he boils this for some time,
then strains it, gives his wife one cup to drink, four times in the
day.



1948 McIlwraith Volume I 732. The Bella Coola had no medicine for
insanity, but used the following one from the Kwakiutl. First a piece
of skin from the left side of the base of the neck was cut from a
recently buried corpse. It was left for a day in a small stream, then
steeped another day in a cup filled with water. The patient drank
this liquid, which immediately recovered his sanity. Next he drank
water which had yellow cedar needles boiled in them to strengthen him
and to prevent a relapse. Now that the patient is cured, he must
observe continence for one year or he will die.



1966 Boas 382. For "painful place" rub on chewed Yellow cedar and
Lonicera involucrata leaves.

p. 384. An old yellow cedar blanket was burned and the
ashes were rubbed on a child to make the body strong (if the other
children of a woman had died when they were young).



1973 Turner and Bell 266. Kwakiutl. "An extract from the tips of four
yellow cedar branches was drunk for general illness, or used to bathe
sores and swellings (Boas, 1930; Willey, 1969). The sharp boughs were
rubbed on sores and swellings until the skin was broken, then
medicine such as tobacco (Nicotiana sp.) or yarrow (Achillea
millefolium) was rubbed on (Brown, 1969)."

"Yellow cedar was also used to make sweat baths for
people with arthritis and rheumatism. It was usually mixed with some
other medicinal plant, such as yarrow, black twinberry (Lonicera
involucrata), or Conioselinum pacificum (Boas, 1966; Roberts, 1969).
If a person was very ill, an old cedar bark blanket was burned and
the ashes were mixed with catfish oil and rubbed on the patient. Then
a mat was put over him and struck with four burning spruce boughs.
The yellow cedar gave him strength and he recovered (Boas, 1966)."
See Boas, 1930.



1973 Turner 197. See McIlwraith, 1948.





H58 Juniperus sp.

(Juniper)



1928 Smith 49. "Gitksan: Entire plant, including roots and berries,
boiled for a day, and the decoction, when cool, taken internally for
many ailments, including hemorrhage and kidney trouble. A purgative
and diuretic."



1959 Murphy 43. For rheumatism "burn fire down to coals. Put on green
juniper boughs, and have patient lie down on them and steam, drinking
meanwhile tea from leaves."





H58 Juniperus communis L.

(Creeping Juniper)



1909 Teit 618. This decoction was drunk at child-birth, juniper alone
or with "Sage-bush". The bruised twigs, then boiled for the liquid
which was used as an eye wash by hunters to make them "clear-
sighted". This was also drunk in sweat-houses and used as
a purification wash in combination with "sage" and "soapberry".



1928 Smith 49. "Bella Coola: Roots, leaves, branches, and bark
boiled, and the decoction taken internally as often as desired for
many ailments, including a cough from the lungs, and pain in the
stomach. Neither a purgative nor an emetic."

"Southern Carrier: Branches boiled, and the vapour
inhaled for headache and pain in the chest."

"Northern Carrier: Tips boiled, and the decoction taken
internally as a purgative, also for a cough."



1929 Steedman 474. Thompson. A twig infusion was made to wash sore
eyes. A small branch "tea" was drunk as a stomach tonic.

505. The stem with the whorls of small leaves was boiled
to make a purifying body wash for hunters, warriors, and widowers.



1957 Train 61. If boiled, young growth, is said to make a reddish
liquid. This is drunk in small doses as a blood tonic. Boiled twig
tea, cooled is drunk for venereal disease.

One family, dries the fruit, to have seeds (after
removing the fleshy part) to eat every day for a blood tonic, or
especially for lumbago.



1966 Boas 381. Kwakiutl. This plant was boiled all day, until the
gum "is given off". This liquid was drunk to relieve shortness of
breath and to purify the blood.



1973 Turner 197. Addie Saunders adds to Smith's comments above, that
a root, leaf, branch and bark tea was also used for ulcers and
heartburn.



1973 Turner and Bell 266. Kwakiutl. See 1930 Boas at H49 Blechnum sp.
for a recipe to cure diarrhea. See also Boas, 1966.



1975 Palmer 50. The whole stem was put into boiling water for a short
time to make a drink for any sickness or even when healthy. See Teit
1905. Ray (1942-215, 220, 222) writes that juniper was burned when a
corpse couldn't be buried right away, and to exorcise the house and
clothes of the deceased and to relieve the dreams of the dead.



1980 Turner, Bouchard, & Kennedy 19. Nitnaht. Steep needles and bark
in hot water for a drink for colds and consumption or as a tonic
before taking a sweatbath. The boiled branches made a wash to protect
a person from witchcraft.



1988 Turner 185. A branch decoction was drunk as tonic and general
medicine for colds, coughs, influenza, digestion, lung, kidney and
urinary ailments. The branch infusion (or decoction) was taken for
arthritis, rheumatism, muscular aches, paralysis, the circulatory
system, to lose weight or lower blood pressure. It was also a wash
for eyes and used in puberty rites.



1990 Hunn 354. Sehaptin. The infusion of an unspecified part was a
wash for a baby to counter magic or to drink for fever.



1990 Turner, et. al., 92. Thompson. Mary Anderson, in 1980, reports
here about how to make a tea to "make your insides nice". Take 3
branches about 10 cm. long and steep.

Annie York describes using this tea for "leakage of the
heart". Others tell of using this for aching muscles, kidney
problems, a cold, and as a physic. (See Teit 1905.) This tea was also
drunk for high blood pressure. Hilda Austin tells of a friend with
hypertension who drunk this for two weeks and brought the blood
pressure back to normal.

Janet Charters tells of her mother saying that this
plant makes good tuberculosis medicine if the branches are cut from a
plant growing alone, "even if it's just a little bush".





H58 Juniperus communis var. depressa

(Common Juniper)



1958 Jacobs 63-4. USP 1820-1870 inc. NF 1910-date. Euro-american
use. "It is efficacious in gonorrhea, gleet, leucohorroea, skin
diseases, scorbutic diseases, dropsy, and kidney complaints. The
fruit is used as a diuretic, emmenagogue, carminative, stimulant,
anthelmintic, and for snake bites. The Cree Indians used the plant to
make a poultice for wounds. An oil is obtained from the fruit."





H58 Juniperus occidentalis Hook.

(Western Juniper)



1957 Train 62-64. (Editor's note: J. utahensis does not occur in the
area covered by this text, but according to Train, is the most common
species in Nevada. Train writes that the Indians in Nevada used this
species interchangeably with J. occidentalis.)

Shoshones and Paiutes used this for cold and cough
remedies. The boiled, young tip growth was used as tea. Sometimes
ripe (with one report of immature) berries were added to this remedy
or taken alone for colds and coughs. One report suggested inhaling
smoke from leaves or branches for headaches and colds. Sometimes the
smoke from burned branches or berries was a fumigant after an illness.

Recipes for mixtures with the following plants are listed
under their names: Artemisia tridentata, Salvia carnosa (S. dorrii?),
and Wyethia mollis.

Young twig-end "tea" was drunk as blood tonic and general
tonic. It was taken hot for hemorrhages, for fever reduction, stomach-
aches, kidney trouble, influenza (see Lomatium dissectum) and for
smallpox and kidney problems (mixed with Dalea polyadenia , which is
common in Nevada, but not found in the Pacific Northwest).

A strong solution of boiled twigs made an "esteemed ...
antiseptic wash for measles, smallpox ... or sores. Heated twigs were
rubbed on measles eruptions to relieve discomfort. Mashed young twigs
were used as poultices on burns or swellings. Young boiled twigs were
made into poultices for rheumatism and the cooled liquid made into a
wash.

Decoctions from either twigs or resin from Pinus
monophylla or Abies concolor mixed with cracked juniper berries, were
drunk for venereal disease.

The powdered twig ends steeped in cold water, then
strained for a drink to "rid the alimentary tract of worms".

Or the powdered twigs, heated over a fire, was "bound in
a hot cloth against the neck for a sore throat. The material was
reheated from time to time". Leaves, pounded, moistened, were tied in
a cloth with a hot rock and held on the jaw for toothache or swollen
and sore gums.

Sweat baths were used for rheumatism and "heavy colds". A
fire was made in a specially excavated depression until the ground
was heated, then the fire and coals were raked out and the depression
was lined with young juniper twigs on which the patient laid, covered
with blankets to induce sweating.

One informant mentioned using the roots, dried, finely
shaved, then boiled for a tea for venereal disease.

Boiled berry tea was used as a diuretic for kidney
ailments. One recipe was to boil nine berries in one quart of water.
One-half cupfuls were taken three to four times a day. One recipe
called for green berries and another called for the addition of Pinus
monophylla. Berry tea was also used for a blood tonic, taken as daily
half-cupful doses for a week. One cupful was taken for heart trouble.
Menstrual cramps were treated with less than half-cupful doses.
Berries boiled in a little water, the tea drunk several times during
the day was used for rheumatism. It was also made into an external
hot pack.





H58 Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.

(Rocky Mountain Juniper)



1929 Steedman 465. Thompson. A few fresh berries were sometimes eaten
for their diuretic properties and as a bladder medicine. Berries from
other juniper species were used in a similar fashion by the European
settlers.

512. A strong berry decoction was used as a tick wash for
horses.



1958 Jacobs 64. J. virginiana. USP 1820-1870 inc. Euro-american
use. "The leaves are stimulant, diuretic, and emmenagogue. It has
been used in kidney complaints, suppression of the urine, and
obstructed menstruation. The excrescense caused in the fungus growth
are said to be anthelmintic. The volatile oil is anthelmintic and
bactericidal. ...A cerate has been employed to keep up the irritation
and discharge of blisters. "



1945 Gunther 21. The liquid from boiled roots made a foot bath for
rheumatism. The aroma from boiling leaves made a scent to disinfect a
house. The liquid made a disinfecting bath for any sick person as
well as a drink for a general tonic.



1957 Train 62. One informant tells of boiling twig ends for a tea to
drink in "dosage of less than half-cup daily over a long period for
venereal disease".



1971 Turner and Bell 70. The branches were hung in houses to keep
away germs during epidemics (Paul, 1968).



1975 Palmer 50. This was used like J. communis for tea and in the
sweathouse, as well as to keep earwigs and bedbugs out of the house.

To steam a man to help cure the "flu", his wife covered
him with canvas, then made steam to inhale by dropping hot rocks into
a juniper brew until it boiled. "If you take juniper once every week
or two you will never get sick."



1980 Turner, Bouchard, & Kennedy 20. For a poison to coagulate the
blood of people and deer, arrows or bullets were soaked in water with
pounded branches and berries.



Sap was boiled, from five bark strips cut from the bottom
of the tree (two by four inches or five by ten centimeters) in one or
two quarts of water, to make a tea for flu and colds. (ML uses
this).as an emergency medicine drink for internal hemorrhaging, about
seven centimeters or three inches of a branch tip was dipped in
boiling water.

Mashed, dampened branches were used as a poultice on
sores and arthritic joints (Watkins p 32; Ray p 221).

Berries were considered poisonous. Though a few steeped
in hot water made a drink, used only with great caution in the
sweathouse. Berries were also thought good for tuberculosis (Lerman;
Ray p 221)

"It's the meanest medicine" for "combating evil spirits associated
with death". (There are more details included.)



1988 Turner 185.

A decoction of the branches was made for a general
medicine or tonic. It was also used as a drink or wash for arthritis,
rheumatism, muscular aches and paralysis. It was a drink (decoction
or infusion) for the digestive tract or stomach and the "black
measles" and chickenpox. The fruit was used as an insecticide.

Adding the fruit to the branch tea and it was used for
colds, coughs, influenza, and respiratory ailments as well as for the
heart, blood pressure and circulatory system.

The fruit was eaten or a branch decoction was used for
kidney or urinary ailments; as a wash for wounds, sores, burns.

It was used in puberty rites, during death or
bereavement, and as a charm for luck, wealth, and love.



1990 Hunn 354. Also Juniperus occidentalis. Sehaptin. The berries
were boiled and drunk for colds and as a laxative. The leaves and
inner bark were boiled and the infusion drunk for coughs and fevers.
An unspecified portion was boiled and drunk to produce sweat before
sleeping for colds, sore throats, flu, venereal disease and for the
kidneys.



1990 Turner, et. al., 93. Thompson. Teit, in 1900, wrote that the
small fresh berries were eaten for kidney ailments. Annie York agrees
with Steedman that the berries were used either fresh or dried when
used for a diuretic medicine for the bladder. The bough decoction was
drunk for "black measles" and the chicken pox.



Mabel Joe, one time had backaches from kidney ailments.
She drank this tea and her backaches went away. She tells of using
the branch and berry tea for colds, tuberculosis, heart problems, or
before childbirth to help the muscles relax. For the latter, it was
drunk daily before a birth in the morning.



Esther John told of drinking the bough tea or using it as
a wash for hives and sores. Apparently this was also used for
tuberculosis in the same manner as Juniperus communis. A decoction of
the berries was used as a wash for bites, stings, rheumatism, and
stomach problems. Mabel Joe smashed boughs with those of Douglas fir,
boiled them and washed her children in the brew daily when they
had "seven-year itch". This worked, but more slowly then modern
medicine.



Branches were boiled or burned in a house as
a "disinfectant" or "air freshener", after a sickness or death in the
household. It was also used to keep mosquitoes out of a house if you
had no screens. Sometimes branches were put on stove tops if children
had colds, but too much smoke would cause eye irritation.



There is further information about using this as a
fumigant during times of death and disease. They were perhaps used
for protection from spirits and disease because of their strong
smells or because of their prickly boughs, similar to the use of rose
or devil's club.