Graduates!
Michael Jackman
Michael Jackman has been actively
participating in the 477 Self-Sufficiency
Program (SSP) in Siletz and GED classes
at Oregon Coast Community College.
He recently obtained his GED while
at the same time recovering from an
accident and collarbone injury. Michael’s
motivation and determination have now
made him eager to begin college courses
this summer.
SSP would like to congratulate him
on overcoming a huge barrier with a Siletz
Tribal Pendleton blanket and a $25 Fred
Meyer incentive gift card.
Gracie Arellano
Maria Zendejas
Love from Grandma Lorna Martin,
Auntie Jackie and your mother Brenda
I would like to congratulate my
granddaughters, Gracie Arellano and
Maria Zendejas, for graduating from the
Institute of Technology.
Gracie completed the medical
administrative assistant program and
Maria completed the medical assistant
program. Congratulations, girls!
We wish you the best of luck in
your future and congratulations on your
accomplishment.
Michael Jackman and his
niece, Cheyanne Jackman
Tooth Talk: Do you have time to learn all this? References are available
By Mary Ellen Volansky, EPDH, MS
It’s that time of year, the month before
Culture Camp. As usual, I will cover a
topic related to the history of oral health
among Pacific Northwest Indians.
Why is this important? Because cavi-
ties and gum disease were not a problem
for Indians before the Europeans arrived
and introduced processed foods and refined
sugar. As for all pre-industrialized nations,
the life people led and the foods they ate all
helped maintain good oral health.
We could go back to the time when
cavities and gum disease were scarce – if
we had the time.
Today, we can buy a can of blueber-
ries at the local store. At the butcher shop
or grocery store, we can purchase meat
cut and ready to cook. It takes time to
hunt down an elk (plus remove the skin/
fur, clean the inside and carry it to your
kitchen to make cuts of meat).
Time is needed to hike to where ber-
ries or other plants (wild onions, mint)
needed for cooking or medicines are
located. Some plants need time to dry;
others need more time after drying to be
ground into flour.
Consider the time it takes to actually
make a pie. Also consider the time needed
to build the fire to cook the pie or roast
the meat and the time needed for cooking.
Have you considered how you would
know which plants can be made into
flour? Do you know how to make a bow
and arrow for hunting a deer or elk? Will
you spend the time to learn?
If you make flour from a plant that
doesn’t taste good, you know not to try
that again. How about if you make flour
from a plant that induces diarrhea (elder) or
another that causes vomiting (devils club)?
So many plants and so many symp-
toms – how did people begin to sort out
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the plants that caused diarrhea (broom-
rape) from those that treated constipation
(salmon and thimbleberries) or those that
eased pain (California poppy) from those
that stopped bleeding (alfalfa)? Or those
that helped (evening primrose) from
those that ended life (poison and water
hemlocks or wild cucumber)?
Besides the time it would take to learn
which plants are helpful and which are
not, time would be needed to determine
what part of the plant is needed. Leaves
(goldenrod), roots (camas) or stems (juni-
per) all can be used, not always from the
same plant, yet many have several parts
that are helpful (goldenrod and juniper).
Some medicines used by Native people
combined the leaves, stems or roots of
multiple plants.
Now, say we know all the answers
to the above, what plant and parts can be
used and for what purpose. The next ques-
tion is, what form of the plant is needed?
Would you want to take the plant as
a tea or place it on a wound as a salve?
Maybe breathe in the smoke (devils club)
or inhale the steam from the plant in hot
water? There are decoctions (plant and hot
water mixture), infusion (tea) or others are
just mashed and/or dried for consumption.
Which plants store well and which
must be preserved in some way? Do you
harvest the plant in the spring, summer or
fall? Is there a traditional time for harvest-
ing? You want to know these steps before
you plan to use a plant.
You might need the plant in the
middle of the night or in the middle of
winter. If you need the flower of a plant,
harvesting must be done with the coming
year in mind, along with how much you
might need during that time.
There is camas that has two varieties,
one white and one blue, one helpful and
June 2013
one not. Not a problem you say, look at
the flower. Consider that harvesting is
done after blooming is complete toward
the end of summer to allow the bulb/root
to grow fully.
Once you learned which plant was the
one you needed, what part of the plant you
knew would help best and how to prepare
the plant for use, you have one more step
to take. And step is the word.
You probably would already have
learned where it grows, so now you need
to spend time walking or hiking to that area
and carrying it home – chaparral (ocean
spray or common dandelion) or grass
lands (camas, white or blue?), on the coast
(salal) or high desert (sage), maybe in the
wetlands (cowparsnip or skunkcabbage).
The bark of a tree (Pacific yew) may
have the ingredient you need for your
uncle’s cancer, but how would you prepare
the bark to get the best effect? Smoke it?
Brew tea or place the leaves in grease for
applying directly to the affected area(s)?
This specific plant was used for
malignancies by Indians and currently
is being used by traditional medicine in
the form of taxol for the same reason.
Another American Indian plant also used
for cancer treatment is May apple, in the
form of etoposide phosphate.
When you know all the answers to
these questions, you can call yourself an
ethnobotantist. But remember, 31,566
kinds of plants were used by American
Indians for food, medicine or drugs;
fibers and dyes; hunting and fishing; and
ceremonial practices.
This number refers to all the plants in
North America including Canada, so not
every Tribe used a plant (it didn’t grow
in that Tribe’s region) nor did each Tribe
use the same plant for the same purpose
(lobelia was used by four different Tribes
of people in North America for four sepa-
rate and very different purposes).
Another aspect of all this is more dif-
ficult to present here, one I am even less
knowledgeable about than ethnobotany.
This would be the spiritual aspect of
Indian medicine - the special or ritual
steps used for harvesting, the specific
aspect of collecting plant or plant parts
and the prayers said before collection.
This spirituality is a very important
aspect of medicine and health, Indian or
not. And this knowledge cannot be found
in a book or article of science on botany
or chemistry.
So come by the Dental table at Cul-
ture Camp to learn about the scientific
aspects of plants that have been used to
treat dental problems, such as a sore lip
or tongue or a toothache from a broken
or worn tooth – and how Indians avoided
cavities and gum disease. There will be
pictures and write-ups on these aspects
of ethnobotany and activities.
References for this article
Discovering Wild Plants, Alaska, Western
Canada, the Northwest by Janice J.
Schofield, illustrated by Richard W.
Tyler, Eaton, 2011.
Herbs & Natural Supplements, 3 rd Edition
by Linda Skidmore-Roth, Elsevier
Mosby, 2006.
Inflammation and Native American
Medicine: The Role of Botanicals
by Andrea T. Borchers, Carl L. Keen,
Judy S. Stern and M. Eric Gershwin,
The American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, 2000;72:339-47.
Native American Ethnobotany by Daniel
E. Moerman, Timber Press, 1998.
Northwest Foraging by Doug Benoliel,
illustrated by Mark Olson, Skipstone,
2011.