Part One: Foundations of Western Herbalism 1
* Plant Medicine in the Ancient Near East & Middle East 5
* Herbalism in Ancient Greece & Rome 9
* Herbalism in Europe (1100-1900) 33
* Herbalism in America: Plant Medicine of the American Indians 45
* Herbalism in America: Thomsonianism & Physio-medicalism 63
* Herbalism in America: Eclecticism 77
* Herbalism in America: Folk Herbalism & the Herbal Renaissance 99
* Herbalism in America: Naturopathy 113
* Rational Phytotherapy & the 21st-century Herbal Scene 119
* Modern Assessment in the West: Iridology & Scleral Interpretation 125
* Modern Assessment in the West: Muscle Testing 141
* Modern Assessment in the West: Intake, Self-tests, & Labs 157
Plants Widely Used among Native-American Tribes
BLUE FLAG
[WILD BLUE IRIS; LIVER LILY]
(Iris versicolor)
Status: Official medicine in the U.K. at present
(USA: Official in USP from 1820-95 and in the NF from1916-42)
Þ Energetics: COOLING, DRYING
cholagogue/laxative constipation (Creek Indians)
emetic TOXICITY IN THE G.I. TRACT (Ojibwe & other tribes)
vulnerary & SORES & burns (Meskwaki & Manouan Indians) analgesic swellings (Ojibwe & Potawatomi Indians)
painful areas (Tadoussac Indians)
earache (Missouri Valley Indians)
CULVER’S ROOT
[BLACK ROOT; CULVER’S PHYSIC; LEPTANDRA]
(Veronicastrum virginicum [formerly: Leptandra virginicum])
Status: Official medicine in the UK.
(USA: Official in the USP from 1820-40 and 1860-1916 and in the NF from 1916 to 1955)
Þ Energetics: WARMING, DRYING
febrifuge fever (esp. w/chills) (Iroquois Indians)
choleretic CHolecystitis
non-obstructive jaundice
biliousness (Iroquois Indians)
laxative/cathartic constipation (Ojibwe, Menominee,
Meskwaki & Seneca Indians)
antilithic kidney stones (Meskwaki Indians)
FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN HERBALISM
LESSON #4: NATIVE-AMERICAN PLANT MEDICINE
QUESTION-AND-ANSWER SHEET
(You will need only your Workbook and Textbook [300 Herbs] to answer these lesson questions.)
1. Describe the native-American contribution to the early American pharmacopoeias, providing a sense of its import.
2. Looking at the way native-American tribes have utilized wild geranium, which predominant physiological effect would you say that it possesses? (Clue: Your answer should be one word, and that word should be one of the terms defined in glossary of your textbook, 300 Herbs.)
3. How did a plant used by the Indians to alleviate poison-ivy rash wind up attracting the attention of white American physicians, and what did the U. S. Dispensatory say about this application?
4. Which plant, mentioned in the Workbook, has been used by 5 different native-American tribes for fever?
5. Why would Solomon’s seal be helpful for respiratory soreness, as the Ojibwe Indians were prone to use it?
6. Name two plants used by native-Americans for earache and by which tribes they were utilized.
7. Name one plant used by native-Americans for colic in infants/toddlers and how it was utilized.
8. Native-Americans treated insect bites and stings effectively with the aid of a number of plants. Name the two mentioned in this lesson and describe how one of them was utilized in this regard.