Perhaps it was due to their vigorous life styles that the native in habitants of North America were early experts in the treatment of wounds. Without laboratories for chemical analysis, many herbs with antiseptic properties were discovered and utilized in Indian medicine. One writer on this subject thought that the Indians became skillfull in finding and using these treatments because of the frequency with which wounds occurred and the necessity for treating them. Dr. Eric Stone, who was impressed with the Indians' ability to withstand serious wounds, wrote:
"Suffice it, that all military and medical observers who came in contact with the Indians agree that they recovered more rapidly than the white from most wounds, and many recovered from wounds which would have been fatal to the white man.
Bourke reports the cases of two Indians who were discharged from a military hospital that they might die among their people, yet made rapid recoveries as soon as their own medicine-men began their treatment. At a time when gunshot wounds of the bladder were invariably fatal to the white, the Indians seem to suffer this accident with impunity. Loskiel examined a man whose face had been torn away, his rib cage crushed, limbs ripped, and the abdomen disemboweled by a bear, yet had been able to crawl four miles to his village and in six months had completely recovered, except for extensive scarring. Such records could be continued almost indefinitely as all observers were so impressed by this ability to survive terrific wounds that hundreds have been reported."
Bontanical Remedies For Wounds
Anemone:
The root of the errect, perennial herb anemone was one of the most highly prized wound medicines of the Omaha and the Ponca tribes. A wash was prepared from the pounded boiled root and applied externally to the point of injury.
Anemonin, which is found in many related species of anemone, is clinically asserted to be a potent antiseptic substance.
Alumroot:
The large woody alumroot was powdered by the Meskwakis and other tribes and applied to cuts, wounds, and skin sores that would not heal.
The dried rhizomes and roots were utilized for the same purposes by the whites when these plant parts were officially accepted in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia between 1880 and 1882.
Blue Flag:
The blue flag species was one of the most popular of all American Indian medicines. The Penobscots valued it for treating most ailments, while other tribes assigned more specific roles to this member of the iris family. To relieve the swelling and pain associated with sores and bruises, the root was boiled in water and then pounded between stones. The pulped root mass was applied in a wet dressing and the affected part rinsed with the water in which the root was boiled. As a variation of this treatment, the Tadoussac tribe of Quebec combined the whole crushed plant with flour and applied the mixture as a poultice for bodily pain.
Surprisingly, blue flag was not employed for the above purposes by the general medical practitioners of the United States. It became an official drug and was entered into the U.S. Pharmacopoeia from 1820 through 1895 when it was utilized as an agent to induce vomiting or to promote drastic purging of the bowels. It was also used to promote the collection and excretion of excess bodily fluids.
The generic name, Iris, is derived from the Greek word for rainbow, while it's specific name,
versicolor, means "to change color" in Latin. The blue flag iris can be found in wet meadows, marshes, and damp meadows from Newfoundland to Manitoba south to Arkansas and Florida.The violet blue flowers are veined with yellow, green, and white and are usually in bloom from May through July.
Chain Fern:
The Luiseno tribe of southern California steeped chain fern roots in water and utilized tthe resulting liquid to alleviate the pains of wounds and bruises.
Club Moss:
The yellowish spores of club moss were dusted on wounds or inhaled to stop nosebleed by the Blackfoot and Potawatomi tribes. They were official in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia from 1863 to 1947 when they were used to absorb fluids from injured tissue. The spores were formerly used in making theatrical explosives and lighting stages, as well as medicinally to prevent pills from sticking to one another in closed containers.
Death Camass:
The Blackfoot Indians alleviated the pain of sprains and bruises by applying a wet, bound dressing of the pulped bulbs of the poisonous death camass to affected parts.
Five-Finger Fern:
Indians of the northwestern United States sometimes carried the five-fingered fern on war expeditions as an agent in their materia medica. The fronds were chewed and applied to wounds to stop bleeding.
Wild Geranium:
The perennial wild geranium was a favorite remedy of the Indians who lived on Great Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. They applied the dried, powdered root on bleeding blood vessels to promote coagulation. Clinical experiments with rabbits have shown that it causes an increase in the clotting of blood, due primarily to the tannin contained in geranium.
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