One medical expert states that the Indians were considerably skilled in treating snakebite.
Treatment was generally initiated with an incision of the bite, which was followed by suction. Some practitioners then applied a part of the snake to the wound as a kind of ritualistic offering, while others applied various plants, several of which are described below.
Dr. Eric Stone also discusses other aspects of snakebite treatment among the Indians:
It is probable that the tribes of the Southwest which practiced the Snake Dance knew something, empirically if not theoretically, about immunization. In the ceremony the participants allowed themselves to be bitten by full-grown rattlesnakes, yet suffered no ill effects. As neophytes in the order, they had desensitized themselves by first submitting to the bite of young snakes with weak virus, gradually increasing the age of the snakes until they could receive the bite of the adult with impunity.
Some of the drugs used on the wounds include the following.
Purple Coneflower:
Purple coneflower species was a panacea among many Plains tribes. The Missouri River tribes employed it as an antidote for snakebites and for the stings and bites of insects. A piece of the plant was also used for toothache and mumps.
The same tribes commonly washed their hands in a decoction of the plant to enable them to withstand heat. The Sioux drank a decoction of the root as a remedy for hydrophobia and snakebites.
This perennial herb was used in American medicine to induce profuse sweating and was official in the National Formulary from 1916 to 1950.
Seneca Snakeroot:
The interesting history of the Seneca snakeroot, from the time it was first noticed by a Scot physician as it was used by the Seneca Indians for snakebite to its adoption in the treatment of coughs and other respiratory troubles.
As with most snakebite remedies, the roots of this species were chewed and then applied directly on the bite.
Since the twisted root could easily represent a snake, it is not difficult to imagine how the first Seneca Indian "discovered" this remedy.
Seneca snakeroot contains senegin, which is a saponinlike compound, and polygalic acid. It was official in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1936 and was used as a stimulant and as an expectorant.
Button snakeroot was often substituted for Seneca snakeroot and was described by an early writer on American medicinal plants as being similar in action. This species was accepted as an official medicine, and surprisingly, it too was employed to promote perspiration and for respiratory congestion.
This member of the milkwort family inhabits rocky woods and hillsides throughout the eastern states. The knobby-topped root sends up fifeteen to twenty or more slender stems, which are from six inches to a foot in height. The small, greenish white flowers which are borne on the ends of the stems, bloom between May and June. The twisted root was collected in the fall and brought a high price of from fifty-five to seventy cents a pound around 1909.
Virginia Snakeroot:
The Virginia snakeroot is the most famous Indian snakebite remedy. Its repute spread so quickly that it was utilized in England and admitted to the London Pharmacopoeia as early as 1650.
This is a strange genus of plants, for as Dr. Millspaugh pointed out,"almost all the species of this large genus are esteemed, by the natives of the countries in which they grow, as remedies against the poisonous effects of snake bites ... this use being fully known to each nation without previous communication with each other."
Naturally, as with most popular remedies, this plant was used for many illnesses other than the one for which it was originally recognized. It was accepted in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia and employed for tonic and stimulant purposes. It contains borneal, which is a volatile oil; aristolochine, an alkaloid; and other, less important, constituents. The alkaloidal principle has reportedly produced respiratory paralysis.
In general, the Indians simply chewed the root and applied it to snakebite. Over one hundred years ago this was the most highly prized snakebite remedy of all and was often carried in the packs of woodsmen.
If a Hopi was bitten by a snake he chewed the root of bladderpod and applied it on the wound, while the Winnebago and Dakota Indians boiled the buds of white ash and drank the resulting tea to offset the poison.
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