Pharmacy of the Red Man Sprague's Journal of Maine History Vol. 6 August September October 1918 No. 2 page 69-71 Pharmacy of t he Red Man BY HORACE M. BURNHAM, Ph. G., Old Town, Maine Read before the Maine Pharmaceutical Association, June 28, 1916. It has been suggested that an article on The Pharmacy of the Red Man might, in a general way, be of interest to the members of the Association, not that there is anything to learn which would advance our art but that it is no doubt similar to the birth of Phar- macy among other races. In the case of the Indian the Physician and Pharmacist are one as prescribing and preparing medicine are done by the medicine man or medicine woman. The Indian believes that certain ones are endowed by nature with qualities not possessed by all which enable them to diagnose and treat disease with 'greater success than their fellows. There is a tradition that in early days before the coming of the white man it was necessary for the would be medicine man to undergo some trying ordeal to prove his fitness. for the office. As a general- thing I have found it impossible to learn the diseases for which the drugs are used as the Indians do not know the English name of the complaints they treat. To, illus- trate, Dr. Sockalixis once told me in answer to an inquiry regard- ing ladies' slipper (Cypriedium) - That is woman medicine. This is used by them as a sedative in nervous conditions and one might infer that the men are not troubled with complaints of this kind nor do, I believe the, average Indian is. I have not learned that they used anything from the mineral kingdom and but one animal substance, Castor, given as an Indian woman told me, mostly to young women from fifteen to eighteen years of age. An emmena- gogue. They had infusions, decoctions, poultices, ointments and plasters. Oils and fats were also used as liniments. Boiling was done in dishes of birch bark placed on coals, hot ashes or stones heated by fire beneath or heated stones were dropped into; the liquid. In the case of infusions and decoctions the drugs were steeped singly or in combination. Such quantities to a given volume of water as in the judgment of the dispenser was necessary. When ready it was decanted and given the patient as needed. To relieve and to prevent chafing (as of infants) finely powdered hemlock bark was used. Plasters were made by evaporating a decoction of the barks of beech (Fugus grandifolia) and hackma- tack (Larix laricina) to the consistency of an extract and incorpo- rating with pitch of the spruce obtained by stripping the bark from the trunk of the standing tree and scorching the wood, reminding one of the method used by the natives of Central America to obtain Balsam of Peru. An ointment was made of fir balsam and animal fat. In making poultices various things were used among these, the rootstock of the white pond lily (Castalia odorata). For years I sold two old Indians butternut bark used by them as a laxative; in early days this must have been obtained elsewhere than on the Penobscot as the tree is not indigenous to that river though com- mon on the Kennebec and, I am told, on the St. John. I have been assured by the Indians that no one would take any contagious disease if he kept in his mouth and chewed the rhizome of the sweet flag. Today both male and female attend and prepare medicine for the sick but the campfire has given way to the cook stove and the bark dish to those of earthen and metal. In the early days if an acceptable and satisfactory gift did not accompany the call for his services the medicine man demanded and received as a preliminary, his fee from the patient or his family. It might be wampum, the best bow, a quantity of arrows, moccasins, furs, veni- son or other food, but now when employed by the Indian agent to attend the sick the usual fee with medicine is one dollar, If additional medicine is needed the price is fifty cents a quart. The following is a list of the drugs used by the Penobscot Indians today: Castor Castoreum; Cleavers Galium Aparine; Black Cohosh Cimicifuga racemosa; Blackberry root Rubus; Butternut Bark Juglans cinerea; Bloodroot Sanguinaria; Rockbrake Pollypodium vilgare; Crawley Root Corallorrhiza odontorhiza Red Cohosh Actea rubra: White Cohosh Actea alba; Sweet Flag Acoris Cala- mus; Gravel Plant Epigaea repens; Hair Cap Moss Polysticum acrostichoides; Hemlock Bark Tsuga canadensis; Juniper Berries Juniperus depressa; Ladies' Slipper Cypripedium hirsutum; Spike- nard Aralia racemosa; Pennyroyal Hedeoma pulegioides; Winter- green Chimaphila umbellata; Blue Cohosh Caulophyllum thalic- troides; Pleurisy Root Ascelepias tuberous; Scullcap Scutellaria lateriflora; Squaw Vine Mitchella repens; Canada Snakeroot Asa- rum canadense; Yellow Dock Root Rumex crispus. No doubt other plants, roots and barks were employed but the foregoing is a fairly complete list used during the past forty years. From the Indians was learned the medicinal uses of many of our indiaenous drugs. Although at the present time the treatment of disease among the Indians is largely in the hands of regular prac- titioners and medicines of the white man are generally used, there are those of the tribe who prefer and employ the native doctors and their old time remedies. (c) 1998 Courtesy of the Androscoggin Historical Society ************************************************* * * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. 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