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Montana Plants & Native Americans Essay

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Montnana Plants & Native Americans
Since the beginning of the human race mankind has depended on the natural resources in their environment for survival. They utilized the available flora to nourish their body, heal their wounds, comfort their ailments and to create products to ease their daily lives. Many of the same plants utilized thousands of years ago by the indigenous people have been integrated into modern day medicines. The scientific interest and knowledge of plants for nourishment, healing, and practical uses is called ethnobotany.
The multiple use of plants used for nourishment, medicinal purposes and practical use were ignored by Lewis and Clark during their …show more content…

You can them mix it with any kind of tobacco. It gives it good flavor and makes it mild.” The berries of the Kinninnick plant stay on the bush throughout winter and were eaten raw or fried. Kootenia Indians would fry them in a grease until they popped like popcorn .The Flathead Indians dried the leaves and pound it into powder and used it in foods.
The leaves of the kinnikinnick has medicinal properties. Harvesting time is best on a fall morning. The leaves hydroquinones and are a strong antibacterial for urinary tract infections.
Tea made from kinnikinnick was used for kidney, bladder, and chronic cystitis or urethritis. The tea leaves were used as a salve for rashes, skin sores, and a mouthwash for cankers sores. It also was used as an eyewash, and in poultice form an application to treat burns, back pain and rheumatism.
The Kinnikinnick plant is an evergreen shrub that has trailing multi branched woody stems. The bark is scaly and are reddish. The leaves are round at the tip which taper at the base and are one-half inches long. The flowers are a waxy pink and grow in clusters near the previous years branches. The late summer fruit ripen into red berries that are smooth, shiny, and pea sized.

All information on the Kinnikinnick plant were derived from:
Hart, J. Montana Native Plants and Early Peoples. Helena, Montana. Montana Historical Society Press,1992.

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