Medicinal plants of the American West

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Medicinal plants of the American West are often underrepresented in modern health care. They have long been used by Native Americans of the region.

Contents

[edit] Use and availability

European and Asian plants are commonly used for healing, and are available in herbalist shops. In general this is not true of plants from the American West. They can usually be grown in gardens; collecting plants in nature may be illegal without a proper permit.

Native Americans of the West routinely use these plants in health care. Among Indians, spiritual health and physical health are inseparable. In fact, an unhealthy spirit leads to an unhealthy body. Most Indian healers start by healing the spirit, then the body. Prayer, singing, talking and comforting are an essential part of healing.

[edit] Recreational use

Many traditionally used plants are ritualistic or shamanistic in nature, prompting interest as recreational or hallucinogenic uses of western plants, such as peyote, Lophophora williamsii, California Jimson weed and others.

Jimson weed, Datura wrightii and Datura stramonium, as well as most other Datura species, can cause respiratory depression and death.

These plants have been used for centuries by Native Americans to induce sacred dreams, as a spiritual experience. Some of these plants were also used in rites of passage.

[edit] Particular plants

The following plants are routinely used by American Indians, and generally considered safe.

  • Black sage, Salvia mellifera, can be used against pain. A strong sun tea of the leaves and stems of the plant can be rubbed on the painful area or used to soak one's feet. The plant contains diterpenoids, such as aethiopinone and ursolic acid, that are pain relievers.
  • California bay, Umbellularia californica, leaves can be added to a hot bath to help soak away pain. The leaves have a very aromatic smell that is soothing. The aroma of the plant is from monoterpenoids, such as thujene and umbellulone.
  • California sagebrush, Artemisia californica, can bring back pleasant memories. The smell of the leaves and stems is pleasant and relaxing. The plant has many fragrant monoterpenoids that are soothing to smell.
  • Douglas' sagewort, Artemisia douglasiana, is used to induce dreaming. Leaves and stems under a pillow at night can help sleep as well as induce dreams. The plant contains many fragrant monoterpenoids that may help with dreaming.
  • White sage, Salvia apiana can be grown in a garden and used every day to purify the spirit. One leaf is placed in a water bottle, and used normally. Sucking on a leaf can soothe sore throats since the leaves contain eucalyptol as in eucalyptus cough drops.
  • Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, is chewed as a pain releiver for toothache.
  • Yerba santa, Eriodictyon crassifolium and other Eriodictyon species, was used in American and British hospitals and clinics for respiratory infections, influenza, tuberculosis and asthma until 1960. In that year, a law was passed requiring that all medicines had to have proven efficacy. No company was willing to fund clinical trials of yerba santa due to potential problems with patenting a plant preparation. Despite nearly one hundred years of clinical use, yerba santa was abandonned. Yerba santa is used by crushing 3 leaves in a cup of hot water and slowly drinking the tea.

[edit] Books

There are several books about western medicinal plants:

  • Daniel E Moerman (2000). Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, Portland. ISBN 0-88192-453-9. A comprehensive collection of many plants with descriptions of their uses.
  • Sandra S. Stike (1994). “Aboriginal uses of California's Indigenous Plants”, Ethnobotany of the California Indians. Volume 2. Koeltz Scientific Books USA, Champaign. ISBN 1-878762-51-6. Very thorough discussion of California medicinal plants.
  • George R. Mead (1972). The Ethnobotany of the California Indians: A Compendium of the Plants, Their Users, and Their Uses. University of Northern Colorado Press, Greeley. A partial list of plants used in the west.
  • S. Foster and C. Hobbs (2002). The Peterson Field Guide Series A Field Guide to Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs. Houghton Mifflin Co, New York. ISBN 0-395-83807-X. A field guide with photographs of each plant and descriptions of their uses.
  • C. Garcia and J.D. Adams (2005). Healing with Medicinal Plants of the West - Cultural and Scientific Basis for their Use. Abedus Press, La Crescenta. ISBN 0-9763091-0-6. Gives the Chumash Indian and scientific basis for use of many plants, along with color photographs of each plant. Cecilia Garcia is a Chumash healer.
  • Lowel J. Bean and K.S. Saubel (1972). Temalpakh Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Malki Museum Press, Morongo Indian Reservation. A discussion of Cahuilla Indian plants and their uses. Saubel is a Cahuilla Indian.
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