Cherokee Indians

Amaranthm spinosusi The Lodha of Wbst Bengal, India were recently reported to smoke the powdered, dried root of this plant for halludnation Furthermore, eating paste of roots can cause temporary insanity (Ihl Jain 1989). This plant was used in North American Cherokee Indian ethnogynecology, and also as a mysterious ceremonial medicine (Hamel Chiltoskey 1975 Moerman 1986). 

Traditional Medicine. Tea made from the leaves was used by the Catawba Indians to relieve colic and stomach disorders and to treat dysentery the Cherokee Indians ingested the leaves to treat rheumatism, flatulent colic, fever in children, coughs, lung diseases, cough, jaundice, and painful urination Mic-mac used the root as an emmenagogue and stomachic Rappahannock Indians used tea made from the plant for female problems. ... 

Traditional Medicine. Bark used by a number of American Indian tribes for colds and coughs by the Cherokee Indian to treat laryngitis and as a wash for sores and ague by the Delaware to treat diarrhea and women s diseases by the Iroquois in a poultice for headaches (moerman). Also reportedly used against cancers. Used by Canadian Indians (Delaware, Iroquois, Malecite, and Ojibwa) in treatments of diabetes and its complications. ... 

Traditional Medicine. Decoction of leaves used by the Cherokee Indians in a compound formula to treat coughs leaves used by the Mohegans to treat colds and rheumatism leaf infusion used to treat whopping cough (moerman) infusion of a gargle in pharyngitis also as sedative, tonic, and astringent. 

Traditional Medicine. Cinchona is used in treating malaria, fevers, indigestion, and for mouth and throat problems, usually in the form of an infusion has been used in China to treat hangovers also reportedly used in cancers." An infusion of yellow cinchona was used by the Cherokee Indians as a tonic and treatment for impotence (moerman). 

But beyond such daunting complexities lies the history of our ultimate conquest of many diseases. Where these plants were found, who first used them, and how they reached us constitute the story of our emergence from what one pharmacologist called the frailties of our existence (Taylor, 1965). Furthermore, it is impossible to identify an individual culture throughout the world that first used herbal plants to treat specific diseases. In a book entitled The Cherokee Herbal, Indians are cited as using the following herbal plants to treat common maladies ... 

Indians by donating them blankets and handkerchiefs, infected with smallpox. This caused an epidemic, which decimated the Delaware tribe, spread to the Shawnee, the Mingo and to the Cherokees in Tennessee, weakening the anti British alliance. ... 

Virgil J. Vogel has compiled and written American Indian Medicine. Kelly Kindscher has in turn authored Medicinal Wild Plants of the Prairie An Ethnobo-tanical Guide, as well as Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie An Ethnobotanical Guide. Other books include those by Alma R. Hutchens, Indian Herbalogy of North America and A Handbook of Native American Herbs, Daniel E. Moerman s two-volume Medicinal Plants of Native America, and The Swimmer Manuscript of Cherokee Sacred Formulas and Medicinal Prescriptions by James Vogel, issued by the Smithsonian Institution back in 1932. Further back, there was a rare effort by Dr. O. Phelps Brown titled The Complete Herbalist, which was published in 1875. 

Many Indian groups were quite civilized, such as my ancestors, the Cherokee. Even before the coming of the Whites, they were farmers and lived in log homes. They were intelligent and most had evolved to the level of citizen. Individualists with a healthy streak of barbarism, they sided with the British during the Rebellion and fought on both sides during the Civil War, the southern faction including many slave owners. 

The smallpox virus brought to the Americas by European setders had a devastating effect on the Native American population, who had not developed any immunity to the disease. The mortality rate among Europeans was around 30 percent compared with about 50 percent for the Cherokee and the Iroquois, 66 percent for the Omaha and the Blackfeet, 90 percent for the Mandan, and 100 percent for the Taino Indians. 

Unaker. An old American Indian (Cherokee) terra for clay from which sand and mica had been removed by washing. 

Traditional Medicine. Root, leaves, and seeds (fruits) of both species have been used in treating cancers decoctions or tea of the root have been used in treating rheumatism, catarrh, gout, and stomach ailments. The root is used as a diuretic, diaphoretic, and mild laxative, among other uses. Decoctions and teas of roots and leaves have been used both externally and internally for skin problems (e.g., eczema and scaly skin) (foster and duke lust tyler 1). The Micmac Indians used the roots and buds to treat sores, and a tea made from the seeds or roots was used by the Cherokee as a blood cleanser (moerman). 

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