Montana Plants & Native Americans Essay -- essays research papers

Montnana Plants & Native Americans Since the beginning of the human race mankind has depended on the natural resources in their environment for survival. They utilise 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 bases utilized thousands of years ago by the natural people have been integrated into modern day medicines. The scientific interest and knowledge of plants for nourishment, healing, and practical examples is called ethnobotany. The multiple use of plants used for nourishment, medicinal purposes and practical use were ignored by Lewis and Clark during their monumental trek across the United States. Rather than consider the Native Indians use of native plants they persisted on victimization Dr. Rushs Thunderbolt pills that probably caused more problems than the condition that inflicted them. Many modern day cultures continue to ignore native remedies and have come to depend on synthetic pharmaceutical drug production. In recent years the wealth of indigenous knowledge has been acknowledged revealing the use of native plants and the splendor it had in the survival of indigenous people.. Pharmaceutical companies have utilized the immense knowledge of the indigenous people and their use of natural plants. The application of natural plant species have revealed the main reasons mankind has survived into present day. Following is a few of the plants, their application and their specific purposes. Kinnikinnick Arctroaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng.Common Name BearberryThis plant has a descriptor of names through out tonne. This plant grows in poor soil composing mostly of sand or gravel and is commonly found burn down Ponderosa Pine trees. Kinnikinnick and Bearberry be the most commonly used names in western society. The word kinnikinnick meaning that which is mixed, is derived from the Algonkian Indians language. Other versions came from western hu nters who called it larb, Canadian traders called it sacacommis or sagack-homi, and the Europeans called it bearberry.The American Indians mixed Kinninninnick leaves with tobacco to lessen the strength and add flavor to their strong tasting tobacco. Flathead Indian, John Pelkoe, explained ... ...ong, and shorter stalks are 20-100mm long. The flower length from the axils are one to three centimeters long. The optimum flowering time is from May through August. The fruit are pod shaped with seedlings turn into two to three spirals with a strong net vein three to four millimeters long (montanaplant-life.org).Where noted information was derived from, http//www.montanaplant-life.org Retrieved 3-19-2004.All other information was derived fromHart, J. Montana Native Plants and Early Peoples. Helena. Montana Historical Society Press. 1992.