The colors produced were very beautiful and ranged from pure white to yellow, red, light and dark brown, light pink, gray and black.
Regarding the acorns, special care was given to the harvested crop and the process was simple. The acorns were put into fine, hand-woven net bags and tied with a rawhide rope to a tree close to the river bank whereupon the bags were placed in the stream. The running water would cause the acorn shell to swell and split open, thus releasing into the water most of the tannic acid which the acorns contained. After being left in the water for a week or so, they were taken out, the hulls removed and spread out to dry. Afterwards they were ground into a fine meal, sun-dried again, and then put away for winter use.
The porridge made of it jells like custard and, when well cooked, has the color of chocolate pie. It can be cut into squares and served with deer meat or eaten as a dessert with cream and sugar. Besides being very delicious and nourishing it is also a great flesh builder.
As a warning, let it be said, never to eat any acorns picked fresh from the tree, because of the tannic acid they contain; in that state they may cause severe constriction of the bowels and the glands of the throat.
American Cat-tail is an aquatic grass inhabiting shallow, stagnant lakes and swamps and is very common on the Pacific coast of California.Tuleis perhaps the name by which the plant is best known, although the other is also very common. This valuable grass has failed to find a place among the scientists of the world, asTuleis a purely Indian name, and is far from being identical with those so far being classified by botanical science. ButTuleis medicinal and has healing properties which were made use of by the Indians to heal bleeding navels. Nothing could be better.
The blades of the grass were gathered and burned to theconsistency of charcoal, then finely powdered and sprinkled on the bleeding parts.
When this couldn’t be obtained, the Indians further inland had recourse to the apples growing on the Scrub-Oak orQuercus agrifolia, and these were, of course, dried and powdered, and medicated with balsam oil. The salve proved to be very effective in healing the afflicted parts. In short, the results were first-class and saved the lives of many little Indian babies.
Mesquite Bean. An inhabitant of the southwestern deserts, it ranges as far as the northwestern and southwestern central parts of Mexico. A native of southeastern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, theJuliflorawas perhaps one of the trees which provided the greater part of food for the natives.
Its contents were very rich in protein and even wild animals relished it greatly. To obtain the yearly supply, the Indians made a regular pilgrimage early in the season to localities where theJulifloragrew in abundance, and stood guard over the trees for many weeks until the bean pods were fully matured. Then they were harvested and ground in rock mortars to the fineness of flour, such as is used in the baking of cakes, tarts, etc.
It could also be mixed to the consistency of porridge, either with hot or cold water and taken with sun-dried venison. It formed a very nourishing diet. Sugar was never added to it.
The bean pods of theJulifloraare extremely sweet, and may be eaten right off the tree if dry enough. In any other condition they are unpalatable.
American Bracken Fern. This graceful and stately fern of great beauty of leaf design inhabits the high mountain ranges where there are well-shaded forest lands rich in mulch. This fern is well-known to every Indian for the sad historical part it played in the life of our fair and beloved sister Ramona, the daughter of Ca-we and wife of Alessandro, the immortal Indian who suffered death without a moment’s warning at the hands of a brute and coward.
The authoress ofRamona, Helen Hunt Jackson, mentions in her book what good use of this fern Alessandro made in preparing Ramona’s bed at the time of their elopement and tells of the hardships both young lovers underwent.
The young sprouting shoots of thePteris aquilinafern mean as much to the Indians as asparagus does to white people, as it contains much oil which is extremely rich in flavor when the shoots are properly cut and cooked.
There are ferns in song, ferns in poetry, ferns where wedding bells ring, ferns on the altars of churches and ferns in God’s acre. Also in gardens, but nature’s garden is where the Indian wants them!
American Spanish Bayonet. The name yucca is the true native Indian name of this exquisite plant, but even Mr. Whipple, the botanist, failed, like many others, to properly describe the beauty of the yucca.
During the months of May and June when the plant is in full bloom it is nothing strange, when venturing into the desert mountains, to find oneself in a veritable forest of countless thousands of yuccas. With its erect stalk, attaining a height of from four to twelve feet, heavily and massively crowned with creamy white blossoms, the yucca closely resemblesa gigantic hyacinth of the California desert and mountains, and its delicious fragrance outrivals many of the costliest perfumes.
The use of the yucca was of much importance, some of the stalks were cut just at the time the plant was in full bloom, the flowers are edible, the stalk rich in sugar which produces a fine quality of syrup, obtained by first roasting the stalks in underground pits.
Other stalks were allowed to mature, their pods yielding the finest material for bleaching buckskin fiber a pure white. Also used very much in the art of basketry, etc.
American Stinging Nettle. An inhabitant of the swamps and river beds. This plant was used in most cases of inflammatory rheumatism of the most peculiar kind known to mankind, particularly when the lower limbs were affected to such an extent that they became numb, cold and useless. The cure was very simple if your limbs were in a bad state, but rather unpleasant if in a sound condition.
The nettle was cut and brought to the Indian patient’s bedside, where the leaves were rubbed on all his ailing parts. This was repeated for several days until warmth in the affected parts and a proper circulation of the blood was attained. When the patient was able to get up and walk, a second treatment of a different nature was administered, the so-called Rock Steam-Bath of a herb compound made up of the following three plants:
American Moss Pink. An inhabitant of the Mojave Desert.
American Scrub Pine. An inhabitant of the northern slopes of our California Mother coast range, and in a few localities on the desert floor.
American Southern Maidenhair Fern. Inhabits the high coastal ranges, but further north it will be found on the lower coastal ranges.
Lemon Verbena. SpanishCedron. This shrubby tree has become nearly extinct and but few specimens are found now and then. The infusion made from its leaves and blossoms is very aromatic, somewhat like peppermint.
American Feverfew, SpanishArtemisa. This plant was used for the same medicinal purpose as the one mentioned above.
American Tobacco Tree. This tree, very common alongthe Pacific coast, grows from Santa Barbara southward to the end of Lower California, and the Mexican peninsula. The tree grows in terraced gorges and ravines and is rarely to be found anywhere else.
The leaves were steamed and applied externally as a poultice over the swollen parts of the throat caused by inflammation of the throat glands, and also for scrofula. While the latter malady didn’t exist among the Indians, yet they treated and cured some of the whites who had it, withNicotiana glauca.
It was also steamed into the body of those suffering from rheumatism and proved there also its value to many human beings.
I have once before spoken of other plants useful for the same purpose, but as this plant has something to recommend it for the last-named ailment, it is appropriate to mention it again in connection with scrofula and inflammation of the throat glands.
To the plant serving all these cases equally well, we must give credit where credit is due, even at the cost of repetition, in order to give the reader a fair understanding of the various diseases a plant may be good for.
Surely a wonderful provision made by nature!
American Dove Weed. The beautiful dwarf plant is very common throughout the coastal region and far into the inland valleys. It appears about July in most barley fields after the harvest. It is truly a paradise for wild turtledoves, and the hunter who goes into a place where theCroton setigerusgrows may be sure of bagging a good number of doves in a short time.
The Indians gathered the plant for use in their fishing operations, and some of it was stored away for winter use. The weed has a strongly intoxicating effect on fish.
A place was selected along the stream bed in a rather shallow spot and dammed across.
After this, a regular mat, formed ofSetigerus, was laid on the surface of the water, while a large number of Indians went upstream to herd the schools of fish downstream and into the trap. Quite a simple procedure, as the herding was done by merely beating the water ahead of them. A barricade built of brushwood behind them prevented the fish from going upstream. The water in the pond having become impregnated with theSetigerusaffected the fish so that they soon floated helplessly on the surface of the water where the Indians just picked them out by hand. When a sufficient supply had been taken, theCroton setigeruswas removed and piled up on the bank of the stream to dry and be used again. The dam and barricade were also done away with and the uncaught fish were allowed to get into fresh water to recuperate.
American Miner’s Lettuce. This plant inhabits the coastal regions where it thrives only in deep, decomposed beds of oak-tree mulch at suitable points in the shady woodlands, where the circulation of water is present under a deposit of mulch.
The juice of the plant is an excellent appetite-restorer.
American Wild Onion. It is an inhabitant of the lower mid-coast ranges, and the extract obtained from it is compounded with the powdered berries ofRhus trilobata.
American Squaw-weed. An inhabitant of Southern California’s higher ranges, it makes an excellent restorative for an inactive stomach which refuses food. The Indians also obtained the fiber from the vines of the shrub by stripping it off with the thumbnail and using it for basket making.
American Wild Field Garlic. A plant held in great esteem by the Indians, protecting them, when hunting or exploring, from poisonous snakes, lizards, scorpions, tarantulas and insects during the summer season.
It was the custom of the Indians then to discard their buckskin clothes and roam around with as little covering as possible until the fall of the year, when they donned their heavier clothing again for the approaching cold weather. Now, it is well-known how disagreeable the odor of garlic is to most human beings, but they don’t know that it is likewise so to reptiles and insects. The Indians, however, knew this, although they never ate it. They used it only as medicine when needed, but its greatest usefulness was to guard against being bitten by poisonous vermin.
The Indians ground the wild garlic into a pulp and then rubbed it well over their legs up to the thighs, making extra sure that the skin was thoroughly saturated with the garlic juice and thus protected. The Indian would enter any locality to do his hunting, even if it was infested with thousands of rattlesnakes, without the slightest fear or worry. The reason is very simple. Whenever the snake or insectcomes within smelling distance of the garlic, it is so much affected by it as to become well-nigh asphyxiated and is rendered helpless.
The white man, in order to follow fashion, wears leggings, but I am sure that he could use the formula I have given, very much to his advantage. I give this formula freely to mankind, a formula which has remained a secret for over a century and it will mean the saving of many lives if used as described above.
American Arrow-wood. It is an inhabitant of the California River border lands within the Pacific coastal belt, and is occasionally also found on the southern border of the western desert lying in the northern part of the Pacific coast.
There has been much discussion in the past, and many arguments, many flatly declaring that the arrowwood was used by the Indians for making bows and arrow stocks.
Being an Indian, that and nothing else, let me explain the matter clearly as to this particular controversy. The young shoots of theBertholletiawere selected from the parent stock, well-seasoned and then used for arrow stocks on which small arrow points were fitted for the young Indian children to practice and hunt with. It was never used for bows, however. For the making of fire through friction, it was very useful and yet, this alone would not give an adequate account of the value of arrowwood shrub. This is left to the decoction made from it, to counteract the poison in wounds inflicted by arrowheads in battle engagements, and therein lies its principal claim to the consideration shown it by the Indians.
American Ink Berry. This shrub, a common inhabitant of California’s coastal regions, has been placed by the white writer in the division of poisonous plants, and we agree with him. So the only credit given the plant is chiefly for the remarkable beauty it displays with its starlike flowers and racemes of dark-blue berries. Yet it has been condemned under the label of poison, and much is being done toward its destruction wherever found. However, it is a fruitless task, and may only become a near-success when the Indians and the birds shall be known as two signs of life vanished from the face of the earth. For these two are responsible for the preservation and propagation of the shrub.
Morphine, opium, and cocaine are by far deadlier poisons thanPhytolacca—why, then, do doctors prescribe them to soothe and ease pain, etc.? The root of the plant has some medicinal qualities to ease severe neuralgic pains, and is deemed very efficient and important in Indian medical formulas. For making dyes and inks the berries are excellent, whereas the leaves are most useful in the treatment of skin diseases, and to eradicate and clean the epidermis of pimples and blackheads.
Therefore, help to conserve and not destroy this really valuable plant.
American Water Cress. It is an inhabitant of the coastal regions, swamps and rivers. This aquatic plant is more deserving of attention than has been given it, and is fully worthy of the name it bears,Officinale, which means all thatthe word implies. The Indians, having discovered the medicinal qualities of this plant, immediately gave it a place in their medical and food division and, up to the present year of our Lord, the plant has been used in the treatment of disorders of the liver—cases such as torpid liver, cirrhosis of the liver and as a dissolvent of gallstones, etc.
When these diseases are curable, the diet is simple—with no restrictions and no red tape to plague the patient. The first meal taken in the morning must consist ofNasturtium officinale, salted very sparingly, and of this the patient should eat as much as possible and do without further food until noon, when he may eat whatever he likes. This method must be repeated every morning. Care must be taken not to use liquor if one wishes to insure quick recovery.
When the liver is ulcerated it takes at least two months to heal properly, but all other cases are of short duration.
American Pepper Grass.
American Salt Grass.
American Witch Grass. The first two are fond of rich, agricultural soils, whereas the latter prefers alkaline lands. All three have been declared noxious weeds and are listed assuch by the Department of Agriculture, although the Indians found some use for these grasses.
There were times when some of our men and women became over-fat; in fact, so fat that they had great difficulty in traveling, the exertion making them complain of heart trouble which in reality was nothing but a discomfort due to short respiration caused by excessive fatness. Accordingly, something had to be done. A search was made, and experiments with good results finally obtained. These grasses compounded with the bark of sassafras, wall-wort and others (also named for extermination, just like the three above-named plants) are excellent for reducing purposes.
The chief trouble in our schools where botany is taught seems to be that too much attention is given to theappearanceof plants, instead of to their medicinal value and other useful properties.
American Poverty-Weed. This hardy plant predominates on most of the salty marshes and lake shores. It is hardly worth destroying as it mostly grows in soils totally unfit for agriculture, or anything else, for that matter.
Let me mention, however, that there is quite a history connected with the earliest beginning of the Indian’s life in connection with this plant. No doubt it will be of interest to the readers of this book to learn that the plant played an important part in what is today assumed to be a modern institution—birth-control.
The Indians knew and practiced it from the earliest times, but only in cases when women proved themselves incapable, even when at their best, to give birth to healthy children.
In such cases they were compelled to make use of this plant as a preventative and this should explain the Indian’s wonderful stamina, his sturdiness and perfect physique. Moreover,the great chiefs prohibited the raising of deformed children, as ordinarily they considered this a great sin.
In later years the secret was let out by some Indian women, and thus it found its way among the Spanish and American settlers, when many cases of abortion were due to the use of this herb—a universal practice of modern civilization with its accompanying evils of genocide and other evils of a criminal nature.
Spurge. Its habitat is in the southern Mojave sand dunes. This beautiful shrub, like many of the other desert plants, seems to select the worst of soils to grow in, and is often to be found in crevices of mineralized dykes of crystalline rocks. The infusion made from the plant cured kidney infections.
The Tea of the Indian is found in the swamplands of the coastal regions. The infusion made from the leaves and blossoms was taken internally for pleurisy of the kidneys.
An infusion made separately from the roots was also used internally to relieve severe cases of gonorrhea and painful bloating of the stomach. This remedy is very effective and highly esteemed by the Indians as one of the royal plants for the cure of these dangerous ailments, which take the lives of so many of the white race.
American Parsley. Its habitat is the swamps and coastal regions. The infusion made from this plant was taken regularlyand in preference to water or any other beverage for chronic diseases of the kidneys.
The tea is very rich in flavor and pleasant to the taste. The patient should partake of as much as one half gallon per day and also eat an equal amount of it. The plant having been domesticated it is no trouble to get it anywhere. Even butcher shops and vegetable dealers sell it.
American Cocklebur. It grows everywhere in California, being found in every swamp and pasture land—a veritable nuisance to the cattle raiser.
From the medical standpoint, however, the plant is very valuable to the members of both sexes who are suffering from diseased kidneys complicated with gonorrhea, diseases which, when allowed to take their own course, will in due time develop into tuberculosis, rheumatism, and finally total paralysis of both the upper and lower limbs, as has happened in such cases.
The introduction of these maladies occurred with the advent of the white race into our territory and this caused the Indians to go into further botanical research to find the proper plants to combat and conquer these dreadful diseases. I introduce the world in general to two other sister plants, and also three belonging to a different group.
American Star Thistle.
American Spiny Cocklebur.
American Creeping Rock Mallow. SpanishYerba Mora Real.
American Mahogany Shrub. Its habitat is in the California hills and mountains, and it is quite common. The bark and roots were made into an infusion and taken by the Indians for venereal diseases or gonorrhea gleet.
American Pimpernel. Its habitat is on the northern slopes of the highest mountain peaks of California, at an elevation of from eight to ten thousand feet above sea level. This wonder plant is made into a tea and taken in acute cases of gonorrhea, where the bladder and urinal tract fail to function.
The plants listed here are common in our California mountains:
These berries should be eaten sparingly, as the acidity contained in them is much stronger than that of citric acid. Their chief use is to quench the thirst, where water is scarce in the mountains, either when hunting or hiking, or engaged in fighting forest fires. For this purpose the berries above will be found excellent and a veritable boon. Everyone traveling in desert or mountains should make himself familiar with the plants and fruits growing therein, as this knowledge not only permits him to guard against possible discomfort or hardship, but has also been the means of saving life. The Indians knew that better than anyone else.
No doubt, the following literary effort in the English language by Chief Pablo will set the risibilities of my readers to working. Als, the Chief, never had the benefit of a school education, and English wasn’t easy for him to acquire. However, he was game, and in 1908, when he was appointed Chief of the Indian Reservation, he bravely set to work and wrote this article.
He was sixty-four years old then. Nothing would do but he must have a typewriter. Right manfully he tackled it, but when he had finished he heaved a tremendous sigh and declared he’d rather go on the warpath than pound a typewriter again.
But he surely deserves great credit and his record as Chief of the Indian Police was a brilliant one.
The canyon has been known as Homuba among the Indians for many years. And on that canyon there are three mineral springs. They are located near Loma Linda. It is southeast from Loma Linda, way up in the canyon, a distance of three miles.
Professor J. Console, an Indian friend, is the owner of the mineral springs nowadays. In the early days the Indians called the springsPhal-poole,Phal-quapekalet,Hickescah-heppasca, which means Witch Springs, Life Springs, Sisters and Brother Springs.
Those three springs were discovered in this way. There were Indian settlements all over that country, near the springs and around the springs. One day three Indian children, two sisters and one brother, went up the canyon and disappeared in those springs. The father and mother and other relatives of the missing children followed the tracks of the children until they came to the springs. After having tried everything to find them, the father and mother and the relatives in their sorrow went to the witch-doctors to see if they could help them find the children. Then one witch-doctor said:
“Come with me and I will show you where your children are and how they disappeared in those springs. You may not see them but you will hear them, and you will have to be satisfied.”
So the children’s family went there and the witch-doctor stopped at the center spring and said:
“Listen to the Great Father who is above us, the Creator of the world. He has taken your boy and put him in thisspring, so that this spring will bring health to you and to others.”
Then the witch-doctor walked up to the spring and spoke:
“Brother, your father and mother and all the relatives are here, and they would like to hear from you.”
Then a voice arose from the spring and said:
“I am here with my two sisters. We were placed here by our Lord, the Creator of the world. He has given me the power to bring new life to those who are sick. You may come and visit me and my sisters whenever you wish. My elder sister is in the spring on the east side of me, and my younger sister in the spring on the west side of me. But we are all three in this one place, and if you will live together and honor the great Lord, when you are sick if you will use these life springs, we will help you get back your health. These springs shall be known as the ‘Two Sisters and Brother Life Springs.’”
And all the people listened. Therefore the Indians went up there and held a great ceremony, and from then on they used the springs for medical purposes.
Then the Catholic missionaries came to this country and established the missions. They took the Indian children by force and made them Catholics. And these Christians also went up to the springs and used them for many years.
Later on the United States Government came to this country and took these lands and gave the Indians reservations for their use. And the Indians had to leave the springs, which originally belonged to them.
When the mission was first built at San Gabriel the priest asked an Indian:
“Why do you Indians take your children, when they are sick, to those springs, instead of taking them to a doctor?”
And the Indian answered:
“Father, the springs at Homuba Canyon can cure any sickness. That is why we take our children there when they are sick, and they are healed. Our ancestors used those springs and became healed.”
Then the priest went up to the springs to examine the water, and he took some of the water and made the Indian carry it to the chapel, and he blessed the water, and heldMass with it, and used it to cure the sick. And, finally, the priest moved the mission from San Gabriel to San Bernardino. Old San Bernardino is now known as Redlands. The mission was established there. It is about three miles from the springs. And from there the priest used to send the Indians to bring the waters to the mission, using it as medicine. And he cured many sick Indians.
Now there were two Indian villages nearby, and they fought over the possession of those springs. They went on the warpath over the Two Sisters and Brother Life Springs. So the mission went away and settled elsewhere, and the priest also went away.
Then our white neighbors came, as I said, and drove the Indians from our sacred springs. That is why the Indians are dying out in Southern California, because we must live on worthless lands far away from those springs.
Our white neighbors may think we Indians have no religion, but that is not so. We do believe in God who is the Creator of the world, and of the firmament, of Indians as well as white people.... Therefore we are brothers in God, as we are created by God.
I often hear white people say they are Americans in America, and we are Indians. I say we are the native sons of America. We are good to our country and to our white neighbors, and do not trouble them. When the missions first came to this country the Indians were numerous and the country well inhabited by the Indians. Then the Indians did not know that the country was going to be filled with intoxicating liquor. If they had known that, they would never have allowed the missionaries to establish any missions in this country. For a great number of Indians died of intoxicating liquor.
However, the United States Government made a law prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquor to the American Indians. But by that time it was too late. The American Indians are nearly all gone. But maybe a few will be saved.
It was in 1908 that special officers suppressed the liquor traffic among the mission Indians in Southern California. The chief of these special officers came to me and asked:
“Why is it that you are always fighting the whites?”
“Because they are all liars, thieves, and whisky peddlers,” I answered.
He looked at me and said:
“Am I a liar and a whisky peddler?”
“No,” I answered. “You do not look like one. I think you are on the square.”
So he said to me:
“I want you to work with me on the same job.”
“What job do you mean?” said I.
“To suppress the liquor traffic among the mission Indians,” he said.
So I was deputized as Special Officer since then, and I became Chief of Police in the Indian Service for nine Indian reservations under the United States Government, to protect the Indians, to make transactions for the Indians, and to help them become sober, improve their morals, and become civilized. In 1847 if the United States Government had sent us a man like Mr. C. T. Coggeshall, who is the superintendent of the nine Indian reservations, the Indians would never have lost the Two Sisters and Brother Life Springs. Mr. Coggeshall is a man with large experience and he has done a lot of good for the Indians under his jurisdiction.
However, I am glad that Mr. John Console owns the springs, because he is a friend of the Indians. He helps the Indians with those springs. The springs cure light sickness, but for serious sickness we have to use herbs.
Chief William Als Pablo
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