S e n eca R oot s a n d S a sk a toon s Traditional Plant Use

Grade Five Social Studies & Science

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS Grade Five Social Studies: Heritage: Module Two http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/elemsoc/g5tcess.html Grade Five Science: Core Unit: Plant Structure and Function http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/elemsci/gr5ucesc.html

LESSON PLAN ONE: CLASSROOM INTRODUCTION TO THE THEME LESSON OVERVIEW Students will learn about the many ways First Nations have traditionally used plants for food and medicines, in ceremonies, to construct useful objects and in artistic expression.

RESOURCES AND MATERIALS •

Fast Facts (at the end of the resource package)

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First Nations Health in Saskatchewan 1905 – 2005, a WDM-SICC research paper, available at http://www. wdm.ca/skteacherguide/

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Historical Use of Native Plants as Food by Anna Leighton (appendix one)

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Chart paper or overhead transparency

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Information on plants used by First Nations/access to the Internet

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Samples of plants (optional)

PROCEDURE 1.

Prepare to teach the lessons on First Nations use of plants by reading the following: Fast Facts at the end of the resource package, First Nations Health in Saskatchewan 1905 – 2005, a WDM-SICC research paper, available at http://www.wdm.ca/skteacherguide/, and Historical Use of Native Plants as Food by Anna Leighton from appendix one.

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First Nations women building a canoe at a First Nations camp, circa 1900. Saskatchewan Archives Board S-B9758

Seneca Roots and Saskatoons Traditional Plant Use Grade Five Social Studies & Science 2.

Explain that First Nations people have a great respect for

used plant parts in making art? Have they ever collected

the plants of Mother Earth. Traditionally, plants played a

plants from the natural environment to eat? What kinds of

pivotal role in First Nations cultures, and the people relied

items in their homes are made from plants?

on a variety of plants for food, medicine and ceremonial

3.

4.

5.

Share the information provided in the Fast Facts section

and cultural background, some classes will have more

with the class.

information to share than others. Teachers may need to

Discuss how First Nations people developed an intimate

offer some additional examples: mustard (dry, ground form

knowledge of what plant parts to gather, where they could

of seed used in making a mustard plaster to treat chest

be found, and the best season for collecting them. Ask the

congestion), aloe vera (gel extracted from leaves used to

students how they think First Nations people learned to

treat minor cuts and burns), saskatoons and chokecherries

use the plants in their environment (experimentation).

(gathered in the natural environment for consumption) and

Develop a chart on chart paper or overhead transparency

trees (wood used for firewood and to construct buildings

with the following headings: plant name, part used, function

and furniture). Samples would enhance the discussion if

and form.

available.

As a class, ask students to share their experiences with their family garden. Have their parents or grandparents used plants to treat illnesses or heal wounds? Have they

ADAPTATION AND EXTENSION As an alternative to an in-class brainstorming session, students could be assigned an interview activity to take home. Draw up a series of questions and send home for the students to answer with the assistance of their family. Have students report on the results of their interviews. Compare similarities and differences between the students’ findings. 2.

Fill in the chart as a class with the examples shared by the students. Note: Depending on the particular class

plants beyond those found on a grocery store shelf or in

1.

6.

use, for making useful objects and in artistic expression.

Invite an Elder or grandparent into the classroom to talk about their experiences using medicinal plants. For guidelines on the protocol for inviting Elders into the classroom, refer to Native Studies 10: A Curriculum Guide Grade 10 online: http://www.sasklearning.gov.sk.ca/docs/ native10/F_L_Objectives.html#IE.

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Seneca Roots and Saskatoons Traditional Plant Use Grade Five Social Studies & Science

LESSON PLAN TWO: AT THE MUSEUM LESSON OVERVIEW Students will explore the contents of a discovery box and tour exhibits in the Museum.

RESOURCES AND MATERIALS •

Materials and information sent to you in your Museum tour confirmation package

PROCEDURE 1.

Explore the importance of plants to First Nations in the past and present in the Seneca Roots and Saskatoons Traditional Plant Use discovery box.

Prepare to teach and to tour the Museum by reviewing the resources listed. Divide your class into groups before the visit. Discuss the required number of groups with the Museum Programmer when you book your visit. Select other staff members or parents to lead the groups. Advise the group leaders about what they will have to do.

2.

box. A leader’s script included in the discovery box will

Students will visit a Western Development Museum in Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Saskatoon or Yorkton. The

3.

spearhead discussion. 4.

The class will tour pertinent exhibits in the Museum using a

entire class will assemble for a welcome and orientation.

tour handout to guide their exploration. This handout may

The class will be divided into two, three or more groups

be a question-and-answer sheet or scavenger hunt. A tour

depending on the class size. Students will interact with

script for the group wil be sent with confirmation of your

artifacts, replicas and photographs located in a discovery

Museum tour booking.

LESSON PLAN THREE: WHEN A MUSEUM VISIT ISN’T POSSIBLE LESSON OVERVIEW Research projects and posters on plants used by Saskatchewan First Nations will broaden the student’s knowledge base.

RESOURCES AND MATERIALS •

Access to the school library and Internet

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Bristol board and art supplies

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Sample or image of loose tobacco (collected by the teacher)

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Seneca Roots and Saskatoons Traditional Plant Use Grade Five Social Studies & Science

PROCEDURE 1.

2.

Review the importance of plants to First Nations cultures.

3.

Individually or in groups, ask students to select a native

First Nations people have a great respect for the plants of

Saskatchewan plant used by First Nations. Students

Mother Earth. In First Nations cultures, plants are used for

will research what role(s) the plant plays in First Nations

food and medicines, in sacred ceremonies and to fashion

cultures, what the plant looks like, what parts are used and

objects like containers and jewelry.

where it can be found.

Bring out the image and/or sample of tobacco for students

4.

Students will summarize their findings on a poster which

to examine. Explain that First Nations believe in picking

should include a coloured drawing of the plant, labeled to

plants only when necessary. An offering of tobacco is left

indicate the basic parts of the plant, which parts are used

on the ground near where the plant was picked, and a

by First Nations, and why they are used.

thank you to the Creator is said.

ADAPTATION AND EXTENSION 1.

Invite an Elder to do an in-class visit or to conduct a walk outside of the classroom to identify plants used by First Nations people. Upon the Elders arrival, shake his or her hand and have the students demonstrate the same respect. Invite a student to thank the Elder for the knowledge and wisdom he or she shared with the class. For guidelines on the protocol for inviting Elders into the classroom, refer to Native Studies 10 : A Curriculum Guide Grade 10 online: http://www.sasklearning.gov.sk.ca/docs/native10/F_L_ Objectives.html#IE.

2.

Research the history and traditions associated with the use of tobacco by First Nations people. Discuss how the social use of tobacco products differs from the traditional use of tobacco by First Nations. An Elder from the Piapot First Nation demonstrating how to crush dried berries between stones to mix with fat before frying, circa 1938. Saskatchewan Archives Board R-A14864.

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Seneca Roots and Saskatoons Traditional Plant Use Grade Five Social Studies & Science

LESSON PLAN FOUR: CLASSROOM WRAP-UP LESSON OVERVIEW Students will engage in a talking circle to review and reflect on what they have learned about the importance of plants to First Nations people.

RESOURCES AND MATERIALS •

Sweetgrass braid, stone, feather or stick to be used as a talking stick

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Mint or muskeg tea, kettle, tea pot and cups

PROCEDURE 1.

Fiirst Nations woman weaving a basket, circa 1935. Saskatchewan Archives Board R-A4061

In advance of beginning the lesson, prepare a pot of mint or muskeg tea and gather something to be used as a talking stick.

2.

Explain that the class will engage in a talking circle together to reflect on what they have learned about the importance of plants to First Nations people. A cup of mint/muskeg tea will be enjoyed during the talking circle.

3.

4.

Explain the procedure for a talking circle with the students. For guidelines, refer to Native Studies 10: A Curriculum

a cup of tea. 5.

The teacher initiates the talking circle and passes the

Guide for Grade 10 online: http://www.sasklearning.gov.

talking stick. Continue the talking circle until each student

sk.ca/docs/native10/Approaches_to_Instruction.html#TCi.

has had a chance to share something they have learned.

ADAPTATION AND EXTENSION 1.

Assemble the students into a circle and pour each student

Visit Wanuskewin Heritage Park near Saskatoon or the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina to learn more about how First Nations people utilized the resources of the land to meet their needs.

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Seneca Roots and Saskatoons Traditional Plant Use Grade Five Social Studies & Science

RESOURCES •

Cameron, Lorraine. First Nations Health in Saskatchewan: 1905-2005. Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre/WDM research paper. April 2003. http://www.wdm.ca/ skteacherguide/.

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An online exhibition entitled The Healing Power of Plants, developed by the Coalition of Canadian Healthcare Museums and Archives, is available as part of the Virtual Museum of Canada. http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Healingplants/.

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Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan: http://www.npss.sk.ca/index.html.

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Paquin, Todd. Traditional Métis Medicines and Remedies. The Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture. http://www.metismuseum.ca/resource.php/00721.

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Caduto, Michael J. and Joseph Bruchac. Keepers of Life: Discovering Plants Through Native Stories and Earth Activities for Children. Saskatoon: Fifth House, 1994.

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Keane, Kahlee and Dave Howarth. The Standing People: Field Guide of Medicinal Plants for the Prairie Provinces. Saskatoon: Root Woman & Dave, 2003.

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Leighton, Anna. A Guide to 20 Plants and Their Uses by the Cree. Lac La Ronge: Education Branch, Lac La Ronge Indian Band, 1986.

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Ratt, James and Charles Roberts. Wesuhkechak the Medicine Man. Lac La Ronge: Education Branch, Lac La Ronge Indian Band, 1985.

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Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre’s Kit. Practicing the Law of Circular Interaction: First Nations Environment and Conservation Principles. Saskatoon: Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre, 1993.

FAST FACTS •

First Nations people have a great respect for the plants of Mother Earth. In First Nations cultures, plants are used for food and medicines, in sacred ceremonies and to fashion objects like containers and jewelry.

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Believing that the richness of the earth had been provided by their Creator, Aboriginal peoples assumed a role of stewardship and pursued their activities guided by principles of respect and responsibility to the land and natural resources.

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Food - Prized for their varied flavour, quantity, time of ripening, nutritional quality and availability across the province, berries have long been an essential part of Aboriginal harvesting activities. Types of berries included saskatoons, raspberries, dewberries, strawberries, goose berries, blueberries, dry ground or low bush cranberries, chokecherries, rosehips and bearberries. Wild onion and prairie turnip were also collected for consumption. Syrup was made from maple trees.

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Medicine - First Nations experimented with and used a variety of plants to treat illness and heal wounds: seneca root (removing mucous from lungs), wild mint (to treat stomach problems like indigestion, stomach ache, colic and diarrhea), juniper (from relieving asthma to relaxing muscles during childbirth), rat root (to cure toothaches, and smoked with tobacco to relieve migraines), chokecherries (the bark was boiled and drank as a cough medicine), and puffball mushrooms (the spores were applied to wounds and used in mossbags to prevent chafing). Many varieties of plants were

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Seneca Roots and Saskatoons Traditional Plant Use Grade Five Social Studies & Science

gathered for their medicinal properties. Aboriginal peoples were both knowledgeable and experienced in treating potentially dangerous ailments, from cuts to fevers to uncontrollable bleeding. Leaves, barks and roots were collected and either used fresh or cleaned and dried for future use by those who knew intimately their environment and just where and when to find the correct remedies. Cloudberries and pitcher plants, for example, only grow in bogs. Poultices, healing teas, drum songs, singing and chants: all were part of the science of traditional healing. •

Ceremony - In First Nations cultures there are four sacred medicine plants, representative of the four directions: sweetgrass (west), sage (south), cedar (north) and tobacco (east). They may be burned, either separately or together, in an abalone shell, earthenware bowl or fire during ceremonies.

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Functional Objects - Willow was woven into baskets. Plant materials such as spruce and birch branches and boughs were used as poles and shelter material. Waterproof birch bark sheets were used for canoe building; spruce roots and willow bark made flexible fasteners; tamarack wood was tough and flexible. Snowshoes were constructed from bent wood and sinew. Whatever was needed for domestic and subsistence use was made from materials harvested from the environment: sphagnum moss diapers and baby powder from rotted wood; old man’s beard moss and birch bark for tinder; the inner bark of red osier dogwood and the leaves of bearberry [kinikinik] for tobacco; rotten wood, often mixed with conifer cones, for smoke tanning hides; willow bark for netting; spruce root thread for sewing bark. Other objects made included baskets, utensils, hide stretchers, canoes, toboggans, harnesses, and children’s toys.

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Artistic Expression - Crushed berries were used as dyes. In birch bark biting, pieces of bark were transformed into works of art through a series of carefully placed bites. Wolf willow seed pods were used to create jewelry.

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First Nations people believe in picking plants only when necessary. An offering of tobacco is left on the ground near where the plant is picked, and a thank you to the Creator is said.

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Long before there were hospitals, health insurance or Medicare, First Nations people gathered plants with medicinal properties to treat their ailments.

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First Nations people developed an intimate knowledge of what parts of plants to gather, where they could be found, and the best season for collecting them.

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Many different plant parts were traditionally used by First Nations. Roots, stems, flowers, leaves, berries and bark were all gathered from different plants.

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In the days when First Nations relied on plants for medicines and food, women often carried a root bag or basket, digger and knife along with them for collecting roots and other plant parts.

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Nut Lake, northwest of Kelvington, and Nut Mountain to the southeast, both come from the Cree word pakan or “nut,” a reference to the hazelnuts harvested by First Nations people living in the area.

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Seneca Roots and Saskatoons Traditional Plant Use Grade Five Social Studies & Science

APPENDIX ONE Historical Use of Native Plants As Food By Anna Leighton This article was originally printed in the Proceedings of the 1994 Annual Meeting of the Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan. Reprinted with permission. This paper concerns native Saskatchewan prairie plants used for food by some of the Plains tribes of our area: the Blackfoot, Assiniboine, Cree, Hidatsa and Gros Ventre. A typical prairie hillside near Saskatoon in early summer has a large number of native species growing on it, which are adapted to this particular environment. This habitat is typical of the ones where the Plains Indians found edible native plants. Useful food plants are not confined to the sheltered or moist habitats in river valleys and coulees, but also occur on the open prairie. The Plains Indians had a long and intricate dependence on prairie ecosystems and had to know which plants were useful. Fortunately, much of this knowledge had been preserved in writings about traditional native life. These writings are the source of information for this paper. Without these, we would need to collect and analyse our prairie plant species for nutrient content and the presence of toxins before knowing what is edible and what is not. This kind of research is both expensive and time consuming. In addition, it does not address the questions of what are the best season for collection and the best methods of preparation of the foodstuff. One of the most important staples in the Plains Indian diet is a native plant that grows on prairie hillsides. It has a large starchy root that grows about 15 cm. under the ground. It is called Indian Breadroot or Prairie Turnip (Psoralea esculenta). Native people gathered these roots with a long, pointed stick called a digging stick. They peeled the roots and hung them to dry in long strings for use in winter. The roots are starchy and were eaten like potatoes, cut into chunks and added to soups and stews or like flour, powdered and added to soups to thicken the broth. The Indian Breadroot is one of our native prairie plants that has been analyzed for its nutritive value. Kaldy et al (1980) found that 69% of the dry weight is starch, and the roots contain a small amount of fairly high quality protein, including the amino acid lysine, which is lacking in cereals. Breadroot is very palatable and in the 1840’s, M. Lamare-Picquot, a French botanist, introduced it to France as a cultivated plant. At that time, the French potato crop was failing due to disease. The Breadroot was grown successfully for several years in France, but did not become established because the potato crop soon recovered and the need for a substitute vanished (Nute 1957). Indian Breadroot is undoubtedly the most well known Plains Indian plant food, but there are many others. They are mostly berries and roots, eaten fresh or preserved dry for later use, but also include tree sap and bark, and green vegetables eaten fresh.

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Seneca Roots and Saskatoons Traditional Plant Use Grade Five Social Studies & Science

The most important berries were Saskatoon berries (Amelanchier alnifolia) and Chokecherries (Prunus virginiana). Saskatoon berries were gathered in large quantities, sun dried whole on hides on the ground and stored in hide sacks for winter use. Chokecherries were also gathered in large quantities. They were crushed whole and formed into patties for drying. Why did the native people prepare Chokecherries in this apparently unpalatable way? In matters such as this, the Plains Indians acted from experience, not ignorance, although they were limited in the technologies available to them. If they lacked a technology to remove the pits on a large scale, they would have to eat the entire fruit, pits and all. But what about the cyanide that these pits contain? It is conceivable that crushing the berries and then drying them, either allowed the cyanide to escape or altered it so that it was safe to eat in considerable quantities. Chokecherry preparation provides a good example of the need to learn details of food preparation when using anecdotal material as a source of information on what people eat. The following list presents information on 19 other plants used for food by Plains tribes. In general, these uses are less well documented than those of the plants already mentioned; they are listed in a variety of sources as part of the diet but details on quantities used and the methods of preparation are lacking. •

Wild Onion, Allium species: the raw bulbs were added to soups and stews for flavouring.

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Western Wood Lily, Lilium philadelphicum var. andinum: bulbs were eaten raw or added to soups.

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Aspen poplar, Populus tremuloides: inner bark was eaten raw by children in the spring as a snack.

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Bur-oak, Quercus macrocarpa: acorns were roasted and dried for food.

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Yellow umbrella plant, Eriogonum flavum: roots were eaten by children as a sweet snack.

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Currants and Gooseberries, Ribes species: fruits were eaten fresh and dried.

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Strawberries (Fragaria species) and Raspberries (Rubus idaeus): fruit were eaten fresh.

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Rose hips, Rosa species: were cooked in various ways to feed very small children.

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Milk vetch, Indian Milk vetch, Astragalus aboriginum, and Canada Milkvetch, Astragalus canadensis: roots were eaten raw or were dried and added to soups in winter.

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Sweetvetch, Hedysarum americanum: roots were eaten raw.

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Manitoba Maple, Acer negundo: sap was made into syrup.

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Pin cushion cactus, Coryapantha vivipara: young fruit was eaten fresh as a snack.

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Silverberry or Wolf-willow, Elaeagnus commutata: fruit were eaten in times of famine and also used as an addition to soups.

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Thorny buffalo-berry, Shepherdia argentea: the dried fruits were added to soup and the fresh fruits were mashed to make juice.

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Cow-parsnip, Heracleum lanatum: leaf and flower stalks were peeled and eaten fresh or roasted.

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Seneca Roots and Saskatoons Traditional Plant Use Grade Five Social Studies & Science •

Yampah or Squawroot, Perideridia gairdneri: roots were eaten raw, especially as a childrens’ snack, or dried to add to soups. This is another plant that has been analyzed nutritionally. It is a good source of starch (69% of the dry weight), and protein (only 6% of dry weight but very high quality, higher than beans, because of its mixture of amino acids). It also contains useful quantities of vitamins A and C. (Kaldy et al, 1980)

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Red-osier dogwood, Cornus stolonifera: fruit were an important food item for some tribes and a famine food for others.

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Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi: fruit were dried and boiled or fried in grease.

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Green Milkweed, Asclepias viridiflora: the root, dried or fresh, was added to soups.

In summary, there are a fair number of edible plants on our prairies. A few of these grow in sufficient quantity to be reliable staple foods for Plains Indians who lived in small groups and moved about a great deal. Others were used casually as a seasonal treat, or a lunch when away from home, and as such undoubtedly provided a low but continuous intake of fresh fruits and vegetables during the growing season. The Plains Indians were also farmers. The Mandan and Hidatsa tribes of the Missouri Valley in North Dakota raised a variety of beans, corn and squash. For several years now, some of these varieties have been grown in a demonstration garden at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina. The people who grew and gathered plants on the plains were the same Plains Indians who chased buffalo on horseback. It should be remembered that the Indian on horseback is an image greatly enhanced by Hollywood and few people know about the role of plants in the lives of these people. References cited: Kaldy, M. S., A. Johnston and D.B. Wilson, 1980, Nutritive Value of Indian Bread-root, Squaw-root, and Jerusalem Artichoke, Economic Botany, 34(4), 352-357. Nute, Grace Lee, 1957, Lamare-Picquot en Amérique du Nord, Les Botanistes Francais en Amérique du Nord avant 1850, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris-VII.

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