Indigenous Peoples’ Prospective Project

A collaboration between Adkins Arboretum and the Washington College Food Initiative (WCFI), the Indigenous Peoples’ Perspective Project explores the importance of more than 20 native plants to the food, craftwork, and medicinal traditions of indigenous peoples of the Chesapeake region. The project seeks to encourage a paradigm shift from land as capital to land as sacred teacher, healer, and sustainer.

The Arboretum is located in the traditional homeland of the Choptank People, Algonquin-speaking Woodland Indians who lived along the Choptank River basin. Before European settlers arrived in the early 1600s, there were approximately 20,000 Choptank living on the Eastern Shore. Less than 150 years later, these native people were driven to near-extinction by illness, fighting, and forced migration.

Through the Indigenous Peoples’ Perspective Project, the Arboretum and the WCFI strive to honor the wisdom of native peoples and their unique relationship with nature by sharing their ecological perspectives, history, and traditions. Ultimately, the project seeks to inspire a collective responsibility to shape our future by caring for the land that supports us.

Explore the project through the resources below. We welcome your thoughts on the project. Please share them via the form found here.

Adkins Arboretum is located in the traditional homeland of the Choptank People.

Resources

Story Map: This virtual field trip is designed for students and adults alike. The Indigenous Perspectives Story Map explores connections between our native Chesapeake landscapes and the Paleo, Archaic, and Woodland Indian periods. Click here to access the Story Map.

Self-Guided Activities: Click to download a PDF for each habitat. Meadow, Forest, Wetland

Videos:

Nature as Food

Nature as Craft

Nature as Medicine

Important Native Plants

American Persimmon

Scientific Name: Diospyros virginiana

Common Name: American persimmon, common persimmon, American date plum

Plant Family: Ebenaceae (Ebony family)

Etymology: Diospyros comes from the Greek words dios (divine) and pyros (wheat or grain), and together they translate to “divine fruit” or “fruit of the gods.”  The word persimmon comes from putchamin, pasiminan, or pessamin, from Powhatan, an Algonquian language, meaning “a dry fruit.”

Indigenous Uses: The fruits of Diospyros virginiana were used by the Cherokee, Comanche, Rappahannock, and Seminole for food and beverages. The fruits were dried like prunes for storage.

Traditional medicinal uses ranged from treating sore throats and mouths, to indigestion, thrush, and bloody bowels. Persimmon served as an astringent for venereal disease and a wash for piles. The bark was chewed for heartburn. A bark infusion of persimmon, alder, white walnut, and wild cherry was used for toothache. Cold water poured over the bark supported bile production and served as a tea for liver health.

Dense wood good for making billet or batons for flaking coarser grains or flints such as greenstone and quartzite.

Edible Parts: The persimmon fruit, which usually ripens in fall, is often used in jams and baked goods. The fruit pulp can be turned into molasses, and the seeds can be turned into a peanut-like oil or roasted and used as a coffee substitute. Dried leaves make a great tea high in vitamin C.

Scientific Name: Asimina triloba

Common Name: paw paw, papaw, pawpaw, paw-paw

Plant Family: Annonaceae (custard apple family)

Etymology: The plant received this name from a Portuguese explorer who found Native Americans eating the fruit. Since the fruit resembled what he recognized as a papaya, they began to call it paw paw. “Min” in the genus derives from the Algonquin word for “fruit.”

Parts Used: bark, fruit, leaves, stem

Season: year-round

Indigenous Uses: The fruits of Asimina triloba were used for food. As a craft product, the inner bark was used for rope, string, and lacing. Splints were used for basketry and matting. The wood was used for firestarting for hand drills and fireboards as well as bow and drill. The leaves and stems were used for medicine.

Edible Parts: Wildlife and humans alike enjoy the sweet paw paw fruit. The fruit can be eaten raw, and it is also often used in puddings, custards, pies, and ice creams. The fruit ripens when it reaches a brown color, and the soft pulp inside can be scooped out and eaten, avoiding the large seeds inside.

Caution: Some people experience skin irritation handling paw paws, or digestive irritation and nausea, so be mindful of this the first time you encounter one. Long frozen storage and dehydration of paw paw fruit can concentrate the toxic effects. When freezing the pulp in freezer bags, be certain to remove all air pockets to prevent oxidation, which makes the fruit bitter.

Scientific Name: Quercus spp.

Common Name: Oak

Plant Family: Fagaceae (Beech family)

Etymology: Quercus is Latin for “oak.”

Parts Used: bark, wood, nuts

Season: summer, fall

Indigenous Uses: Beyond the use of oak acorns for food, the tree offered many medicinal uses. It served as an astringent, tonic, antiseptic, emetic, and supported healing from long intermittent fevers, indigestion, milky urine, and chronic dysentery. Individuals bathed in bark tea for chills and fevers, drank it for relief of asthma, or applied the tea to sore, chapped skin. A decoction of the inner bark was used for lost voice. As a craft product, oak was used in splits for baskets, lumber, firewood, furniture, woven chair bottoms, and as a corn beater or mortar (kanona); oak leaves were used to wrap dough for breadmaking. White oak (Quercus alba) is uniquely good for among oaks for bowmaking.

Edible Parts: Gather acorns as soon as they begin falling, before insects and squirrels begin consuming and stashing them. Discard any acorns with pinholes, indicating weevil grubs, and those lightly colored or with strongly attached caps. Place acorns in a bowl of water and discard any that float. Remove the shells with a nutcracker or a hammer over a towel to prevent the nutmeat from flying away. Smash or grind into acorn meal. Soak shelled acorns for a few days in a large glass bowl or jar, changing the water each time it turns brown from leached tannins. When the water remains clear and the acorns do not have a bitter taste, they are ready to cook and eat. Dry the acorn meal for use in baking, or use in soups and porridges. Store leached acorns in the freezer. Oak bark can be used in beer, for flavoring, in preserves, spice blends, sauerkraut, and vinegar.

Scientific Name: Carya spp. (C. ovata, C. tomentosa, C. laciniosa, C. pallida)

Common Name: shagbark hickory, mockernut hickory, pale hickory, white hickory, white-heart hickory

Plant Family: Juglandaceae (Walnut family)

Etymology: The word hickory derives from the Virginia Algonquian word pawcohiccora, hickory-nut meat or a milky beverage or condiment made from it. Carya is from the Greek karya (nut tree) from karyon (nut).

Parts Used: leaves, nuts, bark, wood, sap

Season: spring, summer, fall

Indigenous Uses: The nuts of hickory trees were used by native peoples for food and beverages. Hickory trees have various medicinal uses as a diaphoretic; digestive; emetic in large doses; for cold; female obstructions; steeped bark drunk to make limbs supple; bark chewed for sore mouth; inner bark astringent and detergent; dressings for cuts, and ruptured or cut blood vessels. Hickory served many craft uses ranging from blowgun darts, arrow shafts, handles for tools, firewood, barrel hoops, corn beaters, and inner bark for chair bottoms and finishing baskets. Its tough inner bark and root bark was used for lacing and cordage. It makes an excellent wood for bowmaking.

Edible Parts: Collect fallen nuts and discard any with small round holes, a sign of weevil grubs. Pry off the husks within a few days of collecting. Enjoy raw hickory nuts, toast in a dry skillet, and use like walnuts or pecans in recipes. For long-term storage, freeze in their shells to prevent their delicate oils from turning rancid. The bark can be boiled with sugar to make a flavorful syrup.

Hickory wood chips and shavings can be used in grilling and smoking blends.

Scientific Name: Betula nigra

Common Name: river birch, black birch, water birch

Plant Family: Betulaceae (Birch family)

Etymology: Betula comes from the Gaulish “betu-” meaning bitumen, or asphalt. This refers to how the Gauls used extracted tar from birches.

Parts Used: bark, wood, gum, sap

Season: spring, summer

Indigenous Uses: Medicinal uses of birch included a bark decoction for milky urine and to help with stomach pain; the chewed leaves or tea served as an antidiarrheal, cold remedy, urinary aid, and gastrointestinal aid. As a craft product, the wood lends itself to being carved into bowls and other tools. The peeled bark has been used for constructing baskets, buckets, storage bins, and canoes. Antifungal properties of the bark help to prevent pests from infiltrating storage bins.

Edible Parts: Harvest Betula nigra sap in early spring before the leaves unfurl, about a month after maple trees. The boiled-down sap is thicker than maple syrup and tastes more like molasses, though it’s not as sweet as the sap of sweet birch (B. lenta). The sap can be used as a sweetener, can be fermented, can be used in drinks, or can be concentrated into a syrup. The inner bark, leaves, and twigs can be made into a warming tea. In addition, the bark is a source of wild yeast that can be used to make a yeast starter solution. Collect bark in the spring when the sap is still running to prevent the inner cambium from coming off with the bark, which damages the tree. Make a vertical cut, only as deep as the cambium, and make shallow horizontal cuts at the top and bottom to peel away from the trunk.

Scientific Name: Sassafras albidum

Common Name: sassafras, white sassafras, red sassafras, silky sassafras

Plant Family: Lauraceae (Laurel family)

Etymology: Sassafras is believed to be from the Spanish word for saxifrage, possibly an adaptation of a lost indigenous word that sounded similar. The specific epithet Albidum is from the Latin albus for “white.”

Parts Used: leaves, bark, roots

Season: year-round

Indigenous Uses
Sassafras had many medicinal uses as a tea to purify blood and heal ailments including skin diseases, rheumatism, venereal disease, and ague. The roots and berries made a tea to treat nausea, fevers, fatigue, gas pains, menstrual pains, and syphilis. It was used as a poultice for wounds and sores, a wash for sore eyes, and an antihelminthic. The steeped root bark treated diarrhea, flux, colds, and overfatness. The roots were used to make poultices for wounds and skin infections. Used externally, a decoction made from the root was an antiseptic. With the root bark scraped off for tea, the large flattened woody core of the root would be burned and scraped to make utensils. Other craft uses included scenting soap and making furniture. The flowers were mixed with beans for planting.

Edible Parts: Gather the leaves anytime they are green from the saplings of root suckers or by snapping off the ends of green twigs from smaller branches. Dry the leaves and use as a filé powder to thicken and flavor gumbo and soups, adding at the end of cooking. Store in airtight containers and use within six months. To harvest the roots and bark, look for 1- to 3-foot-tall saplings growing near mature sassafras trees. Dig them up. Simmer chopped roots and bark in water for tea, or sweeten and add seltzer or club soda for homemade root beer. Use bark and roots to make syrups, infused honey, and kombucha.

Scientific Name: Oenothera biennis

Common Name: evening primrose, evening star, sundrop, weedy evening primrose, German rampion, hog weed, King’s cure-all, fever-plant

Plant Family: Onagraceae (Willowherb family)

Etymology: Oenothera means a soporific plant. Biennis refers to its biennial life cycle.

Parts Used: flowers, leaves, roots, seeds

Season: year–round

Indigenous Uses: The Cherokee, Iroquois, Ojibwas, and Potawatomi were among several Native American tribes that used evening primrose for both food and for medicinal purposes. They ate the cooked greens when young, and made a tea for overfatness and hot root poultice for piles. The bark and leaves are astringent and sedative and are used for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, whooping cough, and asthma.

Edible Parts: Raw roots can be minced and marinated in salad vinaigrette for twenty minutes before use in salad. When eaten raw, the roots are similar to radish. When cooked, the taste is similar to a turnip. The cooked roots can provide a thickening element in soups and stews. The rosette leaves are mustardy and can be added to stir-fry recipes. The flowers are good raw and mixed with milder greens in salads, or lightly cooked. Seeds can be briefly toasted over low heat and used as a replacement for poppy seeds. Use seeds in energy bar recipes.

If harvested from fall through winter, the roots and rosette leaves should be collected. From midspring through the early summer, the leaves, stems, and flowers are ideal for harvesting.

Caution: Do not consume to excess. While smaller amounts of evening primrose are effective at alleviating digestive symptoms, large quantities eaten by itself can lead to gastric distress.

Contemporary Medicinal Uses: Evening primrose is best when consumed as food, whether the fresh root of young plants, leaves, flowers, or seeds. It treats migraine, tonifies the female reproductive system, and gently stimulates the liver. It is slightly laxative, with a large amount of mucilage that can support treatment of indigestion.

Scientific Name: Apios americana

Common Name: Groundnut, American groundnut, potato bean, hopniss, Indian potato, hodoimo, America-hodoimo, cinnamon vine, wild beans

Plant Family: Fabaceae (Legume family)

Etymology: Apios is Greek for pear, referring to their shape, and americana means American.

Parts Used: fruit, roots, seeds

Season: year-round

Indigenous Uses: Groundnut tubers and seeds were used widely as a food. Some tribes with access to birch or maple syrup baked groundnuts to produce a dish reminiscent of candied yams. Some tribes used the tuber medicinally for skin conditions.

Edible Parts: Strings of tubers chained together by rhizomes can be collected year-round. Remove the rhizomes, wash off the dirt, and peel the tubers. Cook by boiling, baking, roasting, or frying, and enjoy in a similar manner to potatoes. Groundnuts are a good source of amino acids that build collagen to promote skin and digestive health, support healthy joints and cardiovascular health, reduce inflammation, and lower blood pressure. Tubers can be dried and stored for later use or made into a flour for soups, stews, breads, and cakes. Fresh tubers store for at least a month in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator, and cooked and dried tubers or flour made from them lasts indefinitely. The fruit pods are full of pea-like seeds that can be collected and cooked like beans.

Caution: Always cook tubers, as they are toxic when eaten raw. A small percentage of people have adverse digestive reactions to groundnut. When first eating, try a small amount to gauge sensitivity.

 

Scientific Name: Asclepias syriaca L.

Common Name: Common milkweed, butterfly flower, silkweed, silky swallow-wort, and Virginia silkweed

Plant Family: Apocynaceae (Milkweed family)

Etymology: Asclepias refers to Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine, given the plant’s long history of medicinal use. The specific epithet, syriaca, means “of Syria” based on the mistaken belief this North American native was from Syria.

Parts Used: whole plant

Season: spring, summer, fall

Indigenous Uses: Asclepias syriaca was used widely for a variety of purposes. As a food, people ate the boiled young sprouts like asparagus, cooked the unopened floral bud clusters and firm green fruits, as well as the tender leaves and upper stalks. The flowers and buds often thickened soups. Dried buds were stored for winter use. The latex was boiled and mixed with animal fat for a chewing gum. As a craft product, the fibers were used as cordage for bowstrings and fine sewing threads. Fibers from inside the large pods were used as a stuffing for pillows and sleeping pads. The milky juice was used as a glue. As a medicine, the plant supported treatment of venereal diseases, kidney and urinary dysfunction, rheumatism, and backaches. It was also used as a laxative, galactagogue, and contraceptive. Topically it was used to remove warts and treat bee stings, cuts, and ringworm.

Edible Parts: Gather the tender young shoots by snapping off an inch above the ground. Boil for 20 minutes before serving with butter or adding to frittatas. Pinch off the whole green flower heads and boil, stir-fry, steam, or cook into soups. Remove the young firm pods when under 1½ inches long and cook like okra. Pull out the seed fibers when the pods are beginning to lose firmness but are still green. Boil, strain, and add to dishes for a cheese-like texture and mild flavor. Preserve the shoots, flowerheads, and young pods by blanching and freezing.

Caution: Some people have a food sensitivity to milkweed. Try a small amount to ensure it agrees with you.

Project Partners

Daniel “Firehawk” Abbott, a member of the Eastern Shore’s Nanticoke People, provided invaluable input as a consultant on this project. Special thanks goes to Jeff and Susan Coomer for their research assistance. Self-guided activities were written by Jenny Houghton. Shane Brill researched and wrote the plant profiles and produced the video content.

The Indigenous Peoples’ Perspective Project was made possible by a grant from Maryland Humanities, with funding received from the Maryland Historical Trust in the Maryland Department of Planning. Maryland Humanities’ Grant Programs is also supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and private funders. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Maryland Humanities, Maryland Historical Trust, Maryland Department of Planning or National Endowment for the Humanities.