New book in the works!
 

I just received the contract from Paladin Press to begin work on "Traditional Native American Herbalogy: A Practical Guide to 200+ Medicinal Plants of North America and Their Uses." :woohoonaner:

I have literally resurrected old formulas and knowledge going back hundreds of years, to collect and process medicinal plants with the traditional Indian methods. Each entry will have a photograph of the plant, Latin and common names, parts harvested, how to prepare, uses and remedies etc.

A lot of the language, spellings and measurements are archaic, so I'll have to convert drams and scruples to something more modern. All in all, this promises to be one of their biggest sellers, as it bridges the gap between their typical guns, knives and martial arts books, and the general public.

Re: New book in the works!
 

I am half Cherokee, and my grandmother had a lot of knowledge of edible, medicinal plants, I wish I would have learned more from her. Never could get used to the balls of hickory nuts (Kanuchi) she made soup out of though, blech lol.

Re: New book in the works!
 

This will probably help you catch up on a lot of what you missed. I am looking for someone from either the Eastern Band here in NC or the Western Band to do a small foreword for the book. Do you know anyone out there that might be an Elder or shaman that might be interested in saying a few words?

Re: New book in the works!
 

Everybody that I knew that had knowledge of the old things has passed away. A lot of the traditions are being lost. You might want to look at the Cherokee Nation website for info in Tahlequah Oklahoma. Cherokee Nation > Home There might be some useful links there somewhere.

Re: New book in the works!
 

Congrats! Maybe you could seek help at the Odanak reserve, Qc. They used to run freely down in the US, before it was... And they seem to be very knowledgeable of their past.

Here's a link; Musée des Abénakis | Le Musée

Re: New book in the works!
 

Awesome. Please keep us posted. I am very interested in such things and will definitely buy it.

Re: New book in the works!
 

Wow, big job ahead! If you want to get into weirdland with no direct link to Native American herbs that I know of, you might enjoy a look at hunters and gatherers and what they did to get their stunningly nice teeth. Here is a start: Straighter teeth If you run into teas that were given to young women or preggers you might be able to find the fluoride content. Regular "black tea" from the orient is fairly high, about .5 mg F per cup (Dosage and sources but I don't give a source, I can dig that up for you if you want it).

Re: New book in the works!
 

i would buy a copy

i bought a book on edible and medicinal plants of ontario...

have you seen this?
The Sacred Science

i have ordered seed from here:
Native Seeds/SEARCH - History and Mission

Re: New book in the works!
 

I am not, but here in Appalachia, a lot of folk medicine is derived from the Indian herbalogy. I've just gone further back and dug up the roots of the medicines the settlers learned from the native tribes.

Re: New book in the works!
 

Awesome..

Re: New book in the works!
 

I'm already 25% complete. Only 150 more entries to go! :woohoonaner:

The Weirdland stuff is interesting, but it doesn't have a medicinal benefit per se, so I wouldn't be able to include it in the book. Might be interesting to look at for Sheets and giggles though.

Re: New book in the works!
 

Interesting articles, Ray. :2738:

Re: New book in the works!
 

From memory at least one of the hunter and gatherer groups that Price documented was American - Inuit. I don't have the book with me but here is a search that pulled it up:

https://www.google.com/search?q=west...D7Hm1mIv0TM%3A

But as you said, these were foods, not medicines, at least as far as I remember. I don't recall anything in the book about doing it intentionally to get straight teeth or preventing decay.

Re: New book in the works!
 

This from Patent News (Greg Aharonian's newsletter) 7-8-15:

Amazon Tribe Creates Encyclopedia of Their Traditional Medicine. Interesting development in biodiversity. An Amazon tribe, the Matses people of Brazil and Peru, have created a 500-page encyclopedia of knowledge of their traditional medicine, compiled by five shaman with the assistance of a conservation group. Interestingly, the encyclopedia is only available in the language of the Matses, since they don't want their knowledge stolen by corporations or researchers. Here is part of the story of their distrust:

Unfortunately, history abounds with examples of theft from indigenous peoples. For the Matsés in particular, it is all too real. The skin secretions of the giant monkey frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor) are used in hunting rituals by the Matsés. The secretions, rich in a diversity of bioactive peptides, are administered directly into the body through application onto fresh burn or cut-wounds. Within moments, the toxins induce intense cardiovascular and autonomic responses, ultimately leading to a state of altered consciousness and heightened sensory acuity.

Although the range of the giant monkey frog extends across northern Amazonia, only the Matsés and a small number of neighboring Panoan tribes have been recorded to use its powerful secretions. After reports of the Matsés use of it emerged from the forest, investigations of the frog's secretions in the laboratory revealed a complex cocktail of peptides with potent vasoactive, narcotic, and antimicrobial properties. Several pharmaceutical companies and universities filed patents on the peptides without recognition of indigenous peoples for which it has long held a unique and important role in their culture. One antifungal peptide from the frog was even transgenically inserted into a potato.

They have taken some interest steps to protect the knowledge:

Acaté and the Matsés developed an innovative methodology to protect their ancestral medicinal plant knowledge from extinction while safeguarding the sensitive information from theft by outside parties. The Encyclopedia is written only in Matsés. It is by and for the Matsés and no translations will be made into Spanish or English. No scientific names are included nor photographs of flowers or other easily identifiable characteristics of the plants to outsiders.

The full story is available at: Amazon tribe creates 500-page traditional medicine encyclopedia.

Re: New book in the works!
 

Interesting, Ray. Thanks for posting.