Ethnobotany of the Nihithawak, Saskatchewan Woods Cree of the "TH" Dialect

Abstract

The names, uses and species of wild plants known to Saskatchewan Woods Cree today were investigated by means of informal interviews, observation of use practices and plant collection for the purposes of identification. A total of 177 species were researched; of these 121 species (representing 37 vascular and 11 non-vascular plant families) were named and 99 used. Several species used have not previously been identified in plant studies of other northern Algonkian speaking groups; the most unusual of these are Alisma plantago-aguatica, Myriosclerotinia caricis-ampullaceae and Inonotus obliguus. The principal uses were healing agents (78 species), food and beverages (37 species) and materials for craft and construction (10 species). Wild plant materials were also used in hide tanning, fire starting, and trapping, and as diapers, tobacco, masticatories, love medicine and toys. Information on a small number of species used as indicators of recurring natural events (phenological indicators), mentioned in Wisakechak stories or propagated in the study area was also recorded. The plant species used in healing differ considerably between this group and other boreal forest Cree Indian groups studied, suggesting that herbal remedies may be more regional and recent than some of the other uses. The dietary significance of wild plant foods as vitamin sources and an easily exploited seasonal food is discussed in relation to the observation that the energy expended in plant collection and the energy contained in the food plants were both small. Plants were classified according to form (or other attribute of the plant) and function. The use of both criteria for some species has led to an unusual arrangement of taxa and plant name synonymy in which one name describes the function and the other describes plant attributes used in identification