University of SaskatchewanHARVEST
  • Login
  • Submit Your Work
  • About
    • About HARVEST
    • Guidelines
    • Browse
      • All of HARVEST
      • Communities & Collections
      • By Issue Date
      • Authors
      • Titles
      • Subjects
      • This Collection
      • By Issue Date
      • Authors
      • Titles
      • Subjects
    • My Account
      • Login
      JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
      View Item 
      • HARVEST
      • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      • View Item
      • HARVEST
      • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      • View Item

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

      Thumbnail
      View/Open
      Leighton_Longaker_Anna_Louise_1982_sec.pdf (5.654Mb)
      Date
      1982-05-05
      Author
      Leighton, Anna Louise Longaker
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Masters
      Metadata
      Show full item record
      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
      Degree
      Master of Science (M.Sc.)
      Department
      Biology
      Program
      Biology
      Copyright Date
      1982
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/7871
      Collections
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      University of Saskatchewan

      University Library

      The University of Saskatchewan's main campus is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis.

      © University of Saskatchewan
      Contact Us | Disclaimer | Privacy