An erudite new book, Echinacea: Herbal Medicine with a Wild History (Springer, 2016), edited by Kelly Kindscher, takes an in-depth look at one of the most popular medicinal plant species native to the U.S and Canada. The nine Echinacea species were most widely used—both historically and currently—by Native Americans of the Great Plains for medicinal purposes.

“Echinacea angustifolia, also known as Echinacea or the purple coneflower, has been the most widely used medicinal plant of the Plains Indians in North America.

“It has a large number of common names and Indian names, and has been used by at least 15 tribes in the region for a variety of ailments, including coughs, colds, inflammation, rabies, snakebite, sore throats, toothache, worms, and as a painkiller. In addition it was used to treat animals, especially horses.”

WHAT IS ECHINACEA USED FOR?

COUGHS • COLDS • INFLAMMATION • RABIES • SNAKEBITE • SORE THROATS • TOOTHACHE • WORMS• PAINKILLER

COMMON NAMES FOR ECHINACEA

• PURPLE CONEFLOWER • SNAKEROOT • KANSAS SNAKEROOT • BLACK SAMPSON • NARROW-LEAVED PURPLE CONEFLOWER • SCURVY ROOT • INDIAN HEAD • COMB FLOWER • BLACK SUSANS • HEDGE HOG

INDIAN NAMES FOR ECHINACEA

POTAWATOMI: ashosikwimia’kuk—smells like muskrat

LAKOTA: ica’hpehu—something used to knock something down

OMAHA AND PONCA: inshtogahte-hi—where inshta means “eye,” referring to an eye wash

KIOWA-APACHE: ize. iso. he. —medicine makes you numb

PAWNEE: ksapitahako—“hand, to whirl,” reference to child play

ARIKARA: sapita-tahok—compounded from sapita, “hand,” and tahok, “to whirl,” named from a children’s game

HOW KIOWA AND CHEYENNE TREATED COLDS AND SORE THROATS:

Chew a piece of Echinacea root and let the saliva run down the throat.

CHEYENNE DRANK ECHINACEA TEA FOR:

• Rheumatism • Arthritis • Mumps • Measles

Crows describe Echinacea as having the “greatest medicinal value of all plants.”

HAVE A MISSING TOOTH OR GUM DISCOMFORT?

Traditionally, Natives carved a boiled piece of E. pallida root into an appropriate shape and inserted it, or boiled it and wrapped it in a cloth and applied to the gum.