American Indians boiled native plants and roots into medicinal teas.
Dozens of native American plants have been used as remedies by various American Indian tribes. Native Americans used flowers, leaves, bark, roots and herbs to soothe and cure their bodily complaints. Among these are plants that were used as medicinal remedies for bronchitis, colds, asthma, fevers and diarrhea. Plants were also used to heal burns, backache and sore muscles.
Remedies for Bronchitis
Bloodroot was used to cure chronic bronchitis. According to Abigail Redmond of Wilkes University, it was known as a pain reliever and also used by American Indians to heal sore throats, rheumatism, asthma, lung ailments, laryngitis, fevers, and warts.
The leaves of the wormwood plant were boiled and made into a tea that was known to reduce the severity of bronchitis symptoms and at times cure it.
A tea made from the leaves of the creosote bush was similarly used for bronchitis. The Natchez Indians made teas from boiled pleurisy roots to expel phlegm and help those suffering from pneumonia.
Remedies for Colds and Asthma
According to the Manataka American Indian Council, rabbit tobacco is a native American plant used to treat coughs, colds, flu and asthma. Cherry bark contains prussic acid and was used to suppress coughs. The yellow, black and cherry birch contain salicylate, as well as pipsissewa and spiraea. These were all helpful in relieving cold symptoms.
The volatile oils from the pine, cedar and balsam fir reduced congestion in the nose and lungs as well as the menthol extracted from mint.
Remedies for Diarrhea
The Cherokee Messenger lists no fewer than seven native American plants that American Indians used to combat diarrhea and how they used them.
The Ottawa and Chippewa tribes boiled the entire geranium plant to make a tea to combat diarrhea. The Menominees used the inner bark of the dogwood, which they boiled, cooled and squirted into the rectum with a makeshift rectal syringe.
Three tribes, the Pawnee, Omaha, and the Dakota, boiled the root bark of black raspberry to calm diarrhea. The Mohegans used fermented, year-old ripe black wild cherry juice for dysentery. A simple tea of blackberry roots was the treatment preferred by northern California Indians.
Remedies for Burns, Backache and Fever
Yellow-spined thistle blossoms were boiled by tribesmen into a syrup and applied to burns and sores on the surface of the skin to achieve a healing effect.
Aches, especially in the back, were treated with horsemint. Fresh leaves were picked, crushed and ground before being soaked in cold water. This produced a drink which, according to the Cherokee Messenger, was thought to relieve back pain, lower fever and reduce body chills.
Boneset boiled into a tea was considered the best remedy for fever and colds. The witch hazel plant was also boiled and its extract rubbed on sore muscles to alleviate pain.
The inner root of the willow tree was often boiled by tribes into a highly concentrated drink and ingested to relieve chills. The bark was prepared in the same way to reduce fevers.
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