Indigenous Wisdom and the Appalachian Forests
By Victoria Persinger Ferguson, Enrolled Citizen of the Monacan Indian Nation and Director of the Solitude/Fraction House at Virginia Tech, Shannon E. Bell, Professor of Sociology at Virginia Tech, and Nathan Wachacha David Bush, Enrolled Citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Program Coordinator for the Oconaluftee Indian Village.
For millennia, Indigenous peoples depended on the Appalachian forests for survival. Using their Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Eastern Woodland tribes established food and medicine forest gardens throughout the Appalachian Mountains and maintained relationships with many hundreds of plant species for food, medicine, and spiritual practices. Their knowledge of the natural environment was cultivated over thousands of years and was passed down orally from one generation to the next.
The Forest Botanicals Region Living Monument stands on the traditional homelands of the Cherokee People. Other portions of the Appalachian Mountains in what is today known as Southwest Virginia are part of the traditional homelands of Eastern Siouan-Speaking peoples, or Yesą́h.
Descendants of Central and Southern Appalachia’s First Peoples, including present-day citizens of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Monacan Indian Nation, and others, carry forward the traditions of their ancestors through their stewardship and use of a variety of forest botanical species. Within many Indigenous worldviews, plants are considered to be relatives worthy of the care and respect one would give to their human relatives. Most forest herbs are very slow-growing and must be harvested sustainably to ensure their survival. Only harvesting a small portion of the plants growing in an area, never digging the roots of plants until the seeds have matured, planting seeds, dividing and replanting a portion of the roots that are harvested, and, when possible, harvesting leaves instead of roots are all examples of Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge practices that help to maintain the health of wild populations of forest plants.
Ramps (Allium tricoccum)
Cherokee: wasdi
One of the first edible greens to emerge in the spring. Eaten raw or cooked as a spring tonic and used as a treatment for colds and croup. Warm juice used as a treatment for earache.
Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum)
Cherokee: uganasdi
An important food and medicine among the Cherokee. The cooked leaves and stems are eaten as a cleansing green. The root is used medicinally for stomach problems and menstrual cramps, to stop bleeding wounds, to speed the healing of bruises, and as a wash for acne.
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Cherokee: kanvsita
The inner bark of flowering dogwood was an important fever reducer during the devastating smallpox epidemic of the late 1730s, when nearly half of the Cherokee population died from this disease. It is also used to treat measles, chicken pox, mouth sores, dental conditions, headaches, and skin infections.
Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)
Historically used to induce and promote uterine contractions during childbirth and to ease the pain of labor.
Caution: Only use under the care of a medical provider; consuming blue cohosh during pregnancy has been linked to birth defects.