Author Archive: Shoshone Food

(“Silver” Buffalo Berry)

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Names

Shoshone:

English: “Silver” Buffalo Berry

Scientific: Shepherdia argentea

Zone

Lower Foothills

Harvest Time

  • After 1st freeze (September)

Primary Uses

  • None Listed

Secondary Uses

  • None Listed

Cautions

None listed

Active Principle(s)

  • None listed

Video Description of Plant

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Notes

Food Notes

Berries are edible and citrus-like. 

Medicinal Use Notes

None listed

(Stoneseed)

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Names

Shoshone:

English: Stoneseed

Scientific: Lithospermum sp

Zone

Lower Foothills

Harvest Time

  • Found amongst sagebrush

Primary Uses

  • Medicine
    • Contraceptive

Secondary Uses

  • Other
    • Jewelry

Cautions

  • An overdose can cause permanent sterility in men and women.

Active Principle(s)

  • None Listed

Video Description of Plant

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Notes

Medicinal Use Notes

  • Stoneseed disallows implantation of a fertilized egg.
  • Crow name means “abortion plant”

(Amaranth)

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Names

Shoshone:

English: Amaranth

Scientific: Amaranthus retroflexus

Zone

Lower Foothills

Harvest Time

  • Grown in mouths of canyons
  • Disturbed soils

Primary Uses

  • Food
    • Salads
    • Popped
    • Bread

Secondary Uses

  • None Listed

Cautions

  • None Listed

Active Principle(s)

  • None Listed

Video Description of Plant

Click play on the video to learn more about this plant.

Notes

Food Notes

Leaves and stems are used in stews, and leaves make very nutritious tea. Before flowering, stems can be used as a soup thickener. 

Medicinal Use Notes

Greens: Used in salads

Seeds: Can be popped like popcorn or added to bread- high in protein 

(Showy Milkweed)

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Names

Shoshone:

English: Showy Milkweed

Scientific: Asclepius speciosa

Zone

Lower Foothills

Harvest Time

  • Early Spring

Primary Uses

  • Medicine
    • Heart injuries
    • Dissolve warts, moles, and skin tags

Secondary Uses

  • Medicine
    • Vitamin C
    • Skin

Cautions

  • White sap is poisonous to eat without boiling

Active Principle(s)

  • None Listed

Video Description of Plant

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Notes

Medicinal Use Notes:

Sap: contains latex which can be used medicinally to recover from heart injuries. Also contains wahbane which is toxic and slows the heart. Latex can be used as poison on arrows, to pre-digest meat; or to dissolve warts, moles, and skin tags.

guh^nk (Prairie Onion)

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Names

Shoshone:
guh^nk (Meaning)

English: Prairie onion

Scientific: Allium textile

Zone

Desert

Harvest Time

  • After heavy rain
  • May

Primary Uses

  • Food
    • Flavor

Secondary Uses

  • Medicinal
    • Fungicide

Cautions

  • None noted

Active Principle(s)

  • None noted

Video Description of Plant

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Notes

Good carbohydrate source. Skin source of corsatin. Tops of plants harvested for stews or flavor/garnish.

(Lemonbush)

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Names

Shoshone:
Unknown

English: Lemonbush

Scientific: Rhus trilobata

Zone

Lower Foothills

Harvest Time

  • Harvest berries in August

Primary Uses

  • Food (berries)
    • Used fresh or dried
    • Used to make flavorful lemonade drink or in cold tea
    • Pounded into pemmican
  • Medicine
    • Berries are high in vitamin C
    • Root bark can be used topically for bleeding and as an infusion for burns
    • Roots can be made into tea to treat diarrhea
    • Rootbark tea can be used to treat pneumonia, sore throat, ulcers, and urinary tract infections
    • Crushed leaves and berries can be used in topical application for rashes

Secondary Uses

  • Medicinal
    • Good for heart health
  • Other
    • Boiled roots used for black dye
    • Leaves sometimes mixed with tobacco

Cautions

  • None listed

Active Principle(s)

  • Vitamin C
  • Bioflavinoids

Video Description of Plant

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Notes

Good for the cardiovascular system. To make pemmican, berries are dried and pounded, then pounded into meat as a pemmican preservative.

This bush is also known as squawbush, but the preferred name is Lemonbush.

(Fireweed)

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Names

Shoshone:

English: Fireweed

Scientific: Epilobium angustifolium

Zone

Upper Foothills

Harvest Time

  • Summer (July-September)

Primary Uses

  • Food
    • Stews
    • Stew thickener
    • Tea
  • Medicine
    • Antibacterial
    • Anti-Cancer
    • Fungicide
    • Hemorrhoids
    • Skin Conditions

Secondary Uses

  • Medicine
    • Muscle tone

Cautions

None currently listed.

Active Principle(s)

  • Quercitin
  • Enothic Acid

Video Description of Plant

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Notes

Food Notes

Leaves and stems are used in stews, and leaves make very nutritious tea. Before flowering, stems can be used as a soup thickener.

Medicinal Use Notes

Leaves: Fungal infections. Drink as tea for internal yeast infections, or use topically for toenail or diabetes fungal infections.

Roots: Treats skin injuries, skin cancers. Can be used as suppository for hemorrhoids.

doy.yah.oh.hah.gahn (Arrowleaf Balsamroot)

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Names

Shoshone: doy.yah.oh.hah.gahn (Yellow on the Mountain)

English: Arrowleaf Balsamroot

Scientific: Balsamorhiza sagittata

Zone

Upper Foothills

Harvest Time

  • Roots – April, May
  • Flowers – September
  • Seeds – Fall

Primary Uses

  • Root to treat lung infection or congestion
  • Seeds pounded into mush
  • Stems are eaten as trail food

Secondary Uses

  • Topical anti-inflammatory

Cautions

Does not store well for winter use

Can be preserved in honey or alcohol

Active Principle(s)

  • Resins and glycosides

Video Description of Plant

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Notes

General Uses

  • Seeds are protein source
  • Roots:
    • Medicine steamed for lungs tea for infection and improve circulation

Medicinal Uses

  • Allergy: Steamed dried root inhaled
  • Antibacterial: Decoction of dried root drank and steam inhaled
  • Anti-inflammatory: Decoction of dried root drank and steam inhaled
  • Antiviral: Decoction of dried root drank and steam inhaled
  • Chest: Steam of boiled root inhaled
  • Congestion: Steam of boiled root inhaled
  • Cough: Tea and steam inhaled
  • Healing: Root steam inhaled for lungs
  • Immune: Root tea
  • Infection: Inhale steam for lung infections
  • Lungs: Root tea (steam): decongestant antimicrobial
  • Lymph: Root tea daily improves circulation of blood and lymph
  • Neuropathy: Root tea is drunk to improve circulation
  • Pneumonia: Inhale steam, bronchodilation; disinfectant
  • Rash: Root is anti-inflammatory for rash and injuries
  • Skin: Root for burns, blisters, bruises, injuries
  • Stomach: Root tea for stomach pain
  • Swelling: Root for wound dressing
  • Throat: Root tea 3x/day for cough, pharyngitis
  • Urinary Tract Infection: Root tea for UTIs
  • Wounds: Root infusion as dressing

Process Prep

  • Roots are cooked in trenches overnight; Peeled stems are trail food, “fast food of the mountains; seeds are pounded and cooked into a meal”
  • Medicine Root. Steam 3-5x/day. Tea 3x/day