Since the beginning of time the Nishnawbe people have been accessing the plants in the Great Lakes Woodlands region for food and as medicines. As a young boy it was my job to assist my great grandmother in gathering and preparing plants. ( My grandmother raised me and there were no girl children to help her.) It was my job to be her eyes, and do the picking. The plants saved many lives. One winter many people were sick with lung problems. Several families had lost young children. My grandmother and I went out into the back forest and laid down our offering (this was always done we had to acknowledge that we were taking a life). (Elder: John Loukes of Nishnaabi descent 2002).

Native American people have a remarkable amount of knowledge of the world in which they live. In particular, they know a great deal about plants. American Indians used plants as medicine, as foods, as dyes, and as fibers (for weaving, baskets, building materials, and so on). They found useful purposes for most kinds of plants. Most of the plants used are native to North America, but some are not. Some are plants that were introduced into North America and some perhaps in pre-Columbian times

Wild rice is found growing in ponds and swamps and along the marshy borders of streams throughout the central and eastern states. It is also found in the central provinces within Canada. The seeds were a very important food among the Ojibwe peoples. The Menomonee tribe was even named for their dependence upon this wild rice food. They called themselves Menomin, or “Wild Rice Men,” because they lived mainly on the wild rice of the lakes of their region.

Some topics in this essay:
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