Ethnobotany

With over forty years since its original printing, and over 30,000 copies sold, this bestselling guide still remains a trusted and much-consulted reference for those interested in identifying, foraging and growing wild plants for food and medicine. Now Some Useful Wild Plants is back in print for a new generation of foragers and herbalists.

Some Useful Wild Plants contains sections on useful herbs, trees, berries and seaweeds, as well as commentary on avoiding poisonous species. Pick the young tender leaves of orach, salsify and miner's lettuce for a delicious and vitamin-rich spring salad or stir-fry. Concoct a cherry bark and licorice fern syrup to soothe a sore throat. Repel insects naturally using sage oil or vanilla leaf. From alder to yarrow, each featured plant has useful descriptors for identification and details on how to harvest, as well as how the plant is traditionally used for medicine by First Nations, pioneers and contemporary herbalists. Clear line drawings are provided to assist foragers in accurate identification. Directions are included for the preparation of ointments, salves, poultices, compresses and tinctures.

Dan Jason also addresses sustainability when foraging to ensure that harvesting supports the continuous growth of the plant and the natural environment.

Reviews
Great for both foragers and growers, the book draws from many sources, including the rich traditions of First Nations healers and Doukhobor wildcrafters, to identify the properties and uses of a wide range of plant life.... For those who feel skeptical about corporate farming and modern society’s mediated relationship with nature, this guide is a breath of fresh air. — Publishers Weekly

Occasional black-and-white illustrations enhance this venerable and practical guide sustainable foraging. From edible wild plants, to natural remedies for common ailments, to poisonous plants that should be meticulously avoided, Some Useful Wild Plants is reader-friendly, practical-minded, and highly recommended. — Midwest Book Review

Additional Information
186 pages | 5.00" x 7.00" | Line drawings | Revised edition

Mary Siisip Geniusz has spent more than thirty years working with, living with, and using the Anishinaabe teachings, recipes, and botanical information she shares in Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask. Geniusz gained much of the knowledge she writes about from her years as an oshkaabewis, a traditionally trained apprentice, and as friend to the late Keewaydinoquay, an Anishinaabe medicine woman from the Leelanau Peninsula in Michigan and a scholar, teacher, and practitioner in the field of native ethnobotany. Keewaydinoquay published little in her lifetime, yet Geniusz has carried on her legacy by making this body of knowledge accessible to a broader audience.

Geniusz teaches the ways she was taught—through stories. Sharing the traditional stories she learned at Keewaydinoquay’s side as well as stories from other American Indian traditions and her own experiences, Geniusz brings the plants to life with narratives that explain their uses, meaning, and history. Stories such as “Naanabozho and the Squeaky-Voice Plant” place the plants in cultural context and illustrate the belief in plants as cognizant beings. Covering a wide range of plants, from conifers to cattails to medicinal uses of yarrow, mullein, and dandelion, she explains how we can work with those beings to create food, simple medicines, and practical botanical tools.

Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask makes this botanical information useful to native and nonnative healers and educators and places it in the context of the Anishinaabe culture that developed the knowledge and practice.

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344 pages | 7.00" x 10.00" | Paperback

The edible and medicinal wild plants of the Northwest have a long history of traditional use, with some remarkable success stories. Hundreds or perhaps thousands of years’ experience with the nourishing and healing properties of indigenous plants have been passed down through generations of Native peoples. Today, some deadly diseases such as breast and ovarian cancers are treated with extracts from native plants. Many roots, flowers, leaves and stems can be eaten raw or cooked, and some plants can even be made into beer. A surprising number of common local plants make tasty, nutritious treats or relieve health troubles. Meet 66 of them in this amazing new book!

Chapters include information on trees, shrubs, wildflowers, aquatic plants, horsetails, ferns and poisonous plants with lists of therapeutic plant uses and a medicinal glossary.

Nature heals! This compact field guide introduces readers to 26 common Canadian wild plants with extraordinary healing properties. Use arnica blossoms to heal muscle inflammation, improve digestion with chickweed and soothe a toothache with yarrow root--learning to identify and use wild medicinal plants is both fascinating and useful.

Each plant profile includes a colour photograph, identification and habitat information, as well as medicinal, cosmetic and culinary uses. Skilled herbalist Beverley Gray also includes tips on how to sustainably gather and safely use beneficial wild plants.

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2 pages | 4.50" x 8.70" | 30 photographs | Pamphlet

Explore the fascinating world of Nunavut’s varied plant life in this richly visual, informative book.

Through beautiful photographs and a broad range of information including traditional knowledge about plant use compiled through interviews with Inuit elders readers will learn about the appearances, adaptations, life cycles, and habitats of the diverse array of plants that live in the North.

Far beyond a barren land of ice and snow, this book will introduce readers to the beautiful variations of plant life that abound on the tundra.

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205 pages | 9.00" x 6.50"

Restoring the use of wild plants in daily life for vibrant physical, mental, and spiritual health

• Explains how 3 classes of wild plants--aromatics, bitters, and tonics--are uniquely adapted to work with our physiology because we coevolved with them

• Provides simple recipes to easily integrate these plants into meals as well as formulas for teas, spirits, and tinctures

• Offers practical examples of plants in each of the 3 classes, from aromatic peppermint to bitter dandelion to tonic chocolate

As people moved into cities and suburbs and embraced modern medicine and industrialized food, they lost their connection to nature, in particular to the plants with which humanity coevolved. These plants are essential components of our physiologies--tangible reminders of cross-kingdom signaling--and key not only to vibrant physical health and prevention of illness but also to soothing and awakening the troubled spirit.

Blending traditional herbal medicine with history, mythology, clinical practice, and recent findings in physiology and biochemistry, herbalist Guido Masé explores the three classes of plants necessary for the healthy functioning of our bodies and minds--aromatics, bitters, and tonics. He explains how bitter plants ignite digestion, balance blood sugar, buffer toxicity, and improve metabolism; how tonic plants normalize the functions of our cells and nourish the immune system; and how aromatic plants relax tense organs, nerves, and muscles and stimulate sluggish systems, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. He reveals how wild plants regulate our heart variability rate and adjust the way DNA is read by our cells, controlling the self-destructive tendencies that lead to chronic inflammation or cancer.

Offering examples of ancient and modern uses of wild plants in each of the 3 classes--from aromatic peppermint to bitter dandelion to tonic chocolate--Masé provides easy recipes to integrate them into meals as seasonings and as central ingredients in soups, stocks, salads, and grain dishes as well as including formulas for teas, spirits, and tinctures. Providing a framework for safe and effective use as well as new insights to enrich the practice of advanced herbalists, he shows how healing “wild plant deficiency syndrome”--that is, adding wild plants back into our diets--is vital not only to our health but also to our spiritual development.

Based on Métis artist Christi Belcourt’s painting “Medicines to Help Us,” this innovative and vibrant resource honours the centuries-old healing traditions of Métis women. With contributions from Métis Elders Rose Richardson and Olive Whitford, as well as key Michif phrases and terminology, Medicines to Help Us is the most accessible resource relating to Métis healing traditions produced to date.

Educator Information
This resource guide does not include the study prints referred to on the back cover and within the book. 

Michif Translators: Laura Burnoff and Rita Flamand

Elder Validation: Rose Richardson

Format: Book Only - English, with plant names in Michif, Nehiyawewin (Cree), and Anishinaabemowin (Ojibway)

Renowned ethnobotanist Nancy Turner brings together decades of experience working with First Nations in the Pacific Northwest. In The Earth's Blanket, she explores the wealth of ecological knowledge and the deep personal connection to the land and its history that is encoded in indigenous stories and lifeways, and asks what they can teach all of us about living in harmony with our surroundings.

Scholarly in its thinking but accessible in its writing, The Earth's Blanket combines first-person research with insightful critiques of Western concepts of environmental management and scientific ecology to propose how systems of traditional ecological knowledge can be recognized and enhanced. It is an important book, a magnum opus with the power to transform our way of thinking about the Earth and our place within it.

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176 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

American Indian Healing Arts is a magical blend of plant lore, history, and living tradition that draws on a lifetime of study with native healers by herbalist and ethnobotanist E. Barrie Kavasch.

Here are the time-honored tribal rituals performed to promote good health, heal illness, and bring mind and spirit into harmony with nature. Here also are dozens of safe, effective earth remedies--many of which are now being confirmed by modern research.

Each chapter introduces a new stage in the life cycle, from the delightful Navajo First Smile Ceremony (welcoming a new baby) to the Apache Sunrise Ceremony (celebrating puberty) to the Seminole Old People's Dance.

At the heart of the book are more than sixty easy-to-use herbal remedies--including soothing rubs for baby, a yucca face mask for troubled skin, relaxing teas, massage oils, natural insect repellents, and fragrant smudge sticks. There are also guidelines for assembling a basic American Indian medicine chest.

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336 pages | 7.30" x 9.07"

Nancy Turner describes more than 150 plants traditionally harvested and eaten by First Peoples east of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia and northern Washington. Each description includes information on where to find the plant and a discussion on traditional methods of harvesting and preparation.

Educator Information
B.C. Science Supplementary Resouce Gr.7- Life Science

Additional Information
224 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"

Herbal teas have their own characteristic virtues. Some are slightly stimulating, others are soothing and induce quiet sleep or act as tranquilizers. Many are tonics that can bring an "out-of-gear" system back to complete health. The author describes a wide range of tea-making herbs and gives instructions for their preparation and use.

New edition of the classic best-seller.

Additional Information
96 pages | 5.00" x 7.75"

In Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples, renowned ethnobotanist Nancy J. Turner describes more than 100 plants traditionally harvested and eaten by coastal aboriginal groups. Each description contains botanical details and a color photograph to help identify the plant, information on where to find it, and a discussion on traditional methods of harvesting and preparation.

This popular book remains an essential guide for anyone interested in wild edible plants or traditional cultures of First Peoples living on the coast of British Columbia and adjacent areas in Alaska and Washington.

Educator Information
B.C. Science Supplementary Resouce Gr.7- Life Science.

This interesting and informative book contains descriptions and photographs of more than 100 edible plants. There is information to help the reader identify the plants, and also how the Coastal First Peoples used it.

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