Ojibwe Ethnobotany

Ethnobotany is the study of the cultural significance of plants and their uses within the local culture. By the early 1700s the Ojibwe people had moved into the area that is now Voyageurs National Park and were using plants for food, medicine, ceremonies, and raw materials.

Like all cultural practices, the use of plants varies with location and time period and is also influenced by those participating in the practices as well as by those recording the information. These sources support the informaiton found here.

• Berens, Rose, former director Bois Forte Heritage Center and Cultural Museum 2013, written communications with Voyageurs National Park.
• Densmore, Frances. 1974. How Indians use wild Plants for Food, Medicine, and Crafts. 44th Annual report of the U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology as Uses of Plants by the  Chippewa Indians,1928. Reprint, New York: Dover.
• Smith, Huron H. 1932. Ethobotany of the Ojibwe Indians, Bulletin of the Public Museum of the the City of Milwaukee, vol. 4, no. 3. Milwaukee: Aetna Press, Inc.