Athabascan Word of the Week: Trees
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Plants are gathered all summer long for food, traditional tools and crafts, protection from the insects, and for medicinal purposes. The following is a brief list of traditional plant uses
denyaaghee: plant
This is a general name for anything that grows (flowers, vegetables etc.).
kk’eeyh: birch
The bark is used in baskets. This hardwood tree is used in snowshoes, sleds, paddles, and in building materials. The fungus, kk’eeyh edaanee’one (also known as punk) is burned in a smudge pot as protection against mosquitoes and gnats.
Jason Paskvan carries kk’eeyh edaanee’one that he collected in 2005 near Bishop Mountain, 15 miles downriver from Galena.
ts’ebaa: spruce
The tips of the spruce branches are used for medicinal teas. The pitch is used as a salve for wounds. The inner bark can be boiled and used in a medicinal tea.
kk’uyh and ts’etl: willows
kk’uyh is a red willow (see page 372 of the Koyukon Athabascan Dictionary). The branches can be used to tie fish together to cook over an open fire. The leaves of a willow branch can be chewed up and placed on a bee bite to help draw out the stinger and reduce the pain.
kk’es: alder
The eyes of the alder are called benoghe (its eye). This is a beautiful carving wood.
- Download episode
- More episodes
- Subscribe to Athabascan Word of the Week (iTunes)