Description

Book Synopsis
Provides valuable details of Hidatsa daily life during the nineteenth century, from courtship rituals that took place while gathering Juneberries, to descriptions of how the women kept young boys from stealing wild plums as they prepared them for use, to recipes for preparing and cooking local plants - including the roots, fruits, seeds, and sap.

Trade Review
"[Uses of Plants by the Hidatsas of the Northern Plains is] indispensable to anyone interested in Native American life on the plains; valuable for ethnobiology and Native American studies."—E. N. Anderson, CHOICE
"Use of Plants by the Hidatsa is an easy, enjoyable read and a unique, valuable source of information on how people used plants."—Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology

“Every aspect of life is part of this classic ethnology, from acquisition of food to spirituality to the raising of the four sacred wooden pillars of a new Earth Lodge. . . . Editor Michael Scullin does a wonderful job of weaving the many living parts of Buffalobird-woman’s story. . . . The book’s precision—many specific uses for many plants—is a pleasure to read. One gets a sense of a people who rose to the challenge of using what nature provided them to wrest a living from a demanding environment.”—Bruce Johansen, Jacob J. Isaacson Professor of Communication and Native American Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and author of The Native Peoples of North America: A History



Table of Contents
List of IllustrationsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroductionEditor’s Note
Abbreviations: BBW=Buffalobird-woman; PW=Poor Wolf; GB=Goodbird; SW=Sioux Woman; GLW=Gilbert Wilson; WC=Wolf Chief; MS=Michael Scullin
1. Plants That Are EatenDomesticated plants (MS)Sunflowers (BBW)Corn-smut (BBW)Prairie turnips (BBW)Jerusalem artichokes (BBW)Hogpeanut (BBW, WC, GB)Chokecherries (BBW)Making stone hammers (BBW)Buffaloberries (BBW)Gooseberries (BBW)Black currants (BBW)Wild grapes (BBW)
2. Plants That Can Be EatenHawthorns (BBW)Wild white onions (BBW)Ball cactus (BBW, WC)
3. Plants That Are SweetJuneberries (BBW)White juneberries (BBW)Wild plums (BBW)Strawberries (BBW)Roses (BBW)Red raspberries (BBW, SW, GB)Biscuitroot (BBW)Nannyberries (BBW)Purple prairie clover (BBW)
4. Plants That Are Good to ChewSticky gum (BBW)Pine pitch (BBW)
5. Plants That Smell GoodPurple meadow-rue (BBW)Blue giant hyssop (BBW)Sweetgrass (BBW)Wild bergamot (BBW)Pine needles (BBW)Perfumes used in beds (BBW)Beaver musk (BBW)
6. Plants That Have Medicinal UsesBig medicine (BBW)White and red baneberry (BBW)Gumweed (WC)Purple coneflower (WC)“Medicine in the woods” (BBW)Poison ivy (BBW)Unknown grass (BBW, GB)Peppermint (BBW)
7. Plants Used for FiberDogbane (WC)Upright sedge (BBW)Grasswork ornaments on leggings (Isokikuas)
8. Plants Used for SmokingTobacco 9a (BBW)Tobacco 9b (WC)Red-osier dogwood (BBW)Bearberry (BBW)Bearberry or kinnikinnick (WC)
9. Plants Used for Dye and ColoringYellow owl’s-clover (BBW)Water smartweed (BBW)Dye plants—unidentified (BBW)
10. Plants Used for ToysUmakixeke, or game of throwing sticks (BBW, GB)Popguns (BBW)A toy horseReed whistle (GB)
11. Plants Used for Utilitarian PurposesCordgrass (BBW)Buckbrush (BBW)Cattails (BBW)Box elder (BBW)Buffalograss (BBW)Big bluestem (WC)Common rush (BBW)Scouringrush horsetail (WC)Puffball (BBW)Snakewood (BBW, WC)Goldenrod (BBW)Prairie grasses as fodder (WC)
12. Plants Used for Rituals or with Ritual SignificanceThe three kinds of sage (WC)Pasture sage 1 (BBW, GB)Pasture sage 2 (BBW, WC)Common sagewort (BBW, WC, GB)Black sage (BBW, WC)Fringed sage (PW)Juniper (Cedar) (BBW, WC, GB)Creeping juniper (BBW, GB)Prairie sandreed (WC)Bittersweet (WC)
13. Sources of WoodWood as a resource (MS)Cottonwood (WC)Ash (BBW)Peachleaf willow (BBW)Sandbar willow (BBW, WC, GB)Heart-leaved willow (BBW)Quaking aspen (BBW)American elm (BBW)Water birch (BBW)Box elder (BBW)
14. Uses of WoodGathering firewood (WC)Digging-sticks (BBW, WC)Mortar and pestle (BBW)Making a bullboat frame (BBW)Making a wooden bowl (WC)Rakes (and the bison scapula hoe) (BBW, WC)Paddle for working clay pots (cottonwood bark) (GLW)
15. ArrowsSignificance and utility (MS)Making arrows (WC)Types of arrows (WC)Bows (WC)Arrows for boys (BBW, GB)Mock battle with grass arrows (WC)
16. EarthlodgesBuilding an earthlodge (BBW)On earthlodges (The observations of Hairy Coat and Not A Woman)Winter lodges and twin lodges (BBW)The peaked or tipi-shaped hunting lodge (BBW)The use of sod as an earthlodge coveringDismantling an old earthlodge (BBW)Like-a-Fishhook Village and environs (WC)
17. Miscellaneous MaterialBasket making (BBW)Native drinks of the Hidatsas (BBW)How our meals were served (GB)Nettles (BBW)Forest fire (GLW)
ConclusionAppendix: Frederick N. Wilson’s Comments on “The Hidatsa Earthlodge”Bibliography

Uses of Plants by the Hidatsas of the Northern

    Product form

    £52.70

    Includes FREE delivery

    RRP £62.00 – you save £9.30 (15%)

    Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Mon 29 Jun 2026.

    A Hardback by Gilbert L. Wilson, Michael Scullin

    1 in stock

      Trusted by thousands of customers. See 2,385+ Customer Reviews

      View other formats and editions of Uses of Plants by the Hidatsas of the Northern by Gilbert L. Wilson

      Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
      Publication Date: 01/07/2014
      ISBN13: 9780803246744, 978-0803246744
      ISBN10: 0803246749
      Also in:
      Social and cultural history Trees, wildflowers and plants: general interest Indigenous peoples / Indigeneity

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Provides valuable details of Hidatsa daily life during the nineteenth century, from courtship rituals that took place while gathering Juneberries, to descriptions of how the women kept young boys from stealing wild plums as they prepared them for use, to recipes for preparing and cooking local plants - including the roots, fruits, seeds, and sap.

      Trade Review
      "[Uses of Plants by the Hidatsas of the Northern Plains is] indispensable to anyone interested in Native American life on the plains; valuable for ethnobiology and Native American studies."—E. N. Anderson, CHOICE
      "Use of Plants by the Hidatsa is an easy, enjoyable read and a unique, valuable source of information on how people used plants."—Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology

      “Every aspect of life is part of this classic ethnology, from acquisition of food to spirituality to the raising of the four sacred wooden pillars of a new Earth Lodge. . . . Editor Michael Scullin does a wonderful job of weaving the many living parts of Buffalobird-woman’s story. . . . The book’s precision—many specific uses for many plants—is a pleasure to read. One gets a sense of a people who rose to the challenge of using what nature provided them to wrest a living from a demanding environment.”—Bruce Johansen, Jacob J. Isaacson Professor of Communication and Native American Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and author of The Native Peoples of North America: A History



      Table of Contents
      List of IllustrationsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroductionEditor’s Note
      Abbreviations: BBW=Buffalobird-woman; PW=Poor Wolf; GB=Goodbird; SW=Sioux Woman; GLW=Gilbert Wilson; WC=Wolf Chief; MS=Michael Scullin
      1. Plants That Are EatenDomesticated plants (MS)Sunflowers (BBW)Corn-smut (BBW)Prairie turnips (BBW)Jerusalem artichokes (BBW)Hogpeanut (BBW, WC, GB)Chokecherries (BBW)Making stone hammers (BBW)Buffaloberries (BBW)Gooseberries (BBW)Black currants (BBW)Wild grapes (BBW)
      2. Plants That Can Be EatenHawthorns (BBW)Wild white onions (BBW)Ball cactus (BBW, WC)
      3. Plants That Are SweetJuneberries (BBW)White juneberries (BBW)Wild plums (BBW)Strawberries (BBW)Roses (BBW)Red raspberries (BBW, SW, GB)Biscuitroot (BBW)Nannyberries (BBW)Purple prairie clover (BBW)
      4. Plants That Are Good to ChewSticky gum (BBW)Pine pitch (BBW)
      5. Plants That Smell GoodPurple meadow-rue (BBW)Blue giant hyssop (BBW)Sweetgrass (BBW)Wild bergamot (BBW)Pine needles (BBW)Perfumes used in beds (BBW)Beaver musk (BBW)
      6. Plants That Have Medicinal UsesBig medicine (BBW)White and red baneberry (BBW)Gumweed (WC)Purple coneflower (WC)“Medicine in the woods” (BBW)Poison ivy (BBW)Unknown grass (BBW, GB)Peppermint (BBW)
      7. Plants Used for FiberDogbane (WC)Upright sedge (BBW)Grasswork ornaments on leggings (Isokikuas)
      8. Plants Used for SmokingTobacco 9a (BBW)Tobacco 9b (WC)Red-osier dogwood (BBW)Bearberry (BBW)Bearberry or kinnikinnick (WC)
      9. Plants Used for Dye and ColoringYellow owl’s-clover (BBW)Water smartweed (BBW)Dye plants—unidentified (BBW)
      10. Plants Used for ToysUmakixeke, or game of throwing sticks (BBW, GB)Popguns (BBW)A toy horseReed whistle (GB)
      11. Plants Used for Utilitarian PurposesCordgrass (BBW)Buckbrush (BBW)Cattails (BBW)Box elder (BBW)Buffalograss (BBW)Big bluestem (WC)Common rush (BBW)Scouringrush horsetail (WC)Puffball (BBW)Snakewood (BBW, WC)Goldenrod (BBW)Prairie grasses as fodder (WC)
      12. Plants Used for Rituals or with Ritual SignificanceThe three kinds of sage (WC)Pasture sage 1 (BBW, GB)Pasture sage 2 (BBW, WC)Common sagewort (BBW, WC, GB)Black sage (BBW, WC)Fringed sage (PW)Juniper (Cedar) (BBW, WC, GB)Creeping juniper (BBW, GB)Prairie sandreed (WC)Bittersweet (WC)
      13. Sources of WoodWood as a resource (MS)Cottonwood (WC)Ash (BBW)Peachleaf willow (BBW)Sandbar willow (BBW, WC, GB)Heart-leaved willow (BBW)Quaking aspen (BBW)American elm (BBW)Water birch (BBW)Box elder (BBW)
      14. Uses of WoodGathering firewood (WC)Digging-sticks (BBW, WC)Mortar and pestle (BBW)Making a bullboat frame (BBW)Making a wooden bowl (WC)Rakes (and the bison scapula hoe) (BBW, WC)Paddle for working clay pots (cottonwood bark) (GLW)
      15. ArrowsSignificance and utility (MS)Making arrows (WC)Types of arrows (WC)Bows (WC)Arrows for boys (BBW, GB)Mock battle with grass arrows (WC)
      16. EarthlodgesBuilding an earthlodge (BBW)On earthlodges (The observations of Hairy Coat and Not A Woman)Winter lodges and twin lodges (BBW)The peaked or tipi-shaped hunting lodge (BBW)The use of sod as an earthlodge coveringDismantling an old earthlodge (BBW)Like-a-Fishhook Village and environs (WC)
      17. Miscellaneous MaterialBasket making (BBW)Native drinks of the Hidatsas (BBW)How our meals were served (GB)Nettles (BBW)Forest fire (GLW)
      ConclusionAppendix: Frederick N. Wilson’s Comments on “The Hidatsa Earthlodge”Bibliography

      Recently viewed products

      © 2026 Book Curl

        • American Express
        • Apple Pay
        • Diners Club
        • Discover
        • Google Pay
        • Maestro
        • Mastercard
        • PayPal
        • Shop Pay
        • Union Pay
        • Visa

        Login

        Forgot your password?

        Don't have an account yet?
        Create account