Portfolio

Medicinal Plants of the Sicangu Lakota

Robin Cochran-Dirksen

Introduction

This project is based on the indigenous plants of the Dakotas–their names and uses by the Sicangu Lakota people, and secondary compounds produced by those plants that may be of current interest.  The foundation of the research is built on the work of Father Eugene Buechel (1874-1954) who moved to the reservation of Rosebud in 1902, and spent the rest of his life at the Rosebud Reservation and the adjacent Pine Ridge Reservation.  (The Lakota-English dictionary published in 1970 was based on his orthography.)  All Sincangu uses of the plants comes from Buechel's work (see references) and all South Dakota distribution data come from Van Bruggen's Vasular Plants of South Dakota, and the USDA Plant Database.

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Some of the plants used by the Sicangu Lakota people: Ambrosia artemisiifolia, ragweed (© Ted Bodner), Artemisia tridentata, big sagebrush (© Mary Ellen (Mel) Harte), Asclepias incarnata, swamp milkweed (© David Cappaert), Gutierrezia sarothrae, yellow top (© Mary Ellen (Mel) Harte), Yucca glauca, soapweed (© Dave Powell).

From the years 1917-1923 Buechel collected plants and built a herbarium; and many Native Americans at Rosebud helped him with the Lakota names and uses.  Of the 293 species in his collection, about 245 have Lakota names.  It is estimated that there are about 500 species of plants present on the Rosebud reservation, many of which are extant throughout the state.  It is important to note that the Pine Ridge Reservation alone is larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined, presenting a great resource of vegetation.

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Top: Fr. Buechel at Two Strike Parish and Fr. Buechel with Red Feather. Bottom: Family and priest (believed to be Fr. Buechel) in front of a tent and Bull Ring digging a medicinal root in the Little White River. Images © 2008 Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, St. Francis, South Dakota, USA, courtesy Fr. Eugene Buechel, S.J. - A Visual Biography

A major component of the project is the Lead-Deadwood High School Herbarium of South Dakota plants that is being assembled by the students; many plants are the same species identified and collected by Father Buechel.

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Students working on their herbarium mounts at the Lead-Deadwood High School Herbarium of South Dakota plants. Images © 2008 Robin Cochran-Dirksen

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Specimens of the Lead-Deadwood High School Herbarium. © 2008 Robin Cochran-Dirksen

Hopefully, this will be an ongoing project, it certainly has the potential to go in many, many directions.  The tangents for the social, physical, and life sciences will provide students the outlet to research their passions.  I envision further collection of plants; possible isolation of secondary compounds produced by these plants; deepening investigation of the uses and ethnobotany of the plants of the region; research of the fields of bioprospecting and pharmaceutical development; linguistics; anthropology and probably many others that I haven't even thought of yet.  We would also like to extend a special invitation for collaboration by students of the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations.

By the way, Sicangu is pronounced "see-CHONG-ghoo".  And please, if any of you researchers out there have corrections/clarifications for me and my students, e-mail me, we are most definitely not biochemists, botanists, or anthropologists!

Lakota Plant Names 

In addition to information about the plants' characteristics and medicinal uses, the students' portfolio pages contain the Lakota plant names and audio files demonstrating their pronounciation.  The audio file with the Lakota names was created by Ben Black Bear Jr. of St. Francis, South Dakota, who is also the author of the Introduction to the online version of Dilwyn Rogers' Book of Father Buechel's research.  Short clips of the relevant names are provided on each portfolio page. The recording featuring all the names is available here: sound iconListen to Lakota Plant Names

Portfolio Pages

Acorus calamus (Brittany)
© J. F. Gaffard
Sagittaria latifolia (Jessica)
© 2006 Per Verdonk
Yucca glauca (Soapweed)
© William M. Ciesla, Forest Health Management International, United States
Fritillaria atropurpurea (James)
© 2005 emily
Gutierrezia sarothrae (Richard)
Antennaria parvifolia (Baylee)
© Mary Ellen (Mel) Harte
Echinacea angustifolia (Cameron)
© 2003 gwarcita
Lygodesmia juncea
© 2007 Brian Peterson
Liatris punctata (Tash)
© Merel R. Black
Artemisia campestris (Adam)
© 2006 gwarcita
Artemisia tridentata (Tassy)
© Mary Ellen (Mel) Harte
Artemisia cana (Derrick)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (Amelia)
© Steve Dewey, Utah State University, United States
Ambrosia trifida (Robert)
© 2005 zen Sutherland
Ambrosia trifida (Terri)
Hymenopappus tenuifolius (Riley)
Asclepias incarnata (Mary)
© David Cappaert, Michigan State University, United States
Asclepias viridiflora (Hayden)
© 2004
Asclepias verticillata (Josh)
© 2005 Josh
Asclepias verticillata (Jake)
© Chris Evans, River to River CWMA, United States
Asclepias stenophylla (Keersten)
Asclepias speciosa (Justin)
© 2003 gwarcita

Information on the Internet

References

Lakota Name and Traditional Uses of Native Plants by Sicangu (Brule) People in the Rosebud Area, South Dakota. A Study Based on Father Eugene Buechel's Collection of Plants of Rosebud Around 1920 by Dilwyn J. Rogers.

Bruggen, Theodore Van. The Vascular Plants of South Dakota. ames: Iowa State Pr, 1985.

Learning Information

Education Standards

State Education Standards

National Education Standards

CONTENT STANDARD A: As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop

CONTENT STANDARD B: As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop an understanding of

CONTENT STANDARD C: As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of

CONTENT STANDARD E: As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop

CONTENT STANDARD F: As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of

CONTENT STANDARD G: As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of

About This Page
I would like to acknowledge the following individuals for their help with this project:

Robin Cochran-Dirksen
Lead-Deadwood High School

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Robin Cochran-Dirksen at

All Rights Reserved.

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