Research Communications

Skookum Root: Ethnobotany of ( viride) in Northwest

Chelsey Geralda Armstrong1*

1Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute, DC, USA. *[email protected]

Abstract This research considers some of the uses and harvest protocols of one of the most important medicinal for Indigenous peoples throughout British Columbia, Vertarum viride (skookum root, green false hellebore, Indian poke, Indian hellebore). The medicinal qualities of V. viride are well respected given its equally powerful ability to paralyze and kill. Using botanical, ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and linguistic data, a broad overview of hellebore is provided for the northwest coast of , followed by an in-depth consideration of Gitxsan harvest protocol, witnessed through participant observation.

Received March 25, 2018 OPEN ACCESS Accepted July 8, 2018 DOI 10.14237/ebl.9.2.2018.1298

Keywords Ethnobotany, Green False Hellebore, Pacific Northwest, Traditional ecological knowledge,

Copyright © 2018 by the author(s); licensee Society of Ethnobiology. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Public License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Introduction flowering it is often confused with similar looking Wild Hellebore (Veratrum viride var. eschscholzianum; species which tend to grow nearby such as false skookum root, green false hellebore, Indian poke, Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum racemosum L.) and Indian hellebore, herein hellebore) is a native twisted stalk (Streptopus spp.). perennial herbaceous that grows throughout Indigenous Peoples throughout British Columbia British Columbia, Canada and is valued by all First recognize hellebore as an important medicinal plant Nation communities where it grows (Turner 1995). and as one of “the most violently poisonous plants on Combining ethnographic, historic, linguistic, and the Northwest Coast” (Pojar and McKinnon ecological information, this research provides an 1994:113; Turner 1995). Several poisonous overview of the utilitarian, spiritual, and cultural uses are especially present in young shoots and there are of hellebore on the Pacific Northwest coast. myths about careless people bathing with hellebore The focus of this research is on the western who then experienced violent seizures and even death variety of hellebore, Veratrum viride var. eschscholzianum, (Jaffe et al. 1990). In Chinook, (a historical trade which grows in moist areas such as riverbanks and language in the Pacific Northwest), hellebore is wetland meadows and in the subalpine (average 1330 known as skookum root (translated as strong and m elevation) (Klinkenberg 2013). Hellebore grows powerful), referring to the potent properties of the V. from large that produce new shoots each viride and roots. Given its lethal, curative, and year. The stems can grow up to three metres, with spiritual properties, harvest protocol and uses of branched, terminal of pale green or hellebore among First Nation communities are highly yellow-green star-shaped , and barrel-shaped specified and respected. (Figure 1). All species have broad oblong to elliptical shaped with obvious Methods parallel veins that clasp at the base. Not to be In northwest British Columbia, all Indigenous confused with the unrelated true Hellebore (Helleborus communities report the use of V. viride for medical L. spp.; Ranunculaceae), V. viride is a member of the and supernatural or spiritual purposes (Burton 2012; family (previously ) and before Gottesfeld and Anderson 1988; Turner 2004). Using ethnographic and historic documents, an overview

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Figure 1 Wally Morgan (Gitxsan) standing with a large thicket of V. viride. Photo by Chelsey G. Armstrong. and compilation of V. viride uses and nomenclature in land” camp in a remote area on Wilp Guxsen Lax‘Yip northwest British Columbia is provided. To (Guxsen House Territory). Two camp participants, a supplement and build on this work, I participated in a male (40 years old) and a young woman (14 years old) traditional harvest of the plant in August 2016 and also joined the harvest. Before driving to the paired this participant observation with semi- subalpine location where the plant was harvested, structured interviews with two Gitxsan knowledge- Mclean demonstrated the proper protocols and holders. Because harvest protocols differ from techniques for harvest and processing. When we community to community and because few people arrived at the harvest location, we watched Mclean even harvest the plant anymore, I present a qualitative harvest the plant. Then the young woman and I went reflection on a one-time V. viride harvest. As such, I to harvest the plant together in a separate location. make no claims to universal or objective harvest The rhizome was processed as a group activity the protocols. following day. Written, audio, photo, and video recordings were Mclean approved all notes and recordings and the used to document the two-day harvest and processing manuscript was presented to him for consent before with Tony Mclean, a Gitxsan language speaker and submission to publication. Mclean’s knowledge is not knowledge holder. Like other ethnographic research proprietary Gitxsan knowledge, and as such wider that focuses on the first-hand knowledge of a single consent (e.g., from all seven Gitxsan villages/ practitioner (e.g., Deur et al. 2015), I report on the provincial municipalities), was not sought. The techniques and protocols that Mclean was raised on harvesting methods and protocols reported here are and practiced. The harvest was conducted with the specific to Mclean, his Gitxsan cultural heritage, and Tam Giist cultural camp, a traditional “back to the the bioregion he inhabits. This is a qualitative study

Armstrong. 2018. Ethnobiology Letters 9(2):197–205 198 Research Communications

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Practices and uses of Hellebore in the Northwest British Columbia

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Armstrong. 2018. Ethnobiology Letters 9(2):197–205 199 Research Communications with one key expert interlocutor. Given the lethal treating various skin ailments. Tonics, infusions, and nature of the plant, the harvest and use of V. viride teas are made by some people for internal cleansing should not be undertaken without proper expertise, (Turner 2014). There are also analgesic and nor should universal harvest protocols be inferred counterirritant chemicals present that make it a from this research. valuable topical treatment for arthritis, swelling, aches, and pains (Johnson 1997; Turner 2014). In the recent Historical and Ethnographic Overview past, the most frequently reported medical use in There is no known paleoethnobotanical evidence of Gitxsan country was as a snuff to clear sinuses. hellebore in the archaeological record. This is likely Johnson (1997) also observed violent sneezing due to preservation biases—the rhizome and roots followed by excessive mucous discharge after her utilized by most communities would not likely Wet’suwet’en friends inhaled the powdered rhizome. preserve given their fleshy organic form. However, Haida peoples believe that almost any disease can historically the use of Veratrum species is known be cured by hellebore (Pojar and Mackinnon 1994) around the world. Toxicologists suggest that and it is considered one of the most important herbs Alexander the Great may have died as a result of in use among Gitxsan peoples (Gottesfeld and ingesting the closely related white hellebore (Veratrum Anderson 1988). However, today, the rhizome is most album) (Schep et al. 2014). A similar species of commonly used for cleansing and as a fumigant (or hellebore (V. californicum) was among the smudge). As a Gitxsan knowledge holder, Tony list of new plants first recorded in the early settler Mclean notes that “people smudge with sage or chronicles of Lewis and Clark (1997). During his sweetgrass, but that’s not our way…mulgwasxw fieldwork in the early 1920s, Harlan Smith noted the [hellebore] is what we smudge with, it’s what grows ubiquitous use of the false green hellebore rhizome here.” among both upriver and downriver Gitxsan communities (Smith 1926). While some people, like Gottesfeld and Anderson (1988) noted its use as a Mclean, continue to harvest the plant, its use in recent stovetop smudge among Gitxsan Elders for purifying years has declined. Lieutenant George Thornton the home (or to kill germs). It is also used to smudge Emmons, who carried out ethnographic fieldwork before hunting and trapping. Mclean notes that he with Tlingit Peoples in the 1880s and 1890s, recorded smudges his gun with mulgwasxw before using it to the use of hellebore as an intoxicant (Emmons 1991). hunt. It is not only used for utilitarian medical Anthropologists Marius Barbeau and William Beynon purposes but also for spiritual protection. The root/ (Ts’ymsen/Tsimshian) reported on the use of rhizome is carried as an amulet for luck by many hellebore among Ts’ymsen halayt (shaman, medicine Coastal Peoples (Turner 2014). Nisga’a literature also person) in very sacred and powerful ways (Cove and notes both medicinal and spiritual uses of hellebore MacDonald 1987). However, Ts’ymsen people who (see Burton 2012). Sim’oogit Ginwax, Abraham Davis are not considered halayt today utilize hellebore for said that, medicinal and spiritual purposes. …the part that is soaked for In Gitxsan, the term sgan ts’iks refers broadly to medicine is the roots. The way it is the entire hellebore plant, while the word mulgwasxw is used as a rubbing liquid. You rub reserved more specifically for the rhizome once it is ts’iks [hellebore] all over your body harvested and used for medicine (Johnson 1997). and it protects or immunizes you While it has been recorded that some First Nation from getting injured: or it neutralizes Peoples have used the leaves as a poultice, the any other medicine, which might be rhizome and fleshy roots that grow from the rhizome used on you by someone else, like are the most used and desired parts of the plant. Most your enemies for instance. This of the active compounds reported on in Western medicine has been used by the medical literature for V. viride are from the roots Nisga’a since time immemorial, rather than rhizome (Johnson 2006). especially during the war-times. An overview of the practices and uses of The potent and powerful properties of this special hellebore in northwest British Columbia is presented plant warrant careful use and harvest. In most in Table 1. Hellebore roots have anti-louse and ethnographic references to hellebore, it is emphasized fungicidal properties, which make it effective for that ingesting the roots will paralyze and kill (Burton

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Some Gitxsan Peoples continue to harvest hellebore in the late summer and early fall. Gottesfeld and Anderson (1988) note that the root was harvested in conjunction with hunting trips after its leaves senesce. At the end of August 2016, I joined three Gitxsan community members to harvest hellebore rhizomes/roots, mulgwaxsw. Following strict protocol from Mclean’s experiences, we fasted the day of the harvest and bathed in cold water the morning before the outing (full submersion in Kitseguecla Lake). Two experienced men led the harvest and one young Gitxsan woman took part in the harvest for her first time. After prayers, and smudging with mulgwaxsw, we Figure 2 Tony Mclean loosens soil around the base of the began the harvest. plant. Photo by Chelsey G. Armstrong. We drove for two hours from the Tam Giist cultural camp, up an old logging road, and into to the 2012; Emmons 1991; Johnson 1997; Smith 1997). subalpine. After exiting the truck, Mclean made a The plant contains numerous poisonous/toxic digging implement from a young alder tree (Rubus alkaloids (e.g., veratrine, verastrasine, veratramine, and incana). This improvised digging stick was important, veratrin) that can cause burning sensations, as Mclean told the group before the harvest, because hallucinations, headaches, and central hypotension “you cannot use metal to dig the root, once metal causing death (Jaffe et al. 1990; Kingsbury 1964). touches the root it loses its power”. Ingesting even a small amount of the plant can cause a loss of consciousness, followed by death (Turner We targeted a hellebore plant that grew in a high 1995:139). A Heiltsuk woman reported to me in 2014 elevation meadow surrounded by three dozen other that in the early twentieth century, her kin once used hellebore plants in a large thicket on a southwest- too much of the root infusion in his bath, whereupon facing slope above Kitseguecla Lake. The plants were he was paralyzed and died immediately. particularly large, growing up to 2.5m when they usually grow <1m. On the same mountainside, black In Western medicine, V. viride was previously huckleberry (Vaccininum membranaceum) and soapberry used as an anti-hypotensive. In the mid-twentieth (Shepherdia canadensis) were in full and we picked century, clinical trials showed that ingesting the the berries into old yogurt containers as we watched powdered rhizome significantly reduced elevated Mclean begin the mulgwaxsw harvest. He began by blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension cutting the large leaves down from the plant before (Elek et al. 1953; Fried et al. 1950). Its use fell out of making contact with the soil. Mclean loosened the soil favour because of adverse effects (e.g., seizures and with the alder digging stick for twenty minutes before temporary paralysis; see Jaffe et al. 1990 and getting on the ground and digging into the earth with Senthilkumaran et al. 2014). Various species of his hands (Figure 2). Veratrum, including V. viride were also used as a garden insecticide called “Hellebore”, used against A thick mat of organic litter grew tightly around hemipteran and homopteran pests of fruits and the rhizome and it took almost one hour for Mclean vegetables (Shepard 1951). to free the rhizome from the earth, wavering between his hands and digging stick to untie the soil’s rich Harvest networks of microfauna, mycorrhizae, and other In the last seventy years, the influence of residential organic materials. After observing Mclean, the other schools, ongoing colonialism and displacement of female harvester and I went to another plant in the people from their homelands and territories has thicket and began the harvesting process on our own. probably shifted how hellebore is perceived and used. We dug for an hour, taking turns with the digging However, traditional remedies continue to be used by stick and using our hands, besieged by the dense tree Elders and community knowledge holders in Gitxsan roots enveloping the hellebore. Once the rhizome was country today. removed, we smudged the root, cleaned the digging implement, and back filled the hole (Figure 3). We

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Figure 3 Mulgwaxsw (V. viride rhizome) after harvest and before processing. Some people will remove the rootlets and let them dry for smudging. Here, the rhizome is the desired part of the plant. Photo by Chelsey G. Armstrong. were instructed to only take the smallest chunk of the we were happy to consume the berries and share rhizome while the others were returned to the soil stories with one another before returning to the camp. where the plant will continue to produce new shoots Once we drove back to the lake (around dusk) we the following season. combined our mulgwaxsw and gently washed them with Turner notes widespread selective harvesting of water, then broke them into smaller pieces before they hellebore in other parts of the Pacific Northwest and were left to dry. The following day, all the roots, that the regeneration of hellebore shoots can occur shoots, and buds were broken off the rhizome by from fragments left in the ground (2014:2–192). hand (Figure 4). While processing the rhizome, youth During our harvest, we observed that the large and from the camp were encouraged to watch us work well-spaced plants were doing better than others (i.e., and ask questions about the harvest. Smaller pieces they were larger and looked healthier than other were cut into discs and dried a second time — the patches of hellebore on the territory). Previous and discs would be used for smudging. Larger pieces were ongoing harvest of hellebore at this specific location, left as amulets to be stored in dark, dry places. Both by other Gitxsan Peoples, may have led to phenotypic types of mulgwaxsw (for amulets and for smudging) responses: digging helps aerate the soil and selective were split equally amongst the harvesters and the harvesting of the small rhizomes (such as what cultural camp participants and instructors. Mclean practiced) over the long-term, may have The harvest practices recorded here are Gitxsan contributed to increased plant vigour. specific and come from Tony Mclean’s personal After the harvest, we stayed in the subalpine and experience and teachings. It is widely understood that gathered more berries. After fasting for the harvest, related communities can have different sets of

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Figure 4 Mulgwaxsw (V. viride rhizome) cleaned after harvest and processing. Note the large terminus scars from old shoots and small scars where rootlets were attached. Photo by Chelsey G. Armstrong. practices for the same plant, even if they are in the protected people from harm. Guided by Tony same bioregion (Anderson 2016). For example, Mclean’s knowledge and experiences, and Heiltsuk people harvest aʔaúxwsúlí (hellebore root) in ethnographic and botanical evidence, this paper the spring before flowering, while neighbouring and provides a brief overview and compilation of related Haisla people harvest it in the fall. Although information about this special plant for people who diverse practices are recorded, hellebore’s distinctive wish to know more but cannot freely access the qualities, potentially drastic products, and similarity of information. uses among many groups suggest that medicinal While this is meant to be an informative qualities of hellebore were discovered long ago and contribution, it should not be entirely instructive — spread (shared) rapidly throughout the region (Turner that is, Elders and knowledge holders should always 2014:369). give harvest guidance with specific knowledge to place and harvest protocol. This compilation is meant to Conclusion assemble and compare uses of such a powerful plant The purpose of this paper is to publish some of the and share how many communities throughout British intricacies, protocols, and collate references of Columbia’s northwest respect it. Readers are hellebore harvest for future generations. As settler- encouraged to appreciate the diversity of practices and colonialism continues to affect numerous respect the profound power found in this remarkable communities in British Columbia, community plant. members often ask me about this plant; how it was used, how grandparents harvested it, and how it

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Acknowledgments Fried, J., H. L. White, and O. Wintersteiner. 1950. The I want to sincerely acknowledge and thank Tony Hypotensive Principles of Veratrum Viride. Journal Mclean for allowing me to join the harvest and of the American Chemical Society 72:4621–4630. encouraging the dissemination of this practice with DOI:10.1021/ja01166a080. his Gitxsan community. I would also like to thank Gottesfeld, L. M. J., and B. Anderson. 1988. Gitksan Leslie Main Johnson for reading the manuscript, Traditional Medicine: Herbs and Healing. Journal of Natasha Lyons for discussions about the manuscript, Ethnobiology 8:13–33. and to mulgwaxsw/V. viride, a very skookum plant to be Jaffe, A. M., D. Gephardt, and L. Courtemanche. appreciated and respected! 1990. Poisoning Due to Ingestion of Veratrum Declarations Viride (False Hellebore). Journal of Emergency Medicine 8:161–167. DOI:10.1016/0736-4679-90- Permissions: All interviews and participatory 90226. observations were conducted with permission by the attendant knowledge holder (Tony Mclean) and under Johnson, L. M. 1997. Health, Wholeness, and the the Simon Fraser University Department of Research Land: Gitksan Traditional Plant Use and Healing. Ethics (DORE), [2015s0179]. Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of , Edmonton, Sources of funding: Social Science and Humanities Canada. Research Council (SSHRC) Northern Scientific Johnson, L. M. 2006. Gitksan Medicinal Plants- Training Program (NSTP). cultural Choice and Efficacy. Journal of Ethnobiology Conflicts of Interest: None declared. and Ethnomedicine 2:29. DOI:10.1186/1746-4269-2- 29. References Cited Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous Plants of the United Anderson, E. N. 2016. Caring for Place: Ecology, Ideology, States and Canada. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, and Emotion in Traditional Landscape Management. NJ. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA. Klinkenberg, B. 2013. Developing Ecological Burton, C. M. A. 2012. Wilaat Hooxhl Nisga'ahl Frameworks for BC Vascular Plants: Analyzing [Galdoo'o][Ýans]: Gik'uuhl-gi, Guuń-sa ganhl BEC Plot Data [web page]. Available at: http:// Angoo gam´ Using Plants the Nisga'a Way: Past, ibis.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/eflora/. Accessed on Present and Future Use. Doctoral Dissertation, March 20, 2018. Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada. Available from ProQuest Lewis, M., and W. Clark. 1997. The Journals of Lewis and Dissertations and Theses database (NS28331). Clark, vol. 31. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. Cove, J. J., and G. F. MacDonald. 1987. Tsimshian Narratives I: Tricksters, Shamans and Heroes. Canadian Pojar, J., and A. MacKinnon. 2004. Plants of the Pacific Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, Canada. Northwest Coast. Partners Publishing Group, Holt, MI. Deur, D., A. Dick, K. Recalma-Clutesi, and N. J. Turner. 2015. Kwakwaka’wakw “Clam Schep, L. J., R. J. Slaughter, J. A. Vale, and P. Gardens”. Human Ecology 43:201–212. Wheatley. 2014. Was the Death of Alexander the DOI:10.1007/s10745-015-9743-3. Great due to Poisoning? Was it ?. Clinical Toxicology 52:72–77. Edwards, G. T. 1980. Bella Coola Indian and DOI:10.3109/15563650.2013.870341. European Medicines. The Beaver 311:4–11. Shepard, H. H. 1951. Pyrethrins, Rotenone, and Elek, S. R., J. D. McNair, and G. C. Griffith. 1953. Miscellaneous Plant Extractives. In The Chemistry Veratrum Viride—Hypotensive and Cardiac Effects and Action of Insecticides, edited by H. H. Shepard, of Intravenous Use. California Medicine 79:300–305. pp. 144–190. McGraw-Hill, New York. Emmons, G. T. 1991. The Tlingit Indians, edited by Smith, H. I. 1926. Gitksan Ethnobotany. Unpublished Frederica de Laguna. University of Washington manuscript prepared for the National Museum of Press, Seattle, WA. Canada. National Museum of Canada, Ottawa, ON.

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