Transcript The North Wakashan “Wild Carrots”

The North Wakashan
“Wild Carrots”
Clarification of Some
Ethnobotanical Ambiguity in
Pacific Northwest Apiaceae
Carrot
 1530s, from Middle French carrotte, from
Latin carota, from Greek karoton "carrot,"
probably from PIE *kre-, from root *ker"horn, head" (see horn (n.)); so called for its
horn-like shape
 Originally white-rooted and a medicinal plant
to the ancients, who used it as an aphrodisiac
and to prevent poisoning
Carrot
 Not entirely distinguished from parsnips in
ancient times
 Reintroduced in Europe by Arabs c. 1100
 The orange carrot, which existed perhaps as
early as 6c., probably began as a mutation of
the Asian purple carrot and was cultivated
into the modern edible plant 16c.-17c. in the
Netherlands
 Thus the word is used as a color name but
not before 1670s in English, originally of red
hair
http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=carrot&searchmode=none
Carrot - History of Cultivation
Time Period
Location
Pre-900s (5000 Afghanistan
ybp?)
and vicinity
900s
Iran and n.
Arabia
1000s
Syria and n.
Africa
1100s
Spain
1200s
Color
Purple and
yellow
Purple, red
and yellow
Purple, red
and yellow
Purple and
yellow
Italy and China Purple and red
http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html
Carrot - History of Cultivation
Time Period
1300s
Location
Color
Red, yellow
and white
1400s
France,
Germany, The
Netherlands
England
1500s
n. Europe
1600s
N. America
1700s
Japan
Orange, yellow
and red
Orange and
white
Orange and
rec
http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html
Red and white
Carrot Diversity (Daucus
carota ssp. sativus)
Many (ca. 2 dozen) “Root”
Food Plants Utilized in PNW
 Bulbs, corms, roots and rhizomes
 Quantitative data on contributions to diet
unavailable
 Minor but significant contributions
 Salmon (Onchorhynchus spp.) and eulachon
(Thaleichthys pacificus) very important
sources of protein and calories
 Starch and oligosaccharides from plant
sources
Pacific Salmon
(Oncorhynchus spp.)
Chinook (O. tshawytscha)
Pink (O. gorbuscha)
Chum (O. keta)
Sockeye (O. nerka)
Coho (O. kisutch)
Steelhead (O. mykiss)
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r6/plants-animals/fish/?cid=fsbdev2_027105
Eulachon
(Thaleichthys pacificus)
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Smelt.htm
http://qmackie.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/
http://www.livinglandscapes.bc.ca/northwest/haisla/
Carbohydrates
 Organic compounds consisting only of
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
 Usually with the empirical formula
Cm(H2O)n (where m could be different
from n)
 Hydrates of carbon (carbon with water)
 Structurally, polyhydroxy aldehydes
(aldose) and ketones
Aldose & Ketones
 Aldose: any of a class of
monosaccharide sugars
containing an aldehyde
group (e.g.,
glyceraldehyde)
 Ketose: class of
monosaccharide sugars
containing a ketone
group (-CH=O) (e.g.,
fructose)
Carbohydrates
 Saccharides - group of
carbohydrates that includes
sugars
 Mono-, di-, tri- (oligo-) and
poly-, according to number
of saccharide units (C6H10O5)
 Saccharide comes from the
Greek word σάκχαρον
(sákkharon), meaning
"sugar"
 E.g., lactose, a disaccharide
found in milk
Starch
 A polysaccharide
produced by all green
plants as an energy
store
 The most common
carbohydrate in the
human diet
 Contained in large
amounts in such staple
foods as potatoes,
wheat, maize (corn),
rice, and cassava
Glucose
 AKA dextrose or
grape sugar
 Primary source of
energy in cells
 Produced by plants
in photosynthesis
 Base unit of starch
and cellulose
Sucrose
 Disaccharide of
glucose and fructose
 AKA table sugar
 Latin sucrum =
"sugar"
 Produced from
sugar cane and
beets
Inulin
 Polysaccharide used by some
plants as a means of storing
energy and is typically found
in roots or rhizomes
 Fructan (polymer of
fructose) - limited human
ability to process fructans
 has minimal increasing
impact on blood sugar and
considered suitable for
diabetics and potentially
helpful in managing blood
sugar-related illnesses
Inula helenium (Elecampane)
 Native to Europe & Asia
 Naturalized in North America
 Root has warm, bitter taste,
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camphoraceous odor with sweet
floral (similar to violet)
undertones
Flavoring in absinthe in France
and Switzerland
Medicinal qualities, including
antibiotic (MRSA), expectorant,
tonic
Named for Helen of Troy,
sprouted where her tears fell
Greek mythology - daughter of
Zeus and Leda, and the most
beautiful woman in the world,
abducted by Paris - started
Trojan War
Reports & Confusion
Regarding “Wild Carrots”
 Many “wild carrots” in
the literature
 Turner & Bell 1973:
Conioselinum pacificum
(hemlock-parsley)
confused with Boas’
report of medicinal use
of Coelopleurum
Gmelini (syn. Angelica
lucida, seacoast
angelica)
Another “Wild Carrot”?
 Lomatium
utriculatum (spring
gold)
 Identified in early
edition of Turner’s
food plants book
Wakashan Languages
 Haisla and
Henaaksiala
 Kwak’wala, etc.
 Heiltsuk
 Oowekyala
 Makah
 Nitinaht (Ditidaht)
 Nuu-chah-nuulth
Methods
 Review of published and unpublished
ethnographic, ethnobotanical and
linguistic data
 Interviews with people with knowledge
and familiarity traditional plant
knowledge and concepts
 Freshly collected or in situ specimens,
herbarium specimens and photographs
People Who Helped Solve the
Mystery
 Haihais: Louisa Hall, Mary Hopkines
 Haisla: Josephine Duncan, Amelia Grant
Hanaksiala: Gordon Robertson
 Heiltsuk: Mary Hunt, Annie M. Wilson
 Kwakwaka'wakw: Ernie Willie
 Oweekeno: Roy Hanuse, Sr., Norman
Johnson
 Kitasoo: Violet Neasloss, William M. Robinson
Plants Considered
 Conioselinum gmelinii
 Probably named after
Carl Christian Gmelin
(1762-1837), a German
botanist
 Synonyms:
 C. chinense var.
pacificum
 C. pacificum
 Pacific hemlock parsley
(<Conium and
Petroselinum)
C. Gemelinii
detail
Plants Considered
 Daucus carota ssp. Carota
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(Wild carrot, Queen Anne’s
lace)
Root edible when young,
quickly becomes woody
Progenitor of cultivars of D.
carota ssp. Sativus
Considered by some not to
be the same species in
modern times
May cause allergenic
reactions, photosensitivity
and dermatitis in some
people
Plants Considered
 Central purple floret
sometimes present
 Darwin: no function, perhaps
vestige of ancestral form
 Hunter & Aedy: possible role
as insect pollinator attractant
(for flies)
 Named Queen Anne’s lace
after (some) Queen Anne
associated with lace collar
http://magicalhomeandgarden.com/1699/queenanne%E2%80%99s-lace/
Plants Considered
 Daucus pusillus
(American wild carrot)
 Native to many parts of
North America,
including Washington
and British Columbia
 Small taproots are
edible
Plants Considered
 Lomatium utriculatum
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(common lomatium, spring
gold)
Distinctive yellow flowers in
compound umbel
Medicinal uses amongst
Kawaiisu (dermatological
and orthopedic aid)
Coast Salish (roots used to
treat headaches)
Atsugewi, Kawaiisu,
Mendocino used leaves for
food
Plants Considered
 Perideridia gairdneri
(Gardner’s yampah)
 Canada to Mexico
 Many medicinal and
food uses
Plants Considered
 Sium suave (water
parsnip)
 Widely distributed
 Used as medicine and
food by many Native
American groups, also
considered poisonous
by some
 Similar to water
hemlock (Cicuta)
Results & Discussion
 Review of textual materials indicated roots of
a dozen apiaceous species reported chewed
or ingested for food or medicine by PNW
coastal peoples
 Some referred to as “carrots”
 Some eliminated from further consideration
through examination by Gordon Robertson,
because they were highly toxic, or were
linguistically differentiated from the “wild
carrot” in North Wakashan or Nuxalk
languages
Eliminated Candidates
 Water-hemlock (Cicuta
spp.)
 Unlikely food source
 Contains cicutoxin most poisonous plant in
North America
 Cicuta bulbifera
(bulblet-bearing water
hemlock), C. douglasii
(western w.h. pictured), C. maculata
(spoted w.h.), C. virosa
(Mackenzie’s w.h.)
Cicuta
 Cicutoxin - a yellowish liquid that is prevalent in the
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roots
Major impact on the central nervous system of
animals
Early symptoms of cicutoxin poisoning include
excessive salivation, frothing at the mouth,
nervousness, and incoordination
Tremors, muscular weakness, seizures and
respiratory failure follow
Very small amounts of green materials of W. water
hemlock, about .1% of a person’s body weight can
even lead to death
An early springtime plant with a very appealing odor
- also hazardous to animals
Eliminated Candidates
 Angelica lucida
(seacoast angelica),
Cicuta douglasii and C.
mackenzieana (waterhemlocks), Oenanthe
sarmentosa (waterparsley) and Osmorhiza
chilensis (sweet-cicely)
 Unique names and uses
among Heiltsuk,
Kwakwaka’wak, or
Nuxalk
Eliminated Candidates
 Glehnia leiocarpa
(syn. G. littoralis
ssp. leiocarpa)
(American glehnia)
reported used by
Haida
 No evidence of use
among North
Wakashan groups
Eliminated Candidates
 Reported use of
Perideridia gairdneri by
some coastal groups
based only on tentative
identifications
 Similar situation for
Sium suave
 Neither recognized by
Upper North Wakashan
consultants
Eliminated Candidates
 Daucus pusillus
(American carrot,
rattlesnake weed) and
D. carota (wild carrot,
Queen Ane’s lace)
 Also regarded as
“carrots” in English folk
terms
 Not among North
Wakashan groups
Daucus spp.
 D. pusillus - annual with small,
unproductive roots
 D. carota - wild form introduced by
Europeans so not true North Wakashan
“wild carrot”
 Sometimes introduced carrot named
after indigenous counterpart (e.g., in
North Wakashan)
The “Real Dirt”
on the Real Root
 Boas didn’t identify edible “wild carrot” of
Kwakwaka’wak in early works (1921, 1928)
 Later correctly identified it as Conioselinum
pacificum (using the synonyms C. Gmelini
and Selinum Gmelini) (1932, 1934)
 True identity apparently known by Hunt and
Newcombe (1922) much earlier
Franz Boas
 1858-1942
 German-American
anthropologist
 “Father of American (or
Modern) Anthropology”
 Physics, geography &
ethnography (Baffin Is.,
1883), Nuxalk (Royal
Ethnological Museum,
Berlin)
Boas
 While on Baffin Island he began to develop
his interest in studying non-Western cultures
 Believe that all humans had the same
intellectual capacity, and that all cultures
were based on the same basic mental
principles
 Became interested in Indigenous people of
the Pacific Northwest
 Visited British Columbia via New York
 1887: offered job as assistant editor of
Science and decided to stay in the U.S.
Boas
 Soon thereafter appointed as docent in anthropology
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at Clark University
Early 1890’s participated in Morris K. Jesup
Expedition (purpose: to illuminate Asiatic-American
relations)
Later chief assistant in anthropology to F.W. Putnam
at the Chicago World’s Fair
Exhibits later served as the basis for the Field
(Columbian) Museum, where Boas served as the
curator of anthropology
1896 - Boas named the assistant curator at the
American Museum of Natural History
Boas
 Boas's main project - to distinguish between
biological and cultural heredity, and to focus on the
cultural processes that he believed had the greatest
influence over social life
 Critique of theories of physical, social, and cultural
evolution current at that time
 Evolutionists argued that the Inuit were at an earlier
stage in their evolution, and Germans at a later stage
- echoed a popular misreading of Darwin that
suggested that human beings are descended from
chimpanzees
 But Darwin argued that chimpanzees and humans
are equally evolved
Boas
 While working on museum collections formulated
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thoughts regarding culture and sought to establish
anthropology as academic discipline
Five more trips to Pacific Northwest
Field research led him to think of culture as a local
context for human action
Emphasis on local context and history led him to
oppose the dominant model at the time, cultural
evolution
Established broader context for research and
interpretation - including specimens, explanations of
the specimens, connected texts that partly refer to
the specimens and partly to abstract things
concerning the people, and grammatical information
Boas
 Columbia University positions in anthropology
 Encouraged the "four field" concept of anthropology
and personally contributed to physical anthropology,
linguistics, archaeology, as well as cultural
anthropology
 Extensive work on Kwakwaka’wakw topics, including
collaboration with George Hunt
 Also scientist as activist - combated racism, berated
anthropologists and folklorists who used their work
as a cover for espionage, worked to protect German
and Austrian scientists who fled the Nazi regime, and
openly protested Hitlerism
George Hunt
 1854-1933
 Collaboration with Boas
began in 1886 when Boas
first visited the
Kwakwaka'wakw
 Tlingit by birth but through
marriage and adoption
became an expert on the
traditions of the
Kwakwaka'wakw people
(then known as "Kwakiutl”)
 Considered a linguist and
ethnologist in his own right
Hunt
 Born 1854 at Fort Rupert, British Columbia
 Son of Robert Hunt, a Hudson's Bay Company fur
trader from Dorset, England, and Mary Ebbetts
(Ansnaq) (1823-1919), a member of the Raven
moiety of the Taantakwáan (Tongass) tribe of the
Tlingit nation of southeastern Alaska
 Collaboration with Boas began in 1886 when Boas
first visited the Kwakwaka'wakw
 Hunt’s escendants include Dr. Gloria CranmerWebster, the filmmaker Barbara Cranmer, and many
traditional Northwest Coast artists
Charles F. Newcombe
 1851-1924
 Physician and amateur anthropologist
 Received MD in 1878 and established a general
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practice in Hood River, Oregon
1885 - moved to Victoria, B.C.
1889 - worked at the "Insane Asylum" in New
Westminster
After wife Marian’s death, returned to England and
participated in geological and natural history studies
at the British Museum and the University of London
Ceased to practice medicine after 1894.
Newcombe
 Began to be interested in botany of North
America
 Traveled to Haida Gwaii many times and
became interested in Haida culture
 Conducted biological and geographic research
 Was interested in aboriginal use of plants
 Unknown if voucher specimen of hemlockparsley retained
Evaluation of Evidence
 Evidence derived from the works of
Boas, Hunt, Newcombe, Lincoln and
Rath and interviews with North
Wakashan consultants
 Conioselinum gmelinii verified as the
primary referent of Haisla, Heiltsuk,
Kwak’wala and Oowekyala “wild
carrot” terms
Evaluation of Evidence
 Lomatium utriculatum regarded as the
most plausible candidate for the
inedible counterpart of C. gmelinii
amongst the Kwakwaka’waka
 Zigadenus venenosus seems to
represent the inedible “wild carrot” of
the Henaksiala
Death Camas, Meadow
Deathcamas
 Toxicoscordion
venenosum
 Syn. Zigadenus
venenosus
 Long, basal, grass-like
leaves
 Bulbs look like but do
not smell like onions
 All parts poisonous
 Possibly the “dry land”
“rock carrot” not
consumed and known
to be poisonous
Spring Gold
 Lomatium utriculatum
 Basal and stem leaves, finely
divided
 Yellow flowers
 No bulb
 Food and medicine to many
Indigenous groups
 Possibly also recognized
but not utilized by
Upper North Wakashan
peoples
Collection and Use of
Hemlock-Parsley
 Hanaksiala - gathered roots in early February
prior to resumption of growth
 Picked off small side roots and replanted
main roots
 Gathered with Pacific silverweed roots
(Argentina anserina)
 Prepared with eulachon grease
 Nuxalkmc - steamed roots eaten with various
types of oil or fat
Argentina anserina (Pacific
Silverweed)
 Formerly classified in
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genus Potentilla
Reclassified into the
resurrected genus
Argentina based on
research in the 1990s
Native throughout
temperature Northern
Hemisphere
Spreads by rooting
stolons
Roots used as food and
cultivated in B.C.
Trifolium wormskioldii
(Springbank Clover)
 Another important
and formerly
intensively used root
food
 Cultivated with
silverweed in
managed gardens
amongst
Kwakwaka’wakw
Summary & Conclusions
 Several species of Apiaceae formerly used
more extensively for their edible roots by
Indigenous peoples of coastal British
Columbia
 Two, or perhaps three, “wild carrots” known
in North Wakashan languages
 Edible “wild carrot” is hemlock-parsley
 Inedible counterparts possibly spring gold
(KW) and meadow deathcamas (HA)
 Research of relevance to cultural, culinary
and other concerns
References
 Compton, B. D. (1993, July/August). The
North Wakashan “wild carrots”: Clarification
of some ethnobotanical ambiguity in Pacific
Northwest Apiaceae. Economic Botany, 47(3),
297-303.
 (Other sources listed in full in Compton,
1993.)