We gathered
several kinds of Indian medicines in Húy̓at during Smokehouse Days, and presumably for countless generations before then. Among the plants, balsam fir sap, devil’s club and Indian hellebore were among the most important.
Harvesting these medicines was a common practice while living at Húy̓at.
"My grandmother [Gertie White], she not only harvested food, worked on food out there, she also did a lot of traditional medicine. She did a lot of her h̓a̓úx̌vsúlí, devil's club, she made all kinds of Indian medicine. She would take it home after she picked it out there and her home smelled like a medicine. She always had something brewing on the stove."
- Yím̓ás Ǧviúst̓izas Joan Green
Emma Reid shared that balsam fir sap was collected by cutting a “V” in the tree in the spring when the sap was running. Then the people would return in the fall to collect it in the form of a big ball that they would knock off with an ax.
Devil’s club was abundant up the river at Húy̓at and many people went there to collect it while living at Húy̓at.
"They took the skin off the branches but they also rooted them, rooted them and used the roots. I don't know if it's more powerful than the bark, I am not sure. But I know they took the whole. After they took the thorns off because they are really thorny and then they dry it."
- Emma Reid
Hellebore is a particularly powerful Indian medicine that was, according to Yím̓ás Ǧviúst̓izas Joann Green, used to smoke homes or for protection.
Not only plants were used for medicines. For instance, Don Vickers shared:
"They used ratfish for medicine for quite a bit, you know that’s what they do night time, they go right up along the beach at night... they boiled it somehow, they used it for medicine... for boils, for scars... we call it gvúmáǧa, ratfish."
- Don Vickers
Rattlesnake Plantane as Medicine
