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Ethnobotany of San Elijo Lagoon
Ethnobotany is the study of how a particular culture makes use of indigenous plants. The
Kumeyaay were the Native Americans who inhabited the area around San Elijo Lagoon when
the Spanish explorers, missionaries, and early settlers arrived. The branch of Kumeyaay
who lived in this region called themselves Ipai and they were hunters and agriculturalists.
They hunted deer and rabbit, and caught and dried fish and clams. They had an intimate
knowledge of the indigenous plants and the many ways they could be utilized. They
harvested many plants that are found at the reserve today, using them for shelter, food,
medicine, and cultural practices.
Cottonwood trees (Populus fremontii ) wereused to build shade structures known as
ramadas. These ramadas were built on
rectangular frames made of cottonwood or willowwith brush or willow branches laid across the
top.
The willow (Salix sp.) served many
purposes for the Kumeyaay. It was
used as construction material to make
their dome-shaped homes. Willow
branches with leaves still attached were
used as poles and were set into theground, curving toward the center. The
poles were then tied with twine fromthe Yucca plant, and the outside was
thatched with brush. Once the house
was built, stones were placed aroundthe bottom of the house to keep
animals out.
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The Kumeyaay also used willow branches to make bows and arrows: their principle weapon
for hunting and defense. Arroyo willows (Salix lasiolepis) were used to make bows, and the
bowstrings were made from deer ligament. Arrows were also made from willows, and either
stone or wooden arrowheads were used to hunt for small game.
The willow tree also provided clothes, bedding and medicine for the Kumeyaay. The soft
inner bark from the willow was pounded and used to make women’s skirts as well asmattresses. The bark, leaves and branches contain salicin, which is a form of the main
ingredient in aspirin: salicylic acid. The Kumeyaay chewed these parts of the tree as a pain
reliever.
Chamise ( Adenostoma fasciculate) branches
were used for bow and arrow shafts. They
were also used for torches and the roots and
large braches used for firewood.
The Kumeyaay used the
Southwestern Spiny Rush ( Juncusacutus) to weave coiled baskets.These baskets were used as storage
containers and as shipping baskets tocarry shellfish from the ocean to
their encampments.
The Scrub Oak (Quercus dumosa) had a widevariety of uses. Acorns were ground and used as
emergency food. Branches from this tree were
made into cradleboards and baskets to store
acorns, and the galls were broken up and made
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into eyewash and medicine for sores and wounds.
This plant is called Lemonade Berry
(Rhus integrifolia) because, when ripe,
the berries are coated in a substance thattastes like lemons. The Kumeyaay
soaked these berries in water to make a
tasty drink.
The Kumeyaay used the Wild Cucumber (Marah
macrocarpus) for fishing. The Kumeyaay woulddig up the roots, mash them a bit, and then throw
them in the water to stun the fish.
The seeds of this plant also provide an oily
ingredient that was perfect for pictograph paints.
It is thought that pictographs have been used inpuberty rites and for religious purposes.
The Kumeyaay ate the berries of the Toyon(Heteromeles arbutifolia) cooked or raw. Birds
like them also.
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The leaves from Black Sage (Salvia mellifera) were
used by the Kumeyaay to season their food. Theseeds were also parched, ground and eaten.
The dried pods from Bladderpod (Isomeris
arborea) were pulverized and used as a
condiment.
The spines from this Coastal
Prickly-Pear Cactus (Opuntia
littoralis var. vaseyi ) were used
to apply tattoos, using charcoal
as a pigment. Womensometimes tattooed foreheads,
cheeks, arms, and breasts and
men were sometimes tattooedon the legs. The plant also
supports a scaly insect called a
cochineal, which when crushed
produces a red dye. When the
Kumeyaay weren’t using the
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prickly-pears in these manners, they ate the fruits and paddles.
The seeds from the White Sage plant (Salvia
apiana) were ground for mush and both theseeds and the leaves were used as a
condiment. Tea from the white sage was used
to treat colds, flu, respiratory ailments, andpoison oak. The leaves were eaten, smoked or
used in a sweathouse to cure colds. The leaves
were also burned to purify hunters and their
weapons.
Leaves from the Coastal
Sagebrush ( Artemesiacalifornica) were brewed into a tea
to relieve the Kumeyaay from
stomach cramps and pain from
childbirth. It was also used as a
flea repellent and to mask a
person’s scent while hunting.
The Kumeyaay boiled the leaves from the
Laurel Sumac (Malosma laurina) to
bathe women with at the time ofchildbirth.
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The Kumeyaay used the leaves from
California Buckwheat (Eroigonum
fasciculatum) to cure headaches and
stomachaches, and the tea was said to
help shrink the uterus after childbirth.
These leaves were also used as
mouthwash, and the tea was said tostrengthen teeth and gums. It was also
used as an eyewash.
Cattails (Typha sp.) were mashed into
a paste and applied to burns, boils, beestings, and poison ivy rashes. Thepaste helped to rid the area of infection
and had a soothing effect. The leaves
of cattails were also made into mats andused in thatching the roofs of their
homes.
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