SanElijoLagoon.pdf

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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.



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



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.



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



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.



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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