English

aspen

Scientific Name

Salicaceae [Willow/Poplar Family]

Populus tremuloides

Arapaho

bíiit; also nonookoxooti’

Translation of Arapaho

the first word simply means 'aspen'; the second word means ‘it has white bark.’

Aspen and the Arapaho

Fiber: building material. This tree is mentioned in the Arapaho story of “Bluebird, Buffalo Woman and Elk Woman” (Dorsey and Kroeber, Traditions of the Arapaho, p. 394, 396), where it is one of four woods used to build a sweat lodge which will repel a buffalo attack. Schoolcraft 1853:451 gives the same word for ‘elm.’

Ceremonial: sometimes used for ceremonial incense