English

bitterroot

Scientific Name

Portulacaceae [Purslane Family]

Lewisia rediviva

Arapaho

Translation of Arapaho

‘it tastes bad.’

Bitterroot and the Arapaho

Food: staple. The root of this plant was eaten by the Arapaho. An alternate name given was 3eicii = ‘roots.’

Drug: heart medicine. The root was boiled and a preparation made for heart problems.

Drug: dermatological aid. The root is used to treat skin diseases.

Probable alternate name: neniicisoxu'oo’ ‘hollow medicine’

Drug: anti-convulsive and panacea. Alfred Kroeber says the root of this name was a cure for fits and a general cure-all. It was eaten whole. Murphey 1959:13 notes that when Lewisia rediviva was dried, it was called ‘macaroni-root’. The Arapaho word for ‘macaroni’ is neniicis-ou’u = ‘they are hollow’ -- the same morpheme being used in the above plant name. Therefore, the word above seems very likely to be a special name for ‘dried bitterroot.’