English
turnip, white
Scientific Name
Lomatium dissectum
Arapaho
Translation of the Arapaho
'good for eating?'
White Turnip in the Arapaho
Drug: disinfectant. “Used to make a scent for a sick person” (Nickerson).
Drug: unspecified. The plant was gathered for medicine. One Arapaho place name in northern Colorado can be glossed as ‘where we get white turnips.’ The medicinal importance of this plant is indicated by the fact that the Arapaho translation provided for the place name was simply ‘where we get medicine.’ The root was boiled to make a medicinal drink (Nickerson).
Drug: cough medicine. Hilger says that the root was boiled in water and then drunk to cure coughs. Kroeber reports the root was used against coughs.
Drug: herbal steam. A tea and steambath made against cold and flu (Nickerson). The use in teas is verified by contemporary elders. They add that the root was gathered in the Owl Creek Mountains on the north end of the Reservation.
Drug: dermatological and orthopedic aid. Dry pounded root added to grease for massages (Nickerson). This use still occurs today.
Drug: cold remedy. Water with boiled root used to sponge sick people (Nickerson 1966).
Food: vegetable. Young shoots cooked and eaten as greens (Nickerson 1966).
Other: smoke plant. “Dried root chips diluted with Bull Durham...for a friendly smoke (Nickerson).
Other: good luck charm. As an amulet for children (Kroeber).
Other: ceremonial incense. Hilger (1952:92) reports that roots of this plant were burned constantly whenever the northern lights appeared, to make them go away, since some Arapaho believed them to bring sickness. Hilger also reports that this root was used to smudge the hoods of cradles before baby girls were first placed in them. Kroeber says it was used ceremonially in the ritual which celebrated the ornamenting of a tipi, in the Dog Lodge age-grade ceremony, for incense for children and generally in ceremonies, as well as in connection with the sacred medicine bags.
A related species of Lomatium