The Story of Ginseng
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retold by Keenan, Nick, Drew, Jukas, Dana, Erica, Richie, Matthew, Anthony, Becky, Justin, Travis, Bryce, Laura, John, Stephan, Kandace, Steven, Cecily, Sarah, Earlene One spring, on the mountain, back in the old days, the medicine men had meetings in the forest. They shared information about new medicines to heal people from sicknesses. Yellowroot heals colds. Cherry bark aids sore throats. Touch-me-not helps poison ivy sores. Bloodroot helps diarrhea. Tobacco and sassafras leaf help bee stings. |
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They
used other medicines from the forest. They used the sweat
house like a hospital to cure people and get people's fevers down.
They made a bed out of wood and hay. There was a fire in
the middle and a hole in the top. They lay their medicine
on a bench. They also used a turtle shell with beans in
it to shake over someone's face. They sang songs when they
did that.
A young medicine man strode into the meeting while they were sharing information. He was smart. They couldn't tell his age, but he knew so much and he was younger than them. They let him join the meetings. They didn't know where he learned all those things. And they didn't know where he came from. They didn't even know what tribe he came from. They learned stuff from him. It seemed like it was magical stuff to them. They decided to track him after one meeting. They followed him on a path around the mountain. The man asked, "Why do you come to my village?" They people looked around, but they didn't see any village. They saw plants. The man said the plants are medicine. When you come and get them, just take what you need once a year. Just come when you're sick. The man vanished and they found a plant where he vanished. The root of the plant looks like it has legs and arms. He was the ginseng plant. From that day forward, we use ginseng. We have to be easy with it. When we get it from the woods, we just take what we need. Use the big plants. You should allow the little ones to develop seeds. Here are some ways to use ginseng. You can compress the juice from the berries into your eyes and see better for 3 hours. You can use the root and leaves for tea. It gives you energy. It makes you a little bit stronger. It makes you feel better. It keeps you from getting sick. It helps sore throats. It aids fever. Some people use ginseng for gum. They chew the root. Whatever medicine you use, when you add ginseng to it, the medicine is stronger. You have to locate ginseng way back in the mountains. The Indian people used ginseng ever since that man turned into a ginseng plant.
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