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Medicine:
Although eastern American Indians have
used witch hazel to treat a variety of conditions, the Chippewa used
it specifically to treat sore, inflamed, or infected eyes.
Contemporary new England folk medicine continues to use witch hazel in
this manner.
Witch hazel is a tree native to North
America. After colonists learned its importance from the Indians, its use
for healing spread to Europe, where it is still prescribed today in
professional British herbalism and in conventional German medicine.
The German government, after reviewing scientific evidence, has approved
its use for minor inflammations of the skin and mucous membranes.
Witch hazel products are available in most drug stores and health food
stores.
Directions:
Purchase witch hazel leaves at a health food store or herb
shop. Do no use commercial alcohol-based preparations-the alcohol
will irritate your eyes. Place 1 teaspoon of the leaves in a cup and
fill with boiling water. Cover and let stand until the water reaches
room temperature. Moisten a cloth in the tea and apply to shut eyes.
Witch Hazel
Extract: A commercial witch hazel extract has been a popular
over-the-counter remedy for hemorrhoids in North America since the
mid-1800s. The story of the commercial product is one of the best
documented cases of an American Indian medicine that was adopted by both
the medical profession and the general public. In the early 1840s,
Theron Pond of Utica, NY, saw the local Indians of the Oneida tribe using
an herbal preparation to treat burns, boils, wound and other afflictions
of the skin. After making the acquaintance of their medicine man,
Pond learned that the preparation was made by steeping witch hazel bark in
an ordinary tea kettle over an open fire and collecting the steam.
The result was a clear liquid with a golden color and strong aroma.
Pond went into partnership with the medicine man to produce the product
for local sales. The added alcohol to stabilize the product.
Called Golden Treasure, the product was put on the market in 1848.
Pond died a few year later and, ultimately, the product was rename Pond's
Extract.
Pond's family physician, a homeopathic
doctor named Frederick Humphrey, M.D., obtained some of the medicine and
tried it out. with his recommendation, its use soon spread rapidly
among the other homeopaths of New York. Eventually the product's use
spread even further amongst the medical profession. It became a
popular over-the-counter remedy throughout the U.S. and Europe. By
the late 1880s, it was a standard toiletry item in hotels in Paris and
London. Pond's Extract Company survived into the 20th century.
It is the source of the famous Pond's cold cream, which, in its original
formula, also contained witch hazel extract.
Witch hazel bark contains astringent
compounds that help shrink swollen tissues, although these are not the
medicinal ingredients in the witch hazel extract sold in stores
today. The bark also contains small amounts of the substance phenol,
which escapes with the steam and is captured in the extraction
process. Large amounts of phenol are poisonous, but tiny amounts can
be used medicinally as a topical anesthetic, antiseptic, and anti-itching
agent.
Specific Tribal Use:
Cherokee -
Infusion taken for sore throat also, taken for periodic pains.
Infusion taken for colds also, compound infusion taken for fevers.
Infusion used as wash for sores & skinned places leaves rubbed on
scratches. Infusion taken for colds also, compound infusion taken
for fevers. Infusion of bark taken for tuberculosis.
Chippewa
- Infusion of inner bark used as lotion for skin troubles. Inner
bark used as an emetic, especially in cases of poisoning. Infusion
of inner bark used as a wash for sore eyes.
Iroquois
- Infusion of twig bark taken for bloody dysentery and cholera.
Poultice of branches applied to body part affected by colds and
heaves. Compound used for arthritis. Compound decoction of tips and sprouts taken as a blood
purifier. Decoction of young branches taken or poultice applied for
colds. Decoction of young branches taken as medicine for coughs and
colds. Decoction of bark taken when one can't eat, to
stimulate the appetite. Compound decoction taken to prevent
hemorrhage after childbirth. Decoction of shoots taken by a pregnant woman
who has fallen or been hurt. Decoction of bark taken as an
emetic. Decoction of leaves and twigs taken for cold around the
heart. Decoction of twigs taken and poultice of bark used to
regulate the kidneys. Infusion of twig bark taken for bloody
dysentery and cholera. Decoction of shoots taken and poultice of
bark used for bruises. Bark used as an astringent. No preparation
indicated. Compound decoction of roots taken as a panacea.
Decoction of bark taken for lung troubles or for spots and scars on
lungs. Decoction of new growth twigs taken for chest colds and
asthma. Plant used for toothache. No preparation or application
indicated. Compound decoction of roots or bark taken for
consumption. Compound decoction of bark taken for venereal
disease. Seeds used as the sacred bead in the medicine
ceremony. Decoction rubbed on legs during sports, to keep legs
limber. Infusion of twigs used to cure a lame back. Dried
seeds used in a test to tell whether sick person would recover.
Mohegan -
Infusion of twigs & leaves used as lotion for cuts, bruises, &
insect bites.
Potawatomi
- Twigs used to create steam in the sweat bath to ease sore muscles.
Historic Reference:
"They are a people clothed with
loose mantles of Deere skins…those weapons that they have, are only bows
made of Witch hazel, & arrows of reeds." Harriot Virginia Indians
1590
"Witch Hasell or the broadest
leaved Elme (ulmus montana)….This prospereth and naturally groweth..in
good plenty in moist placed in Hampshire where it is commonly called Witch
Hasell. Old men affirme, that when long bows were in great use, there were
very many made of the wood of this tree…" Gerarde-Johnson 1633
"I shall tell you what I learn'd
of the use of the Hamamelis from a Minister of the Church of England who
officiates among the Mohawk Indians. He saw an almost total blindness
occasioned by a blow cured by receiving the Warm Stream of a Decoction of
the Bark of this Shrub through a Funnel upon the place. This was done by
direction of a Mohawk Indian after other means had for a considerable time
proved ineffectual. I have since experienced the benefit of it used in the
same manner in an Inflammation of the eye from a blow." Dr. Colden
Letter to John Gronovius in Leyden 1744
"The Witch Hazel grows very
bushy, about ten feet high, and is covered early in May with numerous
white blossoms. When this shrub is in bloom, the indians esteem it a
further indication that the frost is entirely gone, and that they might
sow their corn." 1778 Carver
"The Indians considered this tree
as a valuable article in their materia medica… They applied the bark,
which is sedative and discutient, to painful tumors and external
inflammations. A cataplasm of the inner rind of the bark, is found to be
very efficacious in removing painful inflammations of the eyes. The bark
chewed in the mouth is, at first somewhat bitter, very sensible
astringent, and then leaves a pungent, sweetish, taste, which will remain
for a considerable time." 1785 Cutler
"The Indians value this shrub
highly, and it is much used in the North by herbalists. The bark affords
an excellent topical application for painful tumors and piles, external
inflammations, sore and inflamed eyes…a tea is made from the leaves and
employed for many purposes, in amennorrhea, bowel complaints, pains in the
sides, menstrual effusions, bleeding of the stomach…In this last case,
the chewed leaves, decoction of the bark or tea of the leaves, are all
employed with great advantage. A strong infusion is given in injection for
bowel complaints. Called shemba by the Osage Indians, and used for ulcers,
tumors, sores, in a poultice." 1828 Rafinesque
"A concoction of seven herbs is
taken by the Penobscot as a sudorific before entering the sweat bath. It
comprises, among the seven, witch hazel twigs." Speck 1915
"Witch Hazel…was stated by
Iroquois Chief David Jack to be made into a decoction of suitable
strength, sweetened with maple sugar and used as a tea at meals."
Waugh 1916
"The Menominee Indians of
Wisconsin learned the uses of witch hazel from their neighbors, the
Stockbridge Indians, an immigrant Mohican group from Massachusetts. A
decoction of it was used by the participants in games, to rub on their
legs to keep them limbered up. The twigs of witch hazel are steeped and
the decoction is used to cure a lame back. The seeds were also used as the
sacred bead in the medicine ceremony. These black beads were called 'megise'."
H. Smith 1923
"This was one of the remedies
that the Forest Potawatomi use in their sweat baths. They place the twigs
in water and with hot rocks create steam which bathes sore muscles."
H. Smith 1933
"Indians use the inner bark of
black locust as an emetic, wild gentian for stomach ailments, hazel-bark
poultice for ulcers…" John D. Hunter 1823
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