Herbal Formulas Used for Beverages

The Chippewa Native Americans usually did not drink water encountered in traveling, but boiled it, using some of the following herbs as a beverage. If fresh leaves were used, they were tied in a packet using a strip of basswood bark before placing in the water. Dried leaves carried with them could be used if fresh leaves were not available. Twigs were tied into a bundle by a strip of bark long enough to permit the lifting of the bundle and dropping into hot water without burning the hand.

The quantity used was usually a handful of leaves, or small bundle of twigs, to a quart of water, often sweetened with maple sugar and taken hot. The herbs usually used for a beverage were:

• Labrador tea leaves (Ledum groenlandicum oeder)
• Creeping snowberry leaves (Chiogenes hispidula L.)
• Wintergreen leaves (Gaultheria procumbens L.)
• Hemlock leaves (Tsuga canadensis L.)
• Spruce leaves (Picea rubra)
• Red raspberry twigs (Rubus strigosus)
• Chokecherry twigs (Prunus virginiana L.)
• Wild cherry twigs (Prunus serotina)