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<div>I am also pretty certain from Jimm GoodTracks description that
this is wild bergamot because this is the perfume plant Plains Apache
collected in the 1960s and tied into handkerchiefs when I attended
Bill Bittle's field school. The Plains Apaches also used
this as a love medicine. The Plains Apache, as Judy Jordon
writes, also distinguish between the varieties considering one the
"true" perfume plant and the other a "look
alike."</div>
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<div>Blazing star is an alternate name for the dotted gayfeather,<i>
Liatris punctata</i>, which is a member of the aster or composite
family. </div>
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<div>Another set of Lakota perfume plants found in Buechel come from
the madder family. These are the bedstraws: wahpe wacanga
hu winyela [sweet smelling leaf for women]<i> Galium
trifolium<u> </u></i> and wahpe wacanga hu bloka [sweet smelling
leaf for men]<font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><u><i>
G.alium aparine..</i></u></font></div>
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<blockquote type="cite" cite>On Sun, 5 Oct 2003, Jimm GoodTracks
wrote:<br>
> This term is really meant for "wild mint" and includes
another plant, the<br>
> "Indian Perfume" plant, which is more specifically, as
John found:<br>
> "HaN'pyubraN", which is tall and has a pink/ purplish
flower that resembles<br>
> clover. While it is used as an herbal tea ...<br>
<br>
This sounds like it might be what is variously called horsemint or<br>
bergamot or blazing star in English. It does usually have a very
pleasant<br>
smell to it. The common garden varieties smell a bit like a
cross between<br>
mint and basil. The smell is strong enough that it can be
unpleasant if<br>
smelled too much. The genus is Monarda, a member of the mint
family, with<br>
the diagnostic square stems and characteristic strong smell.
It's not<br>
genus Mentha in the strict Linnaean sense.<br>
<br>
I noticed Gilmore has an interesting discussion for horsemint.
In the<br>
theory of the groups he consulted there are two varieties of
Monarda<br>
fistulosa: a bitter or bad smelling variety and a pleasant
smelling<br>
variety. The former is used medicinally, while the latter is
considered a<br>
perfume. He mentions that Dorsey says that the Dakota use the
latter in<br>
connection with the Sun dance, which recalls Jimm's comment on its use
by<br>
Iroshka.<br>
<br>
The first variety is:<br>
<br>
Da xexaka tha phez^uta 'elk medicine' or xexaka tha wote 'elk
food'<br>
OP ppez^e ppa 'bitter herb'<br>
Pa "tsusahtu" 'ill smelling'<br>
<br>
The second variety is:<br>
<br>
Da waxpe was^temna 'fragrant leaves'<br>
OP is^na=khidhe igahi 'hair pomade' or ppez^e ppa miNga 'female
bitter<br>
herb'<br>
Pa "tsostyu" (meaning unknown)<br>
<br>
Gilmore indicates that the Pawnee distinguish two more forms, and<br>
indicates that at least the first two are distinct genetic strains in
his<br>
own experience, and not seasonal or locational variations. He
says he has<br>
found them sometimes quite close to each other.<br>
<br>
Dorsey has a story about the elk having to eat bitter weeds.<br>
<br>
Notice that the Dakota name of the second variety of these follows
the<br>
pattern for mint names that we have been noticing - waxpe 'leaves'
refers<br>
to the plant, which is then characterized as was^te 'nice' mna(N)
'having<br>
a smell', where mnaN is the equivalent of the (u)bdhaN, (u)braN form
we've<br>
seen in the other languages.<br>
<br>
I wonder about the first element in the IO term - the haN. I
couldn't<br>
find anything that would fit.<br>
<br>
JEK</blockquote>
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