Another Proto-Mississippi Valley *py Set

[Patricia Albers]

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."

Blazing star is an alternate name for the dotted gayfeather, Liatris
punctata, which is a member of the aster or composite family.

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]  Galium trifolium  and wahpe wacanga
hu bloka [sweet smelling leaf for men] G.alium  aparine..



>On Sun, 5 Oct 2003, Jimm GoodTracks wrote:
>>  This term is really meant for "wild mint" and includes another plant, the
>>  "Indian Perfume" plant, which is more specifically, as John found:
>>  "HaN'pyubraN", which is tall and has a pink/ purplish flower that resembles
>>  clover.  While it is used as an herbal tea ...
>
>This sounds like it might be what is variously called horsemint or
>bergamot or blazing star in English.  It does usually have a very pleasant
>smell to it.  The common garden varieties smell a bit like a cross between
>mint and basil.  The smell is strong enough that it can be unpleasant if
>smelled too much.  The genus is Monarda, a member of the mint family, with
>the diagnostic square stems and characteristic strong smell.  It's not
>genus Mentha in the strict Linnaean sense.
>
>I noticed Gilmore has an interesting discussion for horsemint.  In the
>theory of the groups he consulted there are two varieties of Monarda
>fistulosa:  a bitter or bad smelling variety and a pleasant smelling
>variety.  The former is used medicinally, while the latter is considered a
>perfume.  He mentions that Dorsey says that the Dakota use the latter in
>connection with the Sun dance, which recalls Jimm's comment on its use by
>Iroshka.
>
>The first variety is:
>
>Da xexaka tha phez^uta 'elk medicine' or xexaka tha wote 'elk food'
>OP ppez^e ppa 'bitter herb'
>Pa "tsusahtu" 'ill smelling'
>
>The second variety is:
>
>Da waxpe was^temna 'fragrant leaves'
>OP is^na=khidhe igahi 'hair pomade' or ppez^e ppa miNga 'female bitter
>herb'
>Pa "tsostyu" (meaning unknown)
>
>Gilmore indicates that the Pawnee distinguish two more forms, and
>indicates that at least the first two are distinct genetic strains in his
>own experience, and not seasonal or locational variations.  He says he has
>found them sometimes quite close to each other.
>
>Dorsey has a story about the elk having to eat bitter weeds.
>
>Notice that the Dakota name of the second variety of these follows the
>pattern for mint names that we have been noticing - waxpe 'leaves' refers
>to the plant, which is then characterized as was^te 'nice' mna(N) 'having
>a smell', where mnaN is the equivalent of the (u)bdhaN, (u)braN form we've
>seen in the other languages.
>
>I wonder about the first element in the IO term - the haN.  I couldn't
>find anything that would fit.
>
>JEK
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