> I'm wondering if the Turtle Clan, or any Ojibwe or any Anishnaabe
> groups make coiled Sweetgrass baskets. If so, do you know if these
> groups also smudge with Sweetgrass. I've kind of noticed that groups
> seem to either use Sweetgrass for baskets or for smudging but there
> doesn't seem to be alot of cases that use Sweetgrass for both purposes.
> Also, do you happen to know what the Latin scientific term is for the
> plant that the Ojibwe call Sweetgrass? So far, I have identified
> Muhlenbergia filipes and muhlenbergia capillaris in the southeast, but
> in Maine its at least at different genus, if not a whole different
> species.
O.K... I have an answer about the Latin name for the plant we call
Sweetgrass. According to the "head" of the Redwood City Seed Company,
who sells sweetgrass at local powwows, the botanical name of this
plant is "hierochloe odorata". It is a circumpolar plant,used in Europe
for centuries is the same "sacred" way that it is used here. (supposedly
back at least a thousand years (before contact, as they say in anthro-
pological circles). The source of this info is a book I've never heard
of before called "Herbs & Spices" by Julia Morton. She is at the U. of
Miami at Coral Gables, Florida. There is a western species called
hierochloe occedentalis that grows in redwood areas.
I do know, from a Norwegian source, that smudging was practiced all over
Scandinavia "forever" but she didn't know if they used sweetgrass (&
she uses "traditional" smudgesticks obtainable at PowWows).
Hope this answers questions on both lists. I believe I also said that
what "we" call sweetgrass, from the Great Lakes area, is NOT the same
genus or even type of "grass" that is used in Florida for Basketry.
lyn
^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+
"We did not weave the web of life. We | Lyn Dearborn; Naturalist/Person
are merely a strand in it. Whatever | Turtle Clan Ojibwe
we do to the web, we do to ourselves" | Basketry Instruction
--"Walk gently on Mother Earth" -- | dearborn@anchor.engr.sgi.com
^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+