Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Jun 21:2:29.
doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-2-29.

Gitksan medicinal plants--cultural choice and efficacy

Leslie Main Johnson  1
Affiliations

Gitksan medicinal plants--cultural choice and efficacy

Leslie Main Johnson. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. .

Abstract

Background: The use of plants for healing by any cultural group is integrally related to local concepts of the nature of disease, the nature of plants, and the world view of the culture. The physical and chemical properties of the plants themselves also bear on their selection by people for medicines, as does the array of plants available for people to choose from. I examine use of medicinal plants from a "biobehavioral" perspective to illuminate cultural selection of plants used for medicine by the Gitksan of northwestern British Columbia, Canada.

Methods: Consultant consensus, "intercultural consensus", independent use of the same plants by other cultural groups, and phytochemistry and bioassay results from the literature, were employed in analysis of probable empirical efficacy of plant uses.

Results: 70% of 37 Gitksan medicinal plants were used similarly by other cultures where direct diffusion is not known to have occurred; eleven plants, including the eight most frequently mentioned medicinal plants, also show active phytochemicals or bioassays indicating probable physiologically based therapeutic effects.

Conclusion: Analysis of intercultural consensus revealed that the majority of cultures in the British Columbia region within the plant ranges use the same plants, or closely related species, in similar ways. The rigor of this analysis is effected by the lack of consistent data on all taxa of interest for all cultures within the region.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Index Map of Cultural Groups for Intercultural Consensus Analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Map of Medicinal Use of Devil's Club, Oplopanax horridus.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Map of Medicinal Use of Yellow Pond Lily, Nuphar polysepalum.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Map of Medicinal Use of Indian Hellebore, Veratrum viride.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Map of Medicinal Use of "Balsam", Abies lasiocarpa, A. grandis and A. amabilis.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Map of Medicinal Use of Spruce, Picea engelmannii, P. glauca, P. sitchensis and hybrids.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Map of Medicinal Use of Lodgepole Pine and Shore Pine, Pinus contorta.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Map of Medicinal Use of Juniper Juniperus communis and J. scopulorum.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Map of Medicinal Use of Red Elderberry, Sambucus racemosa.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Barbeau M. Medicine-Men of the North Pacific Coast. 1958.
    1. Johnson LM. Health, Healing and the Land: An Examination of Gitksan Traditional Medicine and Healing. University of Alberta. 1997.
    1. Gottesfeld LMJ, Anderson B. Gitksan Traditional Medicine: Herbs and Healing. Journal of Ethnobiology. 1988;8:13–33.
    1. Johnson LM. Ethnobotanical Research in Northwest British Columbia: Collaboration with the Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en. In: MF DWall, McCormack PA, Payne M, Wein EE, Wein RW, editor. Securing Northern Futures: Developing Research Partnerships Proceedings of an International Conference, May 1–4, 1997. Edmonton: Canadian Circumpolar Institute; 1999. pp. 159–170. Occasional Publication No. 45.
    1. Compton B, Rigsby B, Tarpent M-L, Ed Ethnobotany of the Gitksan Indians of British Columbia by Harlan I. Smith. Ottawa, Hull, Quebec National Museum of Canada, Canadian Museum of Civilization. 1997.

Publication types

Substances