Navajo ethnobotany facts for kids

The Navajo people, also known as Diné, have a rich history and culture. They live in the Southwestern United States. For hundreds of years, the Navajo have used plants for many important things. These plants help them with food, medicine, tools, and ceremonies. This article explores some of the amazing ways the Navajo use plants in their daily lives and traditions.

Plants Starting with A

• Abronia fragrans (snowball-sand verbena): This plant was used for health. It helped with skin problems like boils. People also took it if they accidentally swallowed a spider. The Kayenta Navajo used it for stomach issues and insect bites. It could also help people sweat or throw up. The Ramah Navajo used it as a lotion for sores and to help with sweaty feet.
• Acer glabrum var. glabrum (Rocky Mountain maple): A special liquid made from this plant helped with swelling. The Ramah Navajo also saw it as a "life medicine" for overall well-being.
• Acer negundo (box elder): The wood from this tree was used to make tubes for bellows. Bellows are tools that push air, often used to make fires hotter.
• Achillea millefolium (western yarrow): This plant was used to wash cuts and saddle sores. It was also considered a "life medicine" to help people feel stronger. It could be used as a general tonic. The Kayenta Navajo used it for headaches, especially those from tired eyes. They also used it to help with fevers. The Ramah Navajo used it in special ceremonies to help people throw up.
• Acourtia wrightii (brownfoot): The Kayenta Navajo used this plant to help women during and after childbirth.
• Adiantum capillus-veneris (southern maidenhair fern): A liquid from this fern was used as a lotion for stings from bumblebees and centipedes. The Kayenta Navajo also used it to help with mental health, sometimes by smoking the plant.
• Agastache pallidiflora (New Mexico giant hyssop): The Ramah Navajo used this plant in ceremonies. It helped with bad coughs. Dried, powdered roots were used for sores. It was also used to create smoke for cleansing and to help with fevers.
• Agave: This plant was a very important food source. The baked fibers were squeezed for liquid to drink. The plant heads were baked or boiled, then flattened and dried for later use. These dried heads could be boiled again to make a paste or soup. The leaves and young flowering stalks were also cooked and eaten. Besides food, agave fibers were used to make strong ropes. The leaves lined baking pits, and the sharp leaf tips made tools for basket weaving.
• Agave utahensis (Utah agave): The strong fibers from this plant were used to make blankets.
• Ageratina herbacea (fragrant snakeroot): A cold liquid from this plant was taken and used as a lotion for headaches and fevers by the Ramah Navajo.
• Agoseris aurantiaca (orange agoseris): The Ramah Navajo used this plant in ceremonies to help people throw up. A cold liquid was used as a lotion for wounds and for protection. Wet leaves were rubbed on swollen arms, wrists, or ankles. The root was seen as a "life medicine."
• Allionia incarnata: A cold liquid from this plant was used by the Ramah as a lotion for swellings.
• Androsace septentrionalis (pygmyflower rockjasmine): The Kayenta used this plant to help with pain believed to be caused by witchcraft.
• Antennaria: This plant was used in ceremonies for protection.
• Artemisia tridentata: The steam from this plant helped with headaches. It was also used for colds and fevers, and in religious ceremonies. A special tea helped with stomachaches. Women drank an infusion to help with childbirth. People also took it before long hikes to feel better. The Kayenta Navajo used it as a laxative. A liquid from the plant was used as a lotion for snakebites. The Ramah Navajo used a tea from the leaves for pain after childbirth and for bad coughs. They also put wet leaves on swellings. It was used in sweatbaths to help people sweat, and a cold liquid was used as a lotion for cuts on sheep.

Plants Starting with B

• Baccharis salicifolia (mulefat): The Kayenta Navajo used this plant in a mix with others. This mix was used as a lotion for chills, especially after being in cold water.

Plants Starting with C

• Carex: The seeds of this plant were ground into a mush and eaten by the Navajo people of Kayenta, Arizona.
• Ceanothus fendleri: This plant was mixed with Frasera to make a medicine. This medicine was used to help with feelings of "alarm and nervousness." It could be taken or applied to the skin.
• Commelina dianthifolia: The Ramah Navajo gave a cold liquid from this plant to their livestock (farm animals).
• Cordylanthus ramosus: A liquid from this plant was used to help people throw up. It also helped stop nosebleeds. This plant was also used to help prevent broken ribs.

Plants Starting with D

• Dalea candida, candida variety (white prairieflower): The Ramah used this plant for stomachaches. It was also a "life medicine," especially for fevers. A special tea made from it helped sheep with certain health issues.
• Draba reptans: The Ramah Navajo put crushed leaves from this plant on sores to help them heal.

Plants Starting with E

• Euphorbia revoluta: The Kayenta used this plant as a lotion for chafing and sores on the skin.

Plants Starting with F

• Fendlera rupicola: A liquid from the inner bark of this plant was used as a remedy if someone swallowed something they shouldn't have. It also helped to get rid of head lice. This plant was used in several important Navajo ceremonies. Its wood was also used to make arrow shafts.
• Frasera: This plant was combined with Ceanothus fendleri to make a medicine. This medicine helped with feelings of "alarm and nervousness." It could be taken or applied to the skin.

Plants Starting with G

• Gutierrezia microcephala: A poultice (a soft, moist mass) made from this plant was put on the backs and legs of horses.

Plants Starting with I

• Iris missouriensis: A special tea made from this plant was used to help people throw up.

Plants Starting with J

• Juniperus communis: This plant was used as a traditional remedy for diabetes among the Navajo.

Plants Starting with L

• Lithospermum ruderale: Studies on mice showed that this plant could affect their ability to have babies.
• Lycium pallidum: This plant was used for toothaches and to help with chickenpox.

Plants Starting with P

• Packera multilobata: This plant was used for health purposes.
• Pericome caudata: This plant had many uses in ceremonies and for health.
• Picea pungens: This tree was used for both health and ceremonial purposes.
• Pinus flexilis: The wood from this tree was used to make bows and arrows for ceremonial use.
• Prunus americana: This plant was used to make a red dye.
• Psilostrophe tagetina: The Ramah Navajo made a strong liquid from this plant to help people go to the bathroom. It also helped with stomachaches and was used as an eyewash. A lotion from it helped with itching. It could be gargled for a sore throat or applied as a poultice.

Plants Starting with T

• Thelesperma megapotamicum: This plant was used to make a yellow dye. It was also used as a medicinal tea. It played a role in several Navajo ceremonies. Its wood was used to make arrow shafts. It was also used to make sticks that were rubbed together in the mountain chant ceremony. Other tools like weaving forks, planting sticks, and knitting needles were also made from it. The plant was boiled with juniper berries, pinon buds, and cornmeal for ceremonial meals.

Plants Starting with V

• Viola nephrophylla: The Ramah Navajo used this plant in ceremonies to help people throw up.

Plants Starting with Z

• Zinnia grandiflora: This plant was used for health purposes.