Cupressaceae Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.

Rocky Mountain Juniper

Okanagan-Colville - Other, Protection

Use documented by:
Turner, Nancy J., R. Bouchard and Dorothy I.D. Kennedy, 1980, Ethnobotany of the Okanagan-Colville Indians of British Columbia and Washington, Victoria. British Columbia Provincial Museum, page 19

View all documented uses for Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.

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Scientific name: Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.
USDA symbol: JUSC2 (View details at USDA PLANTS site)
Common names: Rocky Mountain Juniper
Family: Cupressaceae
Family (APG): Cupressaceae
Native American Tribe: Okanagan-Colville
Use category: Other
Use sub-category: Protection
Notes: Boughs considered an extremely powerful medicine for combating evil spirits associated with death. When a person died, his family used the boughs to fumigate the house. All the doors and windows were closed and the boughs were burned and the smoke allowed to fill all the rooms. This treatment was made even more effective by adding rose branches to the juniper. After the smoke treatment, rose and juniper branches were boiled together and the water used to wash the entire house--lights, windows, floors, walls and ceilings. This wash water was then taken outside and splashed all around the house and along the trails leading to the outbuildings to prevent the spirit of the dead person from coming back to the house.

RECRD: 12102 id: 19013

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