| Symphyotrichum cordifolium (L.) Nesom Common Blue Wood Aster USDA SYCO4 |
Ojibwa Drug, Hunting Medicine Root used to make a smoke or incense to attract deer near enough to shoot it with a bow and arrow. A number of the composites as well as plants from other families are used in the hunting charms. The deer carries its scent or spoor in between its toes, and wherever the foot is impressed into the ground, other animals can detect its presence. This allows dogs to track them. It is a peculiar scent and the Ojibwe tries successfully to counterfeit it with roots and herbs. The root of this aster is but one of nineteen that can be used. They say that the white man drives the deer away when he smokes cigarettes or cigars, but the Indian bring them closer. Smith, Huron H., 1932, Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians, Bulletin of the Public Museum of Milwaukee 4:327-525, page 428 |