Juniperus virginiana L.
Synonyms: = Sabina virginiana
Common names: Eastern red cedar, Virginian juniper, red juniper, pencil cedar, Carolina cedar, red savin
Comanche: ekawaːpv (eka – “red”) (Carlson and Jones 1939:527) / tubitsiwaapI – “real cedar” / wapokopI / waapokopI (juniper berries) (Kavanagh 2008:264,337)
Creek: əcenə (Lewis and Jordan 2002:82),
Dakota: hante / hante sha (sha – “red”) (Gilmore 1977:11)
Kiowa: ‘ko-kee-äd-la, ahi’ñ, a-heeñ – “peculiar” or “conspicuous,”ya-‘toñ-bä – “wood for love flute” (Vestal and Schultes 1939:13),
Omaha-Ponca: maazi, Pawnee: tawatsaako (Gilmore 1977:11)
Navajo: kat-tiltxałíh – “juniper, crackling” / tilk’yistchíi’ – “juniper-wood, red” / kat·’ni’eełiih – “juniper, soft” (Elmore 1944:20)
Location in Texas: E & N TX; common in E Travis Co.
Form: tree, up to 90 ft, tall; perennial.
Flowers: Mar-May (green, purple, brown).
Notes – the fruits (technically cones) are only on female trees.
Food
Fruits – eaten raw or cooked by the Kiowa (Vestal and Schultes 1939:13) and Comanche (Carlson and Jones 1939:522,527, Kavanagh 2008:264,337,397). The fruits were dried for winter storage (Kavanagh 2008:357).
Medicine
Fruits – chewed by the Kiowa for a canker sore remedy (Vestal and Schultes 1939:13).
Fruits & needles – a decoction was drunk for coughs by the Kiowa (Vestal and Schultes 1939:13), Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, and Pawnee (Gilmore 1977:11). This decoction was also given to horses for coughs (Gilmore 1977:11).
Needles – burned and the smoke inhaled for head cold by the Kiowa (Vestal and Schultes 1939:13), Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, and Pawnee (Gilmore 1977:11). One method was to envelop the burning needle spray and head in a blanket (Gilmore 1977:11). The smoke was inhaled by the Pawnee for nervousness and bad dreams (Gilmore 1977:12). Needle sprays were placed on hot stones to create the smoke, sometimes inside sweathouses (Gilmore 1977:12, Kavanagh 2008:233).
A decoction was used internally and to bathe by the Oglala and Dakota to treat the Asiatic cholera epidemic (Gilmore 1977:12). The needle sprays were heated in water and both the hot infusion and heated needles were applied externally by the Creek to treat pains, aches, or swellings of the joints (Lewis and Jordan 2002:82). A decoction of the needles was drunk by the Meskwaki “for weakness and as a convalescent medicine” (Smith 1928:234).
Wood – used by the Meskwaki as a “seasoner” for other medicines, being prepared by stirring it in warm water (Smith 1928:234).
Notes – needle sprays were used as ceremonial incense and for “purifying” by the Comanche (Carlson and Jones 1939:522,538, Battey 1875:178,220, Kavanagh 2008:131,144,146,233), Kiowa (Vestal and Schultes 1939:13,72), and Creek (Lewis and Jordan 2002:82). A “sick or weak” person stood over a juniper fire and inhaled the smoke (Kavanagh 2008:93). A hot rock or coals were used for burning this incense (Gilmore 1977:12, Kavanagh 2008:233, Lewis and Jordan 2002:82).
Material
Bark – used to thatch Quapaw houses (Foster 1998:270).
Wood – because of its durability and limited warping, Kiowa tipis were made with juniper poles (Vestal and Schultes 1939:13). The wood was used for posts, house framing, and other constructions by the Quapaw (Foster 1998:270) and Comanche (Kavanagh 2008:178). It was the preferred material of the Caddo for house doors (La Vere 2006:86).
The wood was used for the Comanche bullroarer (yuʔanee – “warm/south wind” / wekubupu) at times of war (Kavanagh 2008:169). The bullroarer was used by medicine men in curing, and the instrument sometimes had notches on one edge to represent the beaver’s tail (Kavanagh 2008:169). This instrument was sounded to convene the Beaver Ceremony, a multi-day ritual with beaver effigies and references (e.g. “ponds” and bark) for curing a patient from tuberculosis or sorcery using Beaver Medicine (Kavanagh 2008:169-173).
Karankawa bows were made from the wood (Gatschet 1891:12). They were the height of the wielder, from foot to chin or eye or top of the head (Gatschet 1891:12,31). They were about two inches wide and 1.5 inches thick at the middle, with a string of deer sinew that was ¼ of an inch wide and carefully maintained (Gatschet 1891:12). The Karankawa were known as excellent bowmen, were precise in aim at 100 yards, and mostly fished, which was their principal manner of subsistence, by using their bows (Gatschet 1891:12,31,122,130). Note that unspecified Juniperus spp. wood was used by Plains tribes for bows (Dodge 1959), J. scopulorum was considered by the Northern Cheyenne to be good for bows (Hart 1981:5), J. monosperma was used by the Tewa (Robbins et al. 1916:39), J. occidentalis was used by the Klamath, but was not preferred to Pacific yew (Coville 1897:88), and J. osteosperma was used by the Timbasha but needed sinew backing (Coville 1892:360). The Timbasha used standing dead wood that had seasoned (Coville 1892:360), and the Northern Cheyenne used the trunk of a small tree or the limb of a larger tree (Hart 1981:5).
Heartwood – the red and aromatic heartwood was used by the Kiowa for making flutes (Vestal and Schultes 1939:13).
Notes – this tree symbolizes the tree of life in Osage tradition (Gilmore 1977:11). According to the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, and Pawnee, the tree is sacred to the mythical thunderbird, who nests in it, and juniper boughs were placed atop tipis as a lightning rod, or to avoid lighting strikes (Gilmore 1977:11). This tree was used to make the wand in the War Dance Ceremony of the Navajo (Elmore 1944:20).
Experimentation
I have eaten the berries many times. They vary greatly between individual trees. Some trees have bitter berries, and others have sweet berries. So if you find a sweet tree, you can return year after year to gather. Note that individual trees usually fruit every two years, but there are fruiting trees every year.
I use a tea made from the needle sprays and/or fruits for any cough or sore throat. It seems to help. The steam from boiling the same is nice when one has a cold, cough, or sore throat.
I always have clipped off needle sprays to use for incense. It is my favorite kind.
I always have the dried needle sprays and outer bark to use as tinder. Both ignite immediately and burn very well. I use splinters of wood and larger pieces as kindling, as they are similarly flammable.
I use Juniperus ashei and J. virginiana the same ways, and have not noticed any significant difference.
The wood or branches of Juniperus monosperma or J. scopulorum were used to make bows by the Tewa (Robbins et al. 1916:39), Navajo (Elmore 1944:19), and northern Cheyenne (Hart 1981:5). Ishi, an Indian from California, also used a Juniper wood bow, but only with sinew backing (Kroeber 1961:189). I have cut blank staves to attempt to make bow out of Juniperus virginiana wood, but they tend to be invariably twisted. I continue to search for a straight-grained piece that I can use for a bow.
Identification
Note that Juniperus ashei co-occurs with J. virginiana in Travis Co. They are identical at a glance. But J. virginiana occurs more frequently in the east side of the county and has a form more like a pine tree (straight, tall trunks), compared to the shrubby form of J. ashei. The needle sprays of J. virginiana are characteristically looser whereas those of J. ashei are more compact.
Leave a Reply