Artemisia ludoviciana Nutt.
Synonyms: =Artemisia gnaphalodes, A. rhizomata, A. silvicola, A. mexicana, A. neomexicana
Common names: White sagebrush, silver wormwood, gray sagewort, prairie sage, white sage, cudweed, lobed cudweed, sagewort, Louisiana wormwood, western mugwort, estafiate, stafiate
Apache: tsejintci – “strong smelling sage” (Castetter and Opler 1936:62)
Cahuilla: hang-al (Barrows 1967:38)
Northern Cheyenne: hetané-vanoʔėtse – “man sage” (Hart 1981:18)
Comanche: pɔhɔβiv (Carlson and Jones 1939:520) / pohóobi (Kavanagh 2008:336)
Dakota: pezhiḣota blaska (blaska – “flat”) (Gilmore 1977:82-83)
Flathead: qepqepte (Hart 1979:278)
Hocąk: xąwi̜skarawirotapąnąhi (Kidscher and Hurlburt 1998:361)
Kiowa: tà-a (Vestal and Schultes 1939:56)
Meskwaki: wapû’skwi̥ʰ – “white” / sokîmeû’skwi̥ʰ – “mosquitos” / wapskûk / sûkimä’obag – “mosquito smoke” (Smith 1928:211)
Ojibwe: îmbjî’goa / bebeji’goganji wî’ngûsk – “horse hollow tube” (Smith 1932:363,417)
Omaha-Ponca: pezhe-ḣota – “gray herb” (Gilmore 1977:82-83)
Pawnee: kiwaut (Gilmore 1977:82-83)
Winnebago: hanwinska – “white herb” (Gilmore 1977:82-83)
Location in Texas: all TX; not uncommon in Travis Co.
Form: herb, low shrub; perennial.
Food
Leaves – used as a flavoring for meat by the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache (Castetter and Opler 1936:47). The leaves were used for tea by the Comanche, sometimes with sugar or cream added (Kavanagh 2008:315,357). Leaves were chewed for flavor by the Blackfeet (Hellson and Gadd 1974:101).
Medicine
Leaves – crushed by the Mexican Kickapoo, salted, and applied to dermatitis from poison ivy contact (Latorre and Latorre 1977:351). A decoction was used by the Northern Cheyenne as a wash to treat contact dermatitis from poison ivy (Hart 1979:278). The Northern Cheyenne placed the leaves in bathwater along with a decoction from Rosa woodsii to treat itchiness (Hart 1979:278).
Leaves were crushed and applied to wounds by the Mexican Kickapoo (Latorre and Latorre 1977:351). A decoction was used by the Flathead to wash bruises (Hart 1979:278). A decoction of leaves was drunk for colds by the Northern Cheyenne (Hart 1979:278). An infusion sweetened with sugar was drunk to treat colic in Comanche children (Kavanagh 2008:357). Leaves were crushed and used by the Northern Cheyenne as a snuff for sinus attacks, nosebleeds, and headaches (Hart 1981:19). Leaves were mixed with tobacco for smoking by the Sioux (Smith 1932:363,417). A decoction was strained, absorbed into a cloth, and a drop or two was applied to sore eyes by the Comanche (Kavanagh 2008:336). The leaves were chewed and their juice was swallowed by the Kiowa for sore throat (Vestal and Schultes 1939:57). An infusion or decoction was drunk by the Meskwaki for tonsilitis and sore throat (Smith 1928:211). A tincture was used to heal old sores, especially from scrofula or infected lymph nodes on the throat (Smith 1928:211).
They were also chewed by the Kiowa and applied as a poultice for sores (Vestal and Schultes 1939:57). The leaves were used by the Yucatec Maya to treat vomiting (Ankli et al. 1999:149).
Aboveground parts – used in steam baths / sweathouses by the Comanche, Arapaho (Berlandier 1969:90, Ohlendorf et al. 1980:350), and Kiowa (Vestal and Schultes 1939:57). Besides regular use, these baths were used to treat various fevers and rheumatic pain (Berlandier 1969:90). A decoction was drunk for stomach ailments and many other ailments by the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, Winnebago, Pawnee (Gilmore 1977:83), Kiowa (Vestal and Schultes 1939:56), and Mexican Kickapoo (Latorre and Latorre 1977:351). A decoction was used by the Mexican Kickapoo for bathing sores (Latorre and Latorre 1977:351). A decoction was drunk by the Kiowa for ailments of the lungs or to reduce phlegm (Vestal and Schultes 1939:56). The foliage was also rolled up, chewed, and the juice swallowed by the Kiowa for its medicinal uses (Vestal and Schultes 1939:56).
Whole plant – a decoction was used by the Mexican Kickapoo to wash wounds three times per day (Latorre and Latorre 1977:351).
[unspecified parts] – used by the Hocąk as a smudge to revive consciousness (Kidscher and Hurlburt 1998:361).
Notes – leaves were used as a ceremonial incense by the Northern Cheyenne (Bernier 2004:52, Hart 1981:19). The plant was rubbed on people and things to “purify” them (Bernier 2004:52, Hart 1981:19). It was used for many ritual purposes and was considered a most important ceremonial plant of the Cheyenne (Bernier 2004:52, Hart 1981:18). The plant was used as incense to drive away “evil powers” by the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, Winnebago, and Pawnee (Gilmore 1977:83).
Material
Leaves – dried and used by the Northern Cheyenne as tinder for starting fires (Hart 1981:19). A smudge was used by the Meskwaki to drive away mosquitoes (Smith 1928:211).
Stems – peeled, notched for a nock, pointed, straightened with the teeth, and used for arrows by the Cahuilla (Barrows 1967:50).
Aboveground parts – used as a towel by the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, Winnebago, and Pawnee (Gilmore 1977:83).
The plant was used by the Cahuilla to make granaries (Barrows 1967:52, Bean and Saubel 1972:111). The plants were twisted into long ropes that were coiled upward, much as coiled basketry work (Bean and Saubel 1972:111). Willow (Salix spp.) shoots or arrowweeds (Pluchea sericea) may have been used in combination or substitution (Bean and Saubel 1972:111). The granaries were plastered with mud on the inside to make it airtight (Bean and Saubel 1972:111). After filling it with mesquite beans, the granaries were sealed with wormwood shoots and mud daub (Barrows 1967:52, Bean and Saubel 1972:111). This prevented the infestation of insects (Bean and Saubel 1972:111). The granaries were set upon platforms of poles or on the tops of high boulders to be out of reach of small rodents (Bean and Saubel 1972:111). They were semi-circular, about 3 ft in diameter, and with a mouth about 10 in across at the top (Barrows 1967:52). Such granaries were large enough to hold 300-500 lbs. of beans, sufficient to feed a family of 6-10 people for a year (Bean and Saubel 1972:111). Mesquite pod granaries were made in the same way by the Kamia (Gifford 1931:40).
Food cache holes were dug under cliff overhangs by the Ute (Smith 1974:67). Sacks of rawhide or bags woven from Artemisia sp. were lined with clean dry grass, the sacks covered with bark, grass, and rocks, then covered with dirt and more rocks, and a fire built atop to disguise it (Smith 1974:67).
White sagebrush was used for walls and roofs of Cahuilla houses (Barrow 1967:38). They were piled on the roof frame and covered with dirt (Barrows 1967:38). They were used for wattle and mud daub construction of walls (Barrows 1967:38).
The plants were packed away with Comanche clothes to perfume them (Kavanagh 2008:327). Piles of them covered by a blanket were used for cushions by the Comanches (Carlson and Jones 1939:537, Kavanagh 2008:143,336). White sagebrush was used as a cushion or bed by the Northern Cheyenne (Hart 1981:19).
Experimentation
The foliage makes a pleasant tea.
The leaves make a good wound or cut poultice. I drink a tea of the foliage for illnesses such as cough, cold, fever, or headache.
The foliage makes an excellent incense. The dried leaves make a tasteful addition to tobacco smoke.
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