Paleo Foraging

Celastrus scandens L.

Common name: American bittersweet

Menominee: mä’näpus otäte – “the entrails of Mä’näpus” (Smith 1923:64)

Ojibwe: manîdobima’ kwît – “spirit-twisted” (Smith 1932:362)

Location in Texas: sparse in W & N TX.

Form: vine, up to 50 ft. long; perennial.

Flowers: May-June (yellow, green, brown).

Food

Inner bark – when food was scarce in the winter, the inner bark was made into a thick soup by the Ojibwe (Smith 1932:398).

Medicine

Fruits – used to treat stomach ailments by the Ojibwe (Smith 1932:362).

Notes – the twisted stems resembled intestines and became part of a story about being those of Mä’näpus, a mythological character, giving it its Menominee and Ojibwe names (Smith 1923:64-65, Smith 1932:362,398).