Native American Ethnobotany Database

Daniel E. Moerman

TIMBER PressINC, 1998 - Science - 927 pages

Native American Ethnobotany is a comprehensive account of the plants used by Native American peoples for medicine, food, and other purposes. The author, anthropologist Daniel E. Moerman, has devoted more than 25 years to the compilation of the ethnobotanical knowledge slowly gathered over the course of many centuries and recorded in hundreds of firsthand studies of American Indians made over the past 150 years. This research has yielded a treasure-trove of information whose magnitude will surprise even those familiar with the anthropological and botanical literature: it documents Native American use of 4029 kinds of plants with a total of 44,691 usages.

What people are saying

Review: Native American Ethnobotany

User Review  - Deborah Martin - Goodreads

Wonderfully researched and nicely indexed. It's on my 'permanent reference' shelf.

Review: Native American Ethnobotany

User Review  - Dolores Pompa - Goodreads

The best and largest of its kind. The only other reference is an online database. I recognize many of these home remedies in own own tribal culture. Highly recommend researching this in place of synethetic medications.

About the author

Daniel E. Moerman is the William E. Stirton Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan - Dearborn, so recognized for his distinguished scholarship, teaching, and professional accomplishments. Because of his work in the field of Native American ethnobotany, Professor Moerman often receives calls from the American Indian community, such as an inquiry from the Menominee in Wisconsin, asking him what kinds of plants they should include in the restoration of their indigenous ecosystem. He acknowledges that we are deeply indebted "to those predecessors of ours on the North American continent who, through glacial cold in a world populated by mammoths and saber-toothed tigers, seriously, deliberately, and thoughtfully studied the flora of a new world, learned its secrets, and encouraged the next generations to study closer and to learn more. Their diligence and energy, their insight and creativity, these are the marks of true scientists, dedicated to gaining meaningful and useful knowledge from a complex and confusing world.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Native American Ethnobotany Database
• Author: Daniel E. Moerman
• Edition: 4, illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: TIMBER PressINC, 1998
• ISBN: 0881924539, 9780881924534
• Length: 927 pages
• Subjects: Science / Life Sciences / Botany; Social Science / Anthropology / General; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / Native American Studies