Anishinabe
Of The Water
The official website of the Sharbot Mishigama Anishinabe AlgonquinFirst
Nation Membership.
THE STRAWBERRY
STRAWBERRY MEDICINE
Warning: Consult a qualified health practitioner for any serious
medical problems. Use caution and common sense with the recipes found
in these pages. The printed material herein is intended for educational
purposes only and no responsibility is assumed for misadventure
resulting from the use of botanical preparations or suggested therapy
practices. If you have a health problem, you should consult a qualified
medical doctor for diagnosis. Herbal treatment should only be taken
with the advise of a qualified herbal practitioner. The writer assumes
no responsibility for the efficacy of these recipes and does not
promise healing. You are ultimately responsible for your health, and
Only through faith and the will of the Creator God, will healing occur.
Healing and Medicine are not Magic.
Common Strawberry
Fragaria virginiana; of the Rose Family (Rosaceae...a rose of the
everlasting sea)
Medicinally both the wild and cultivated berries are used but the wild
are preferred. For medicine the leaves, flowers and roots are used. The
Wild Strawberry has no poisonous look a like. The related Wood
Strawberry (Fraganaia vesca; fraganaia means ‘look a like’) looks
similar and is edible but has no flavour, so it is used as a filler. By
filler, I mean that if you only have a small amount of Wild
Strawberries, you can mix them with the Wood Strawberries, and stretch
the sweet taste to feed more people. There is a Common Cinquefoil
(Potentilla simplex) looks like the Wild Strawberry when the green
leaves are first spotted but it has five leaves, instead of three like
the Strawberry. It’s flower is yellow and bears no Strawberry-like
fruit. When collecting the Strawberries we line and cover the berries
with Sweet Fern (Myrica asplenifolia) to keep the Berries from
spoiling.
Strawberries are cool and dry when green and cool and moist when fully
ripe. They are refreshing to look at, smell sweet and will refresh you
when you eat them. Humans are not the only ones that love to eat
Strawberries. Sometimes when walking through the bush you may find a
nice, neat, but little pile of fresh Strawberry pulp sitting on a rock
or displayed in other open places. For the Lesser Chipmunk only eats
the true fruit, the small achenes. This is the way the lesser Chipmunk
teaches us to share with others. He is one teacher, that teaches us to
leave a Spirit Plate when we feast. The spirit plate is our way of
Sharing and saying Thanks to the Greater Spirits for feeding us.
Through example, the Chipmunk shows us and others, that you waste
nothing.
Other ‘People’ that like to eat Strawberries are our Brother the Bear,
the Fox, the Deer, the Snowshoe Hare and the Cottontail, the Marten,
various Mice, the Skunk, and even the Opossum, to name a few. In the
Winged Family, the Crow, the Ringed Necked Pheasant, the Ruffed Grouse,
the Veery, Sparrows, Pine Grosbeaks, Thrushes, all love Strawberries
too. All of these Beings also serve Everyone, by spreading the seeds
around. For the seeds are made in such a way that they pass through the
digestive track in relative safety, and when expelled, they start to
grow in the fertilizer provided by the ones that enjoyed the Strawberry
meal. The feces is the culture that triggers the fertility of the
Strawberry. Culture is anything that will help a Spirit grow greater.
All of these Great Spirits teach us that we are all Cultured Beings and
we should all be Growing Greater. The Creator makes All things Perfect!
At this time, I want to remind everyone that if we do not keep the
waters of Earth clean…we will not be able to harvest our Strawberries.
In some parts of the World, pollution has caused the waters to be
contaminated with Cholera and some of this illness has been transferred
to the people, through Strawberries. This is the fault of People, not
the fault of the Strawberry, the Earth or the Creator.
The Spirit of the Strawberry lifts people’s Spirits, so it has long
been used when someone is depressed and faint. The Spiritual teachings
of a plant always are connected to the beneficial medicinal teachings.
For true healing starts with the Spirit and flows through the Body.
Remembering that the Strawberry follows in the vein of Her Mother, will
remind you that the Strawberry will be beneficial to the Blood. Blood
flows through veins, right? This is why the Strawberry cleanse is
important to do each year. Eaten in a large quantity they can be mildly
laxative, but that is what is needed when cleansing. Strawberries clean
the Blood.
They are beneficial for the Liver and Spleen, too. When they help the
Liver, they are once again cleaning toxins from your body and when the
Liver is working well, you will stay in a good mood longer. This is
important for Men to understand. Men live "through" their Liver. Women
live "through" their Pancreas (which is right beside the Spleen). That
is why Men turn to "Drink" quicker and Women turn to "Sweets"." The
Liver holds the "Anger and is the seat of Emotion" and sits in the
Solar Plexus Region and the Pancreas is affected by the Heart(actually
by hormones, but I don’t speak in Scientific terms) and holds the
"Melancholy or Blackness". When out of Balance, many Women turn to
"Sugar" and that is why the Diabetes got out of control and the Men
tried to drown the bad feelings with "Spirits". When following in the
"Natural Way" everything is/was kept in balance and we don’t/didn’t
have the problems we do now. Anyway, get back to living Natural and
everyone will get Stronger.
To explain what the Spleen does; the Spleen removes and destroys old
Red Blood Cells. It also helps fight infections. It accomplishes this
by removing and breaking down all the worn-out red blood cells every 4
Moons, after they have been produced in the bone marrow. All this
movement and regeneration needs good support; clean blood and proper
nutrition. The Strawberry supports the Spleen in its important job too.
The Strawberry is good to rid the body of Rheumatism. They seem to help
with most inflammations but they are not good, when with fever.
Strawberries will benefit people with Gout too, usually because they
cleanse the Blood and it seems to me that the major cause for
Gout(caused by eating too much meat, especially organ meats and
chicken) is the Uric Acid that collects and isn’t expelled from the
body. Sluggish kidneys also play a major part in Gout and other herbs
are needed(Bearberry) too. The Strawberry Leaves are good when mixed
with Bearberry, Alfalfa, Comfrey(do not use if there is cancer in the
family), and Dandelion. Made into an infusion, they will aid in
breaking up kidney stones and clean the blood.
Just make sure the leaves are dried thoroughly, for the fresh leaves
are toxic but when dried, they are safe. Collect the leaves in the
Spring when fresh and new and the energy in them is strong. You can
also collect them in the Fall, well after they have a chance to rest
after bearing fruit and they have regained their energy. Strawberries
are high in Vitamin C and Vitamin K. They are high in Magnesium,
Potassium, Iron and Malic and Citric Acids.
Equal portions of Strawberry Leaves, Parsley, and Blueberry Leaves
mixed together and drank as an infusion will help the Kidneys and is
good for those with Diabetes. Drink Four Cups a day. Pour boiled water
over the leaves and let steep for 12 minutes. One Teaspoon of Dried
Leaves to one cup of water.
Both the juice of the Strawberry and the Dried Roots can be used to
clean the teeth. When using the Berry, rub on teeth and leave on as
long as possible(10 min.) in order to remove tartar. Then rince your
mouth with water. Rinse the mouth with strawberry juice to strengthen
and heal the gums too. Use the Dried Root Powder in the same way as you
would any toothpaste.
Crushed Strawberries have long been used for every type of skin
problem. The crushed Berries can be used as a poultice to rid one of
Ringworm, Scabies, and has been helpful for treating Skin Cancers. They
will relieve the sting of Sunburn and cleans or whitens the skin. They
have helped others with acne and eczema. The juice is good for oil skin
as it cleans the pours and tones the skin. Also applied for relief of
sore eyes and when the leaves are used they can be used to clear the
eyes.
A light infusion is good for Children with diarrhoea and stomach upset.
Children over 2yrs.
It has been reported that the Strawberry will help those with syphilis.
Strawberries eaten in excess can cause hives in some people. Give them
in small amounts to Children until you know that they will not break
out.
As a last note...Much of this teaching came directly from the Spirits.
The Spirits will speak to you in Dreams and in Visions. The following
is to help you "see" how you can receive healing and understanding from
the Creator and His Great Spirits.
I had been feeling slightly off for a couple of weeks and knew I needed
some healing. So one night, I prayed and laying out Tobacco, I asked
the Creator to heal my Body. That night as I slept, A Woman came to me
in a dream and gave me some ‘White Strawberries with Purple Veins’ to
eat. They were the most delicious Berries I have ever tasted! So good,
I asked the Spirits if I could have some of the Slips (infant plants)
to bring home to plant in my garden, so I could share them with others
and eat them again. Then I woke up.
Laying in bed, I thought of the Dream. I laughed when I remembered,
that since I moved to the City, I haven’t got a garden. Well, writing
this reminded me, I do have a garden. It is the one We are All supposed
to be Planting. When you share the knowledge the Creator has Blessed us
with, we are planting seeds. One day soon the Creator will Harvest
them. When writing this teaching, I realised how much the Creator gave
us. The night of the Dream, I received the ‘Healing’, and much of this
writing was given to me. Thank our Mother, the Earth and the Creator
for their gifts. Thank the Sweet Spirit of the Strawberry
Medicine Teachings
