Considered a starvation food by Arapaho, Kiowa, and Cheyenne, roots were cooked only under desperate circumstances.
Called “pazhuta nige tanka” (big stomach medicine) by the Lakota this large bushy plant of the Sandhills and Great Plains was powdered and sprinkled over a person for healing and pain relief. Sometimes it was smudged and the smoke used to treat bad dreams or nervousness or revive someone who had fainted.
The large roots can be four feet long and are often shaped like a man. They are sometimes carefully exhumed, dried, and treated respectfully like a human. Parts are taken from the root that correspond to the human anatomy and sprinkled over that part of the person to be healed in ceremonial healing.
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