USE OF SOAPROOT

I know most of you have had poison oak from forest hikes. I once fell into a patch of poison oak at Bishop's Ranch and I decided to try to cure it with soaproot - a very potent medicinal plant. And IT REALLY WORKS!

Soaproot has been used for a variety of purposes and it grows profusely in patches throughout the North Coast Ranges. It is a plant that is easily identifiable from it's long slender and curly green leaves. The root has been dug up by many tribes. It is dug by the women and collected in burden baskets - 20 pounds at a time. The bulbs have a hairy bristle around them which was used as a brush for cleaning baskets. The bulb itself has a sapotoxin juice which is used to cure poison oak and heal snakebite wounds. The juice was also used to glue feathers to arrows. The leaves of the plants were used for cooking acorns and buckeyes in underground ovens. The historic Pomo used to boil the tender bulbs collected in the spring for food (I would not recommend it though).

Because the bulb has a sapotoxin it was crushed by the women and thrown into the river. Then they dammed up theis section of the river with willow staves for about a mile or so. This action nullified the fish (both salmon and trout). Then the Native Americans collected the nullified fish with a basket and threw them onto the shore. They were then smoked over coals during a spring and fall ceremony.

Many Indians still smoke salmon and have large tribal gatherings during the spring and fall, as they invite neighboring tribes to their dinners.