Juglans nigra -L.-
black walnut tree


Entry Type: Species

Species Name: Juglans nigra -L.-

Common Name: black walnut tree

Myaamia Name: aayoonseekaahkwi

Description:

Harvest Seasons: Winter

Harvest Comments:

Habitats: Wet Prairie grasslands with flooding, Conifer Shrubland and Forest

Uses: Food, Medicinal, Material, Customs, Technology

Locations: Geboe Property

Sources

Pease, T. C. and R. C. Werner 1934

Reference Type: Use - Customs

Archival Data:

Lacrosse was played at the funeral of a man who liked lacrosse ("Si le mort aimoit le jeu de la Crosse les parens feroient crosser les Villages l'un cotre l'autre").

Comments: N/A

Pease, T. C. and R. C. Werner 1934

Reference Type: Use - Material

Archival Data:

The wood of this species was used to make Lacrosse stick: "They make the [racket] of a stick of walnut, about three feet long, which they bend half way, making the end come within a foot of the other end which serves them for a handle. To keep it in this shape they fasten a buffalo sinew to the curved end, which, as I have already said, they fasten about a foot from the end which serves as a handle. They lace the interior with more buffalo sinew so that the ball, which is a knot of wood of the size of a tennis ball, cannot pass through" ("ils les font d'un brin de Noyer, d'environ 3. pieds de long qu'ils courbent a moitie, et font venir le bout vis a vis pres d'un pied de l'autre bout, qui leur sert de manche, pour la faire tenir dans cet estat, ils attachent du nerf de Bouef au bout courbe, qu'ils attachent comme j'ay deja dit pres d'un pied de ce qui sert de manche, ils lacent le dedans avec encore du nerf en sorte que la Boulle qui est un noeud de Bois de la grosseur d'une balle de jeu de paume ne passe au travers").

Comments: N/A

Aatotankiki myaamiaki 1998-2006

Reference Type: Use - Material

Archival Data:

Walnut timbers used to construct early sections of the home of Mary Wells Wolcott, built in 1827. This is one of the oldest Myaamia homesteads still standing.

Comments: N/A

Kellogg, L.P. 1923

Reference Type: Use - Technology/Medicinal

Archival Data:

"The forests are full of walnut-trees [in Myaamia country], resembling those of Canada, and their roots have several properties not observed in the others. They are very soft, and their bark affords a black dye, but their principal use consists in medicine. They stop a looseness, and furnish an excellent emetick".

Comments: N/A

Gravier, J. ca. 1700

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

"walnuts one can't tell if there are nutmeats inside"

Comments: N/A

Bush, L. L 1996

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

Human-charred black walnut shell fragments were recovered from excavations at an early 19th century Myaamia village site at the forks of the Wabash River (Ft Wayne) 1795-1812 (Ehler Site).

Comments: N/A

Tippman, D. 1999

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

Nuts were gathered for food. "A lot of hazelnut around [then]" "they don't seem to grow very good any more, the hazelnuts do, likewise with butternuts".

Comments: N/A

Gatschet, A.S. ca. 1895

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

In the traditional story of Young Thunder William Pekongah he describes the crops he had growing on his land 160 acres of reserve in central Indiana. "There I planted corn, wheat, potatoes, peas, tobacco, beans, apple trees, pumpkins, watermelons, cucumbers, onions, hay, straw, gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, turnips, tomatoes, pawpaws, cherries, strawberries, plums, blackhaws, peaches, walnut trees, pecans, hickory nuts, barley and rye."

Comments: N/A

Peoria, Eastern Shawnee, Wyandotte, Seneca-Cayuga, Miami and Ottawa Tribes 2003

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

Nuts gathered and meat eaten.

Comments: N/A

Bush, L. L 1996

Reference Type: Use - Technology

Archival Data:

Human-charred walnut timbers were recovered from excavations at an early 19th century Myaamia village site (Ehler Site, 1795-1812), Fort Wayne.

Comments: N/A

Gleason, H.A. and Cronquist, A. 1991

Reference Type: Habitat

Archival Data :

Grows in rich moist soils throughout eastern and western Myaamia lands.

Comments: N/A

Gatschet, A.S. ca. 1895

Reference Type: Related Info

Archival Data:

The terms "ayunsaki" or "eyunsaki" mean to stain hands yellow, because walnuts stain the hands yellow when handled.

Comments: N/A

McPherson, A. and S. McPherson. 1977

Reference Type: Related Info

Archival Data:

"The Indians [undescribed tribe] boiled the walnut kernels in water and skimmed off the oil to use as a sweet-flavored cooking oil. Both Indians and pioneers used the husks around the shells along with the bark to produce a brown dye".

Comments: N/A

Hockett, C.F. 1985

Reference Type: Related Info

Archival Data:

ayoonseekaahkwi is a Peoria and Miami term

Comments: N/A

Hockett, C. 1938

Reference Type: Related Info

Archival Data:

"aayoonsee"

Comments: This term refers to the black walnut fruit (Personal communication, Baldwin 2003). – Michael Gonella

Gatschet, A.S. ca. 1895

Reference Type: Related Info

Archival Data:

"mialwa'hki, walnut tree", "ayoonseekaahkwi", called ayunsaki because it stains the hands yellow.

Comments: N/A

Kerr, J. 1835

Reference Type: Related Info

Archival Data:

"meuluahke, walnut tree"

Comments: N/A

Dunn, J.P. ca. 1900

Reference Type: Related Info

Archival Data:

"walnut, me-al-wak"

Comments: N/A

Bush, L. L 1996

Reference Type: Related Info

Archival Data:

Archaeological studies have demonstrated that nuts preserved as nutshell, which represent walnut, hickory and hazelnut species were an important wild food resource utilized by Late Woodland prior to 700 A.D. through approximately 1450 A.D. indigenous peoples of central and southern Indiana. Results of these studies indicate that nut use declined over the Late Woodland period prior to 700 A.D. to 1450 A.D., probably due to increased cultivation of fall-maturing crops like corn, and conflicts with gathering nuts during this same time period.

Comments: N/A

Legends

  • L.: L. stands for Carl Linneaus, a Swedish botanist and zoologist living from 1707 - 1778, who formed the binomial nomenclature system for scientific naming of species (the two part name). His initial after a scientific name indicates he was the authority for that species name.
  • sp.: Indicates the actual species name cannot or need not be specified. Example: Lilium sp. indicates a single species in the genus Lilium that is not known or does not need to be specified.
  • spp.: (plural) indicates "several species", two or more species of the given genus. Example: Lilium spp. indicates 2 or more species in the genus that cannot or do not need to be distinguished.
  • Use - Unknown: A record for this plant exists but does not include explicit information about the plant's cultural use. It is probable the Myaamia used the plant.
  • Botanical Sources: Sources of any botanical data for this plant species that is not related to its cultural use or significance.
  • Related Sources: Data indirectly related to Myaamia ethnobotany, including non-Myaamia uses of the plant in contemporary and historic times.
  • Myaamia Archival Sources: All records of plant use obtained directly from a Myaamia tribal member in an interview, recorded by a second party or by self-recording.
  • Undetermined (Plant Use): There exists use or other information about a certain, unknown plant species, but the specific species has not yet been determined.
  • Medicinal: For the purposes of this database, medicinal uses of plants and medicinal knowledge are defined as: Commonly held communal knowledge regarding the use of plant-based substances that aid in maintaining a healthy mind, body or spirit, including tonics and teas.
  • Technology: For the purposes of this database, technological uses of plants are defined as: Plants used in the making of food processing, canoes, rafts, dyes, tools, utensils, weapons, hunting and fishing gear (i.e. net, weir, etc.), cordage, string, rope, fodder plant species, firewood, any plants used in trade, etc.
  • Material: For the purposes of this database, material uses of plants are defined as: Plants used in construction of dwellings (floor mats, roofing, side walls), furniture, baskets, storage items, musical instruments, games, crafts, jewelry, cordage used in crafts, etc.
  • Food: For the purposes of this database, food uses of plants are defined as: Plants used as consumed food, spices and seasonings, but not teas or tonics.
  • Customs: For the purposes of this database, customary uses of plants are defined as: Plants involved in a customary ceremony, ritual or traditional event, including ritual smoking, chewing tobacco, war rituals, special mats used to sit on during ceremonies. Customary uses of plants, in this database, does not including plants used for recreation (material), structures where ceremonies take place (material) or medicinal smoking (medicinal).
  • Eastern Myaamia Lands: Eastern Myaamia lands (eastern myaamionki) are centered around northern Indiana, and including western Ohio, eastern Illinois, southern Michigan, and the northernmost portions of Kentucky.
  • Western Myaamia Lands: Western Myaamia lands (western myaamionki) include western Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma.