Koyukon Ethnobotany Database: Koyukon Plant Database

Koyukon Plant Database

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Equisetum

Scientific Name	Related Terms	Koyukon Name	Koyukon Root	KAD Page	Notes on Translation	Use Information
Equisetum sp.	goose grass	huh ggoodle'	huh	263	Lit. 'goose's rhubarb'
	nodule of the equisetum, "water berry"	deeltsaa' baabe'	tsaa'1	617	Lit. 'vole's food' Also a generic term for mushroom

Equisetum sp.

Dogwood

Scientific Name	Related Terms	Koyukon Name	Koyukon Root	KAD Page	Notes on Translation	Use Information
Cornus stolonifera	red-osier dogwood	kk'ʉkk'eze	kk'ʉy'	372	May not be derived from kk'ʉy'3 (willow) but rather from kk'ʉy1 (pelvis or spread object)
	berry of the red-osier (American dogwood)	nek'enle'een geege'	een1	32	Lit. 'woodman's berry'	Not eaten

Cornus stolonifera

Currant

Scientific Name	Related Terms	Koyukon Name	Koyukon Root	KAD Page	Notes on Translation	Use Information
Ribes hudsonianum	black currant, possibly northern black currant, or bristly black currant	dotson' geege'	tson'	644	Lit. 'raven's berry'	Nelson - "Eaten formerly...is largely avoided due to its traditional association with the raven."
Ribes lacustre	bristly black currant		geege	184
Ribes hudsonianum	northern black currant	geege meghʉdaa'	daa'3	107	Lit. 'blueberry's cousin'
Ribes triste	red currant	nots'ehtl'oone	ts'eh1	661	Lit. 'tied hats hanging down' "…implying a comparison of the stem with hanging berries to the tie of a cap or hood with its hanging ball-tassels." --Jetté	Nelson - "The American red currant is eaten raw, usually when and where it is found."

Ribes hudsonianum

Ribes lacustre

Ribes lacustre

Ribes triste

Cranberry

Scientific Name

Related Terms

Koyukon Name

Koyukon Root

KAD Page

Notes on Translation

Use Information

Oxycoccus microcarpus

bog cranberry

ch'enkkutl

kkutl

343

Possibly reshaped from kkotl2 (salmonberry).

Nelson gives us geeznogha' as another alternative.

Nelson - Usually eaten raw

daał nodoodle'

daał1

115

Lit. 'crane's eyebrow'

Also called deldool baabe'

Jetté - "A red berry, edible, resembling very much the low-bush cranberry, and growing together with it, on a slender, thread-like stem, which runs generally on top of the green moss. It is quite palatable in the fall, but still sweeter in the spring, after it has wintered under the snow. The cranes are said to be fond of it, as it is the only berry which they find around the lakes when they return in the spring."

t'egheł nodoodle'

dootl2

151

Lit. 'cottonwood's eyelashes'

deldool baabe'

baabe

Lit. 'sandhill crane's food'

Viburnum edule

highbush cranberry

donaaldloye

lo*

407

Lit. 'elevated small round things'

Nelson - Berries eaten raw and stems used for basket rims

tsonłtlaa

tlaa3

562

May refer to the currant bushes which also grow on hillsides --Jones

Jones - "These plants are used for medicine. They are sometimes boiled together with tlaa ele' (juniper). People with skin problems use this water to wash or soak the affected area."

Vaccunium vitis-idaea

lowbush cranberry

netl'et

tl'et2

602

Nelson gives the Koyukon word dinaałakk'aza as an equivalent

Nelson - "The berries were formerly crushed and spread on sled runners to make them slippery..."

Nelson- Notes that along with blueberries they are the most important plant food to the Koyukon Athabacans.

Marcotte - Records collection rates as high as five gallons per household.

Oxycoccus microcarpus

Viburnum edule

Viburnum edule

Vaccunium vitis-idaea

Cow Parsely

Scientific Name	Related Terms	Koyukon Name	Koyukon Root	KAD Page	Notes on Translation	Use Information
Heracleum lanatum	wild celery	lokk'oge	kk'ok2	363	Retranscription uncertain. Jette: "term of the extreme-lower dialect…not identified and found only in Lower Yukon."	Jette - "Largest of the three "wild celerys" in Alaska. Although stems have to be peeled to remove the outer layer (that can irritate skin), the portion iside is edible. It has a very strong odor, especially when crushed or peeled."

Heracleum lanatum

Cottonwood

Scientific Name	Related Terms	Koyukon Name	Koyukon Root	KAD Page	Notes on Translation	Use Information
Populus balsimifera	balsam poplar	t'egheł	t'egheł5	244		Nelson - The Koyukon origin story for balsam poplar tells about a woman who heard a tale that was so sad and terrible that she began to cry and slit her skin. She became the balsam poplar with its deeply cut bark. Good for smoking meat and fish
	cottonwood bark					Nelson - "...used to make fish net floaters and may have been peeled in slabs for smokehouse floors and walls. The bark is also burned as mosquito smudges."
	buds					Nelson- "Pitchy buds are boiled with spruce needles (or with highbush cranberries and rose hips) to make medicine for healing sores."

Populus balsimifera

Commandra

Scientific Name	Related Terms	Koyukon Name	Koyukon Root	KAD Page	Notes on Translation	Use Information
Geocaulon lividum	northern commandra	naaggedle geege'	geege	184	Lit. 'fox's berry'
	timberberry
	dogberry
	toadflax

Geocaulon lividum

Coltsfoot

Scientific Name	Related Terms	Koyukon Name	Koyukon Root	KAD Page	Notes on Translation	Use Information
Petasites hyperboreus		kkaalbedze	bets1	101	Lit. 'spread out foot'	Low growing, found on hillsides, and eaten by bears --Jetté
Petasites frigidus

Petasites hyperboreus

Petasites frigidus

Petasites frigidus

Chokecherry

Scientific Name	Related Terms	Koyukon Name	Koyukon Root	KAD Page	Notes on Translation	Use Information
Prunus sp.		dodetl'edzee ch'ejege'	tl'ets	604	Neologism for an introduced plant

Prunus sp.

Carrot

Scientific Name

Related Terms

Koyukon Name

Koyukon Root

KAD Page

Notes on Translation

Use Information

Hedysarum alpinum

wild carrot

tsoł

tsoł1

642

Jette - "The tsoł is good only during the winter, when the natives gather it, digging for it under the snow. It is then round and full, juicy and tender. After the thaw it loses its qualities, becomes hard, woody, and tasteless. It is also used as a substitute for tea or coffee. For this purpose, the root is sliced transversely in segments 1 to 2 inches long; these are divided longitudinally, by separating the fibers, and these are cut again across in small portions, which are afterwards dried and roasted in a frying pan. They are used as tea, in an infusion, and sometimes as a decoction. The beverage thus prepared is said to taste like chocolate."

Indian potato

nen' t'oh dalldloyee

nen'1

475

Lit. 'those which are underground'

nen' yeh geege'

Lit. 'underground berry'