| The Avoyel-Taensa Tribe and The
Historic Sassafras Tree (Added: 10/21/2010)
 By: John E. Vinson, Journalist,
Native American Historian
Long before pulp wood trucks
roamed the rolling hills of Central Louisiana in search of the
pine trees for lumber, sassafras trees were the pride of the
southern forest. Like most native tribes in Louisiana, the
Avoyelles-Taensa Tribe used sassafras products in cooking,
medicine and in scented household goods. Young men begin
digging the root in April or May when it was popularly used as a
Spring Tonic. The Roots were usually washed and steeped in
hot water before drinking. Sometimes village craftsmen also
brewed sassafras in honey to make sassafras syrup or fermented the
root to make wine. The aromatic leaves were also used to
season stews; which are now referred to as gumbo. The
plant's sweet aroma was often used to add flavor to cakes,
potpourris and candles.
Sassafras leaves and twigs are
consumed by white-tailed deer in both summer and winter. In
some areas it is an important deer food. Sassafras leaf
browsers include groundhogs, Marsh Rabbits, and American Black
Bears. Rabbits eat sassafras bark in winter. American
Beavers will cut sassafras stems. Sassafras fruits are eaten
by many species of birds including Bobwhite Quail, Eastern
Kingbirds, Great Crested Flycatchers, Phoebes, Wild Turkeys, Gray
Catbirds, Northern Flickers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Downy
woodpeckers, thrushes, vireos, and Northern Mockingbirds.
Some small mammals also consume sassafras fruits.
Sassafras trees grow from 30-59
feet tall and spread 25-39 feet. The trunk grows 28-59
inches in diameter, with many slender branches, and smooth,
orange-brown bark. The branching is sympodial. The
bark of the mature trunk is thick, red-brown, and deeply furrowed.
The wood is light, hard, and sometimes brittle. All parts of
the plants are very fragrant. The species are unusual in
having three distinct leaf patterns on the same plant, unlobed
oval, bilobed (mitten-shaped), and trilobed (three pronged);
rarely the leaves can be five-lobed. They have smooth
margins and grow 7-20 cm. long by 5-10 cm. broad. The young
leaves and twigs are very mucilaginous, and produce a citrus-like
scent when crushed. The timy, yellow flowers are five-petaled
and bloom in the spring; they are dioecious, with male and
female flowers on separate trees. The Fruit are blue-black,
egg-shaped, 1 cm. long, produced on long, red-stalked cups, and
mature in late summer.
The Avoyel-Taensa Tribe also used
sassafras for stomachaches, gout, arthritis, high blood,
rheumatism, kidney ailments, colds, fevers and skin problems.
Other local herbs used by the tribe include: pokeweed, yellow
dock, pine bark, cherry bark, bitterweed, magnolia bark, castor
oil root, cat tail, oak bark, clover leaf, currant and ash bark.
Disclaimer: This article is
for historic and cultural information only and is not intended to
diagnose or treat any disease.
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