III. History and Folklore

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This study focuses on plants used medicinally for gynecological and reproductive health concerns in the Ozarks, documented in folklore archives. The Ozark plateau is a rugged, hilly region that includes southern Missouri, northwest Arkansas, and small parts of eastern Kansas and Oklahoma. Due to its physical isolation from major population centers, the region’s folk culture—including uses of herbs—drew great interest from American folklore collectors in the first half of the 20th century. This study uses folklore records housed in university and library archives in Missouri and Arkansas to shine light on the way historical Ozarkers used herbs to treat gynecological concerns, including menstrual cramps, treating (or inducing) miscarriage, and childbirth. This study not only allows us a glimpse into the lives of women in the past, but it has particular relevance in a contemporary political climate in which access to reproductive health care is under threat.

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St. Louis, “Gateway to the American West”, was the origin and terminus of ten naturalist-travelers who contributed to the proto-ethnobotanical period of western North America during the first half the 19th century through observations on useful plants that attracted their curiosity as well as provided sustenance and remedies for their survival. Between 1790 and 1869, they penetrated the trans-Mississippian West (that was the object of geopolitical disputes) and described its flora (that was subjected to academic emulation) on behalf of the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, Spain and Mexico and offered insights into western North America’s biocultural resources.  A diachronic analysis using a Continuity Index of 100 plants reported in journals and as specimens suggest that about three-quarters of these vegetal biocultural resources were retained by Native Americans/Pueblos Originarios during the 20th century. Examples of the antipodal poles of the continuity gradient are represented by Pediomelum and Clematis.

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The Holodomor (1932-1933) was a politically driven, genocidal famine that killed millions through starvation and disease, as well as disrupting Ukrainian society and agriculture.Through the analysis of various archival sources, particularly survivor narratives, we obtained information about 70 plants used as famine foods, plants not customarily eaten and those eaten in unusual quantities or ways during the Holodomor. Residual parts of crops represented a large number of these famine foods. A wide range of native plants were also consumed. The general inventory of Ukrainian famine food types is similar to those from other major global famines.

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My presentation offers an overview of the role and presence of fungi in Slavic folklore. Mushrooms have for centuries held an important place in the eco-mythology of Slavic peoples. This is evidenced not only by the riddles, proverbs, and folktales such as The War of Mushrooms (Voina Gribov) that refer to fungi, but also by works of fine art and music created over the last two centuries. The intimate, homey relationship that Slavic people have with mushrooms is also revealed through the ubiquitous practices, even into the 21^st century, of foraging for fungi, mushroom preservation through fermentation and pickling, and mycophagy. My presentation highlights some of the most notable examples of mycological interplay with Slavic folklore in the past and present and looks forward to changes in the relationship between these peoples and mushrooms in a globalized, hyper-technical world torn by war and cushioned by financial prominence.

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Myths are considered to be traditional stories, especially explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and are typically assumed to involve supernatural beings or events. This assumption means that important scientific insights contained therein are missed or ignored. Events where direct causation is not obvious are sometimes characterized as being the result of "spiritual influences," equivalent to attributing quantum mechanics to spiritual influences, e.g., "Maxwellian Demons." I present three examples: 1) The TEK based idea of the existence of Keepers of the Game. i.e., entities that controlled availability of game animals, 2) Creator figures, typically nonhuman driving the origin of cultures and ecological communities, and 3) Existence of previously existing lands and cultures swallowed up by water. All of these have been revealed to be based on actual natural phenomena unknown until the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Thus, all were based on scientific knowledge rather than imagined supernatural causes.

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In this paper, I examine how conditional reasoning (Antecedent > Consequent), as a universal cognitive capacity, drives associations that govern human activities in particular ecosystems. It is well-known that in many Indigenous cultures, people correlate the behavior of plants, animals, or stars with their own planting, hunting, or gathering. However, even in non-Indigenous societies, knowledge of this type is manifested in regional folklore. In the UK, people on the island of Guernsey sing of how blooming foxgloves announce the arrival of the mackerel, and in Warwickshire, the stages of growing elm leaves indicate when to plant barley and kidney beans. In the context of the debate over universals and particulars in folkbiology, I draw on historical and contemporary sources to illuminate how a common cognitive principle drives highly localized ecological associations encoded in folk names, sayings, and songs across a broad range of cultures.