Category: Folk Medicine

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Agnes Vanderburg’s Outdoor School for Traditional Indian Ways

November 22, 2016

“A lot of things come out of my chest,” Agnes Vanderburg explained in 1979 when folklorist Kay Young asked about her reasons for starting a school to pass on her knowledge of Salish Indian traditions (recording at the link, go to 1:50 minutes). She had felt frustrated at carrying knowledge that was disappearing as Indians …

Posted in: Folk Medicine, Foodways, Material Culture, Native American History, Women's History

Spring Tonics

March 10, 2016

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

Cultures that rely on limited local sources of food in the winter often have traditions about the restorative and curative powers of foods and herbs that become available in the spring. The American Folklife Center’s Coal River Folklife Project, headed by Mary Hufford, documented folklife in West Virginia’s Coal River Valley (1992 to 1999). The …

Posted in: Folk Medicine, Foodways