Before the plow broke the prairie, the prairie was already a library. Every plant had a name. Every name carried a use. Every use carried a story.

In this episode, we explore the deep relationship between the peoples of the Great Plains and the plant life they had cultivated, tended, and understood for centuries. From the sacred cottonwood along the river bottoms to the purple coneflower in your supplement aisle, the knowledge was always there, built over generations of watching, experimenting, teaching, and remembering. And when that world began to fracture, a few people recognized what was at stake. Some of what they gathered survives. And the work didn't stop there.

For photos, maps, and glimpses of the past, follow @rootedintheplains on Instagram.

Want to learn more?

• Erickson, David L. "Melvin Randolph Gilmore, Incipient Cultural Ecologist: A Biographic Analysis." Master's thesis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1971. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/opentheses/60/
• Gilmore, Melvin R. Uses of plants by the Indians of the Missouri River region. Washington, Govt. print. off, 1919. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/20009591/
• Kindscher, Kelly, Loren Yellow Bird, Michael Yellow Bird, and Logan Sutton. Sahnish (Arikara) Ethnobotany. Tacoma: Society of Ethnobiology, 2020. https://ethnobiology.org/publications/contributions/sahnish-arikara-ethnobotany

Other Kindscher books and publications: https://kindscher.ku.edu/publications