"The lands around the lake were sandy, and covered with pines, which had almost all been burnt by the savages...When they want to make the land cultivatable, they burn the trees, and this is very easy, for there is nothing but pines, full of resin." Champlain's Fourth Voyage 1613

"Pix liquida, tar hot and dry in the third degree. If one takes a full spoon of it and a second of honey, it is good for lung trouble and for heavy breathing. If one adds to it meat of almonds, that dries water in the ears, if it is put into them. If one adds salt to tar, that is good to apply to whatever vermin get into. If it is mixed evenly with wax, it heals pimples and softens what is hard in them. If it is mixed with brimstone, it helps for dandruff. Pitch helps almost all the same and is good to put in plasters and ointment for all sores." 1475 Bjornnson

"Out of the Pine trees, especially of the wilde kinds, there issueth forth a liquid, whitish and sweet smelling rosin...very aptly mixed in ointments, commended for the healing up of greene wounds, for they both bring to suppuration, and to also glue and unite them together...and.....Gathered out from the Rosins...a congealed smoke...which serveth for medicines that beautify the eyelids, and cure the fretting sores of the corners of the eyes and also watering eyes, for it drieth without biting. 1633 Gerarde-Johnson

"The bark of white pine is a great medicine for sores. It should be boiled, and the soft part stript out and beat to a poultice in a mortar, and then sufficiently moistened with the liquor and applied to burns or sores of any kind. Repeat the poultices and wash with the liquor until the sore is well. This will not terrify or smart in its application. A new skin will come on quickly without a scar. The same application is a cure for piles. A little tea of the bark should be drank while the external applications are continued." 1812 Peter Smith

"The Menomini used the inner bark of the young tree, two feet above the ground. The trunk must be smooth and free from cracks. The first incision is made vertically facing the east, then the outer bark is peeled and the inner bark removed. While this is being done, the proper song for gathering this medicine is sung and tobacco is buried about the roots of the sapling. This bark may be steeped to form a drink to cure pain in the chest, or it may be pounded to shreds and used as a poultice for wounds, sore, or ulcers. It is one of the most important Menomini medicines." 1923 H. Smith

The white pine yields a very sovereign turpentine for curing desperate wounds." 1672 Josselyn

The arrows are made from Weymouth pine; they are slender, light, perfectly straight, and about three feet long." 1779 Cartwright

"The cones, when boiled and likewise the bark of the young tree trunk yield a pitch which is medicine...The dried leaves are powdered and used a reviver or inhalant... White pine is a very valuable remedy with all Ojibwe but the red pine is sometimes substituted for it. The Flambeau Ojibwe used the pitch from the boiled cones, along with the resin that flows from boxed trees, four caulking and waterproofing purposes...In the spring the Ojibwe use the young staminate catkins of the pine to cook for food. It is stewed with meat..I was assured...was sweet and had no pitch flavor." 1932 H. Smith

"The Forest Potawatomi use the pitch or resin of the wood and the bark as the base of a salve...Use the pitch rendered from the bark or cone to caulk boats or canoes." 1933 H. Smith

The Tete de Boule "dipped the inner bark into boiling water and then applied to the chest for tenacious colds." 1945 Raymond

• Description

• Native Uses  (1) (2) (3)

• Pine Lore - Seven Stars - A Lenape story

• Pine Shop - pine products, seeds, cut bark, books

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