Is there Indian in my blood?
After learning about my great-great grandfather’s orchard in Mississippi and discovering the benefits of peach leaves; I wanted to know more about natural medicines found in the area. That led me to a phase of researching the history of original Mississipians also known as Native Americans. Like many black folks down south, I often heard my elders uttering “we got Indian in our blood.” During this project, I heard the Choctaw tribe mentioned often especially when speaking of my great grandma Pennsylvania. Choctaws dominated my family’s county, until their land was acquired in the early 1800s. I’m not sure if this claim to have Native American blood is true, but I am taking an ancestry test soon.
Regardless, I wanted to know more about Native Americans that walked the same land and as my ancestors, elders, and myself. So I went to Chucalissa Indian Reservation in Memphis to learn more. Chucalissa is a pre historic archaeological site with a mound built by Mississipians around 900 A.D. I have memories of visiting the site on school field trips, and they weren’t all good memories. In the 4th grade, we took a hike through Chucalissa to the adjoining national park and I fell climbing over a log into a deep puddle of mud. I haven’t been back since. There was always talk of the site being “haunted.”
Nevertheless, I found out that there’s a garden on the reservation that’s dedicated to herbal flowers once used by Native Americans. That was enough for me to make the decision to visit. I drove through a forest area and arrived to Chucalissa on hot day last July. I was the only person there, so I took my time in the museum learning about pigments used for war, clay used for pottery, and animal hair used for textiles. After being briefed on what to do if I encounter wild life, I went outside to see the prehistoric mound sitting in the middle of a beautiful filed of green grass. I timidly moved throughout the site taking notes and being cautious about encountering animals. I found the garden area where I came across carefully planted squash, corn, echinacea, lavender, and borage. Echinacea also known as Tennessee cone flower is a supplement that I’ve taken for years, but I don’t think I’d ever seen the actual flower in person. The deep magenta plum color with the orange spike tops blew me away. What a beautiful creation of God I thought! There I learned that Mississipians used it for snake bites, colds, toothaches, and to relieve pain. And guess what, the petals can be crushed into pigments for watercolor paints. A few months later, I created several paintings of echinaceas creating my own blends of purples, violets, oranges, and pinks that I found amongst other florals at Chucalissa.
Although I didn’t find out if my family truly has origins of Choctaw, I did discover a flower that will continue to aid in our healing.
The paintings from the echinacea series are available as limited edition prints. There are only 25 prints available from each style/size.
Prints are available to purchase using the links below.
By the way, I did come across an animal and I did the exact opposite of what I was told to do. Blame it on adrenaline. It’s captured in the TikTok video Chucalissa here.
