*First! -> this website is just starting & this post and previous two have odd date dicrepencies. I will fix this problem soon! Until then, the bug will continue đ – The following is a re-print exerpt of a discussion assignment now owned by the University of Oklahoma…
“To know whether or not a qualitative research approach to a problem is appropriate is to also understand that there are characteristics to qualitative research that makes it a comprehensive and holistic tool. Â When I think of qualitative research as an anthropologist, I think about ethnography and also about comparative historical anthropology. Â I was also very intrigued that Creswell & Poth, (2018, 50) wrote that the act of qualitative research can vary from ‘…scientific-oriented approaches; to literary storytelling; and on to performances, such as theater, plays, or poems.’ Â
There are certain aspects or characteristics that these still adhere to for a good research project. A natural and informal setting which would also include participant observation of the researcher. While it is important to gain the understanding and respect of the subject being studied, the best way to do this is for the qualitative research to spend time in the environment where the problem exists and then to also explore various ways to collect data from primary sources. For me this summarizes quite a few characteristics, including, for the most part, the first six listed on page forty-three and forty-four. (Creswell & Poth, 2018, 43-44)
The other three characteristics listed on page forty-four are also important for the research to be qualitative. The emergent design of the research is required for a holistic understanding to be reported after data-collecting and analysis. The reflexivity was a surprise to me as I have been trained so far to not talk about myself, however; I understand how this makes it easier for the receiver of the report to make a better emotional and visual picture while thinking about the report. Ethical considerations throughout the research project, including preliminary and post-publishing, is vitally important. (Creswell & Poth, 2018, 44)
        There are also quite a few features of a qualitative research study which are quite complementary to the characteristics.  The researcher needs to adhere to an outstanding and professional ethics standard.  Qualitative research can be quite lengthy and many variables may arise that can alter situations and this can also include the need to revisit ethical policies previously established.  There are five approaches listed in the book that will help to prove to those who review your work that you have written a professional report and performed your inquiry in a professional manner.  It is also again important to establish why you are at the site doing your research and also to be at the site.  These things all involve rigorous data keeping, but also a need to be flexible, self-reflective, and to be adaptive enough to alter your methods and understanding of the data. (Creswell & Poth, 2018, 47-49)…”
Bibliography
Creswell, John W. & Cheryl N. Poth, Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing among five approaches [4th Edition], Thousand Oaks,Sage: 2018.
Monotropa uniflora, The Ghost Pipe Flower, The Indian Pipe Plant by Michael W. Brandon; (July 11, 2023), (ArtifactMuse:2023).
It has been fairly recent that I began exploring the diversity of edible and medicinal plants that Pennsylvania(1) has to offer. While this article is about the Monotropa uniflora, also known locally in USA as the âGhost Pipe Flowerâ or the âIndian Pipe Plantâ(2), there is another important topic to introduce. Ethnobotany(3) is the study of traditional or native plants in a specific region of communities, or of cultures. What are the plants? Where to find them? How do the individuals use them for food, ceremony and/or medicine? In the case of Monotropa uniflora, I found out about it quite by accident and was amazed at what previous ethnobotanist of the past and present had documented from their ethnographic and ethnobotanic fieldwork.
Originally stumbling almost upon Monotropa uniflora while searching for Morels, Chanterelles, Reishi, and Oyster mushrooms in the forest behind my house. I like to take pictures and identify new things, usually later after returning home. When I first spotted the Monotropa uniflora, I thought, âWhat an interesting âflower-likeâ mushroom!â It grows from the ground and almost looks like a flower, but was white and translucent in appearance, other sources mention pink, reddish, and/or black specks may also exist.(4) It is a very short flower, less than one foot tall, often barely six inches tall, and often grows in small tight clusters. I didnât realize it in the early season this time, but later when I harvested a few that were more mature, they also have many seeds that collect in the middle of the âpetalsâ, as you might expect from a flower.
The areas that I have found Monotropa uniflora have all been on ridge or gully slopes. I believe this is due to its unique symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi, âusually a russula or lactarius mushroomâ and surrounding trees.(5) This allows it to have no need for chlorophyll to survive and thrive which is why they have so little color they basically look like a milky clear translucent whitish color. I would say sometimes they look almost clear. When they die and are dried they turn a dark purplish black.)
âThe Smoky Mountains: âBefore selfishness came into the world, which was a long time ago, the Cherokee happily shared the same hunting and fishing lands with their neighbors. However, everything changed when selfishness arrived. The men began to quarrel with their neighbors.
The Cherokee began fighting with a tribe from the east and would not share the hunting area. The chiefs of the two tribes met in council to settle the quarrel. They smoked the tobacco pipe but continued to argue for seven days and seven nights.
The Great Spirit watched the people and was displeased by their behavior. They should have smoked the pipe after they made peace. The pipe is sacred and must be treated with respect. He looked down upon the old chiefs, with their heads bowed, and decided to send reminders to the people.
The Great Spirit transformed the chiefs into white-gray flowers that we now call âIndian Pipe.â The plant grows only four to ten inches tall and the small flowers droop towards the ground, like bowed heads. Indian Pipe grows wherever friends and relatives have quarreled.
Next the Great Spirit placed a ring of smoke over the mountains. The smoke rests on the mountains to this day and will last until the people of the world learn to live together in peace. That is how the Great Smoky Mountains came to be.â â Lloyd Arneach (Eastern Band of Cherokee)â(6)
There are a few deep spiritual lessons to glean from this story which becomes amazing when finding out about the actual medicinal properties of the âGhost Pipe Flowerâ. For the purpose of this article I will mention briefly the emotional healing properties that are attributed to this plant. In the story above we see there is a conflict which has caused two human-beings to sit with each other in a ceremony to try and find a solution to their crisis. For some reason they are too emotional and the ceremony is broken. What does this have to do with medicinal properties of the âGhost Pipe Flowerâ?
One of Monotropa uniflora documented uses is for relieving emotional pain. It is considered such a strong medicine for this that it has been used as an âanti-pyschoticâ. So it can calm a person down emotionally and as a result, not only reduce stress and anxiety, but even connect the individual with personal internal emotional wisdoms and lessons. I believe this is why the plant is part of the story above with the two warriors being in conflict. After they turn into Ghost Pipe Flowers, they now may help others with their âemotional conflictsâ.
Other uses of the plant that have been documented, although not approved by the FDA, of course, include sedation tonic for child convulsions, âintenseâ nerve pain reliever, anti-psychotic, and according to one website it even relieves âemotional painâ.(7)
According to the US National Forest Service website on ethnobotany,
âIn 3500 BC, Ancient Egyptians began to associate less magic with the treatment of disease, and by 2700 BC the Chinese had started to use herbs in a more scientific sense. Egyptians recorded their knowledge of illnesses and cures on temple walls and in the Ebers papyrus (1550 BC), which contains over 700 medicinal formulas.â(8)
. While this is a good article on their website I suggest reading, we know this is also based on the discoveries documented by written languages, be they using letters, symbols, pictures or similar systems of standardizations and categorizations. We must be aware of the unwritten language of storytelling or âoral-traditionsâ, and that this was and is a very organized and standardized form of communication, just like written language.
My research(9) has taught me that these stories have bones and skin. The bones stay the same to keep the original power and intention of the original story, which usually has some kind of moral lesson or animistic creation knowledge. The skin of the story are the parts that are allowed to change over time to accommodate the evolution of the society they are representing and so keeping the knowledge and the wisdom modern without losing the ancient origins and wisdoms of the story.
While there are a lot of traditional herbs in the immigrant cultures that have existed in the Eastern United States, and while some of the immigrant cultures learned of many Native American plants, their uses, and their stories; the hard reality is that the State of Pennsylvania has no Native American reservations(10) and was the first place to establish a Native American boarding school.(11) That means that in many places like Pennsylvania many ancient technologies, stories, and traditions have become extinct. And if they are still only being passed down orally; whether traditionally or not, then those stories are now also endangered of being extinct. This is one reason Ethnobotany is important for protecting and preserving traditional plant wisdom for future generations. Be safe, have fun, and take a notebook and camera!
â’Tis whiter than an Indian Pipe â ‘Tis dimmer than a Lace â No stature has it, like a Fog When you approach the place â Not any voice imply it here â Or intimate it there â A spirit â how doth it accost â What function hath the Air? This limitless Hyperbole Each one of us shall be â ‘Tis Drama â if Hypothesis It be not Tragedy â
âTis whiter than an Indian Pipe â Emily Dickens, Poem, ca. 1879, Amherst College Archives & Special Collections.â(12)
Voeks, Robert, Ethnobotany, (Mar 2017), The International Encyclopedia of Geography, retrieved from researchgate.net (DOI:10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0300) on July 2023.
Anya Montiel, (Pages 34-39), The Storytellerâs Art: Sharing Timeless Wisdom in Modern Times, (American Indian Magazine, Winter 2010), Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian, Retrieved from (www.wsharing.com/WSphotoIndianPipe.htm) on July 2023.
Dickenson, Emily, âTis whiter than an Indian Pipeâ, Iâm Nobody! Who are you?, The Live and Poetry of Emily Dickenson, The Morgan Library & Museum Online Exhibitions, retrieved from https://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/online/emily-dickinson/23 on July 2023.
*medicinal claims implied or referred in this article are of course to my knowledge not approved by the US Food & Drug Administration.
After recently graduating from Museum Studies at Oklahoma University and Anthropology at the University of Idaho I spent a year and a half as a post-graduate intern with Catoctin Furnace Historical Society working on Project Recovering Identity. This project in part sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, John Hopkins University, and Harvard Medical. The majority of the work done was computer research and transcription and collaboration with a GIS/LIDAR archaeological team.
Prior to this I mostly studied the arts, computers, jewelry, gemstones, and geology. When I started organizing to put this website together I did not realized how restrictive WordPress seems to be. Eventually the design of this content will change and the subject matter will become more comprehensive and will have more pages with better navigation. For now, I need to get started and so I offer this website and a humble Etsy shop to start.
This website is partly to give myself a place to organize and refine my studies, as well as a place to share ideas and connect with like minded peers and to offer general education to the public about the many diverse topics of Museums, Anthropology, Archaeology, History, and Art. Please have a nice time and contact me if you have any questions or suggestions. Thank you! – Michael W. Brandon
ArtifactMuse 