Poison

Okay, so who hasn’t been told “leaves of three let them be?”  I grew up with that saying and had to remember it while walking around in my own back yard.  It was knowledge passed through oral communication, and it’s knowledge I will never forget.  Along with the saying comes the precautions.  Now that you know the saying, heed it.  You are less likely to get poison oak, if you don’t touch it.  If you seen around, even if your sure you didn’t touch it, take a cold shower afterwards and its probably best to take a few cold showers afterward.  We take cold showers because hot showers open up your pores and allow the irritating oil into your skin, which can result in icky bumps or disgusting oozing messes.

All cultures have poisonous plants that they need to avoid, but I will concentrate on the Native American tribes from what is now northern California.  These people knew how to use poison oak.  The used the plant to make die, the stems to make baskets and the roots for food.  They obviously understood something that we don't, or built up immunity.  Those who made their home in this area before the arrival of Europeans, and even after the arrival of Europeans, were able to survive by living off acorns.  However, the acorns could not be eaten raw, and had to be put through a process to become edible.  The acorns of the area contain a poison called tannic acid that makes acorns bitter and, if eaten in large quantities, can cause death.  The knowledge of how to “leach” acorns, remove the tannic acid, is domestic knowledge.  This knowledge was maintained through oral explanation and constant practice.