Thumbnail Image
Item

Sassafras: Weaving Together Indigenous Kinship and Western Commodification

Rutledge, Skylar
Citations
Altmetric:
Contributor
Photographer
Author
Rutledge, Skylar
Artist
Editor
Advisor
Keywords
Environmental History and the American South, Indigenous Peoples, Settler Colonialism, Sassafras albidum
Local ID
Collections
Student Research
Show all metadata
Files
Thumbnail Image
rutledgeskylar_SeniorSem_FinalProject_Sassafras_Rutledge.pdf
Adobe PDF, 490.57 KB
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/10267/36762
Abstract
Sassafras is a truly iconic plant. Many of us may recognize the distinct aroma of root beer or a candy shop, but we might not so easily name that scent as belonging to sassafras. This iconic plant has been used for centuries by Native Americans for a variety of purposes, including as medicine. European colonizers touted the plant as a miraculous cure-all, and later Americans used it to flavor root beer. The difference in how Indigenous Peoples and settlers use Sassafras reflects their ideological differences. We can reflect on the story of sassafras as a way to reflect on our own values and where they come from.
Description
This born-digital document was cataloged and uploaded to DLynx by Rosie Meindl during spring of 2025.