Chahta Alikchi: The Choctaw Herbal

Plant medicine is real medicine and it always has been. 

Chahta imaiyvhohmi (It’s the way of the Chahta).

This is the first modern exploration of the plant medicine used by contemporary Chahta people (Choctaw in English). It draws on traditional knowledge held and practiced by the authors, as taught to them by their elders and passed down through generations of healers and everyday people who found the medicine they needed in their surroundings. 

Herbalists Summer Wesley and Dr. Faith G. Harper combine knowledge from their Chahta families and communities with the pre-removal teachings of Alikchi Chahta as recorded by Dr. Gideon Lincecum in the 1820s. They demonstrate the importance of plants and place to overall wellness, showing us how to prepare plants as medicine to support healing during acute illness, create formularies, and specific medicinal uses for 134 particular plants. You’ll find properties, uses, and cautions for

• Plants native to Oklahoma, like hairy goldenaster
• Plants whose seeds were brought from Mississippi during the removal, like rough rattlesnake root
• Useful invasive weeds from around the world, like dandelion

This is a readable and well-researched resource for herbalists, kitchen witches, traditional knowledge seekers, or anyone looking to treat illness outside the U.S. healthcare system.