Prescription Stick
CulturePotawatomi, Wisconsin or Kansas
Dateca. 1850
MediumWood
DimensionsOverall: 14 3/4 × 2 3/8 inches (37.47 × 6.03 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Donald D. Jones
Object number2001.3.73
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 208
Collections
DescriptionA rectangular plank of wood with engraved stick-figures of trees, plants, and possibly bushes on both front and back surfaces.Gallery LabelA healer, who could have been either a man or woman, consulted these prescription sticks as memory aids in preparing herbal medicines. The edges of both sides of each flat panel are delicately incised with linear pictographs that represent distinct plant species. While not a formal written language, the images were clearly understood by the maker or others taught to interpret them. Groups of plants that would have been combined in complex formulas are separated by either incised dots or rectangular, X-filled bars.
Torrence, Gaylord, ed. Continuum: North American Native Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
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F91-77/9 A
F91-77/9 B
See also/See also