Snake Oil

Native American themes were useful in promoting elixirs. Natives, imagined to be noble savages, were thought to be in tune with nature, and heirs to a body of traditional lore about herbal remedies and natural cures. One example of this approach from the period was Kickapoo Indian Sagwa, a product of the Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company of Connecticut (completely unrelated to the real Kickapoo Indian tribe and supposedly based on a Native American recipe.





Advertisements for the cure all products was fierce. There had to be some level of exoticism and mystery in the contents of the preparation to make it desirable by the customers. Unlikely ingredients such as the baobab fruit in Oxien were a recurring theme. Another famous patent medicine of the period was Dr. Kilmer's Swamp Root; unspecified roots found in swamps had remarkable effects on the kidneys, according to its literature.




Perhaps the wrapper stated a physician lived among the tribe and learned the healing properties of a variety of plans and roots. Perhaps the company used the Kickapoo name because they were forest dwellers at one time and it makes one believe they gathered the healing properties in the roots and berries where no white man knew to look.



My question is, if the Kickapoo Indians are mostly associated with Oklahoma during the time of this advertisement from 1893, just where are those major forest areas in Oklahoma?



What was in those syrups that had the village of Rosewood meeting the medicine man? What were they trying to cure? What chemicals did the potion have that the Rosewood soil did not have? Was that a clue?





Before we poo-poo elixirs from the past, think about the number of vitamins and herbs that line the shelves of your local drug store. Think about what sort of bottle you may have reached for to cure yourself or your child. Are we still are looking for a bottle of syrup to make us better? Why do health stores flourish? Do the supplements we take help or do they just make our urine healthy?





Did the concoction I made for my daughter's cough really break the cough, or did it make her drunk? How many of you had a sips of alcohol mixed with honey and lemon juice?





Did you have a child with mono and you fed him enough vitamin C to "grow another leg" but believed it shortened the illness?





Is the bottle of black strap molasses in the back of the pantry truly a way to pep up?





Is there a little snake oil salesman in all of us? Is there a self promotion part in us that makes us believe a shot of elixir will make us well or at least have a feeling of wellness? Unlike the 1893 advertisements, however, there is no cocaine or opium in the spoonful.



Think about your own patent medicine box. What 'helps' do you have? What do you use to make your day go better? Twenty years ago herbs and roots, and berries, and leaves where considered all medicine show products, now they are incorporated into hospitals and clinics. Your own doctor may ask if you are taking a multivitamin.

Think about aloe vera, for example, how does that plant incorporate into your life?

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