Sassafras and an Ancient Choctaw Creation Story

Or, How Sassafras Saved the Life of the Last Person on Earth

When the missionaries first came to the Choctaws in Mississippi in 1818, this tradition was told them about as follows: In ancient times after men had lived a long period upon the earth they became very corrupt and wicked, and deluged the earth with so much blood and carnage that the Great Spirit finally decided to utterly destroy them. He, therefore, sent a prophet among them, who went from tribe to tribe and from village to village proclaiming the fearful tidings that the race was soon to be destroyed. No one paid any attention to him, however, and people went on in their wickedness as carelessly as ever. But one year, with the coming of autumn, mists and clouds gathered over the earth, so that there was no sun shining by day nor did the moon and stars light up the gloom of night. The situation grew gradually worse until the earth became shrouded in total darkness. The air was chill and all animate nature became silent. People too became silent and perplexed, but yet they gave no evidence of repenting for their evil deeds. They were compelled to find their way from place to place by light of torches.

The food that they had stored away became mouldy and unfit to eat. Soon the silence of the skies was broken by muttering thunder. As time went on, the thunderings grew louder and spread to almost every quarter of the sky. The wild beasts, overcome with terror, lost their dread of man and crept up around the village fires that gave the only relief from the general darkness and cold. People grew despondent, and the death songs were chanted everywhere. The Medicine Men could offer no explanation and had no hope to offer the striken people. But yet there was no repentance, no turning of a sinful people back to the Great Spirit – only a sullen fatalism.

One day very suddenly there came a crash of thunder much louder than had ever been heard before. The whole earth seemed to shake and tremble with the reverberation. Then, as people looked towards the north, they seemed to see a light – the first they had seen for many a long dark day. But whatever hope may have been aroused in their breasts was dissipated. For what they saw was not the return of the long lost sun, but it was the gleam of a great mountain of water, advancing in great billows from the north, covering the entire earth and destroying everything in its path. With the cry, “Oka Falamah, Oka Falamah” (the returning waters, the returning waters) the doomed people turned away in one last vain effort to escape. But there was no escape. The whole earth was soon covered even to the tops of the mountains by the vast flood, and men and animals alike perished, leaving only a desolate wilderness of waters.

Of all mankind, only one remained, and that was the mysterious prophet who had so faithfully yet vainly proclaimed the warnings of the Great Spirit. This prophet had been directed by the Great Spirit to build a raft of sassafras logs, upon which he floated safely above the destroying flood, while he gazed sadly upon the dead bodies of men and beasts as they floated past him in the dark waters.
The prophet floated aimlessly about for many weeks, until at last one day he saw a large black bird circling over his raft. He cried to it for help, but the bird only uttered a few harsh croaks and flew away to be seen no more. Some days later the prophet saw a smaller bird, bluish in color, with red beak and eyes, hovering over the raft. Again he asked this bird if there was a spot of dry land to be found anywhere in the waste of waters. It hovered over him for a few moments as if trying in its soft mournful voice to give the desired information, and then flew off towards the west where the new sun was again setting in splendor. Almost at once a strong wind arose which carried the raft in the direction in which the bird had gone. All night, it floated on under the moon and stars which shone again with renewed brightness.

When the sun rose the next morning the prophet saw in the distance an island towards which his raft seemed to be drifting. Before the sun went down again, the raft had moved along until it touched the island, and the tired prophet landed, and glad to be on the earth once more, he lay down and slept until the sun rose the next day. Much refreshed, he then began to look about the island, where to his surprise, he found every variety of animal formerly found on the earth (except the mammoth), and all the birds and fowl also. Among the birds he noticed the great black bird that had visited and deserted him upon the waters. This bird he named “fulushto” – the raven – always thereafter regarded as a bird of ill omen by the Choctaws.

He was overjoyed also to find again the little bluish bird that had hovered over him and caused the breeze to blow that brought his raft safe to the pleasant island. Because of its beauty and of its kindly deed he named this bird “Puchi Yushuba” (Lost Pigeon).

The prophet lived on this island for many days, until finally the waters passed away, and the earth once more took its former appearance, with hills, valleys, and grassy prairies. Then the strangest of all things happened Puchi Yushuba was changed by the Great Spirit into a beautiful young woman, who soon became the wife of the prophet, and by their children the world was repeopled. But the Indian people never again became so rashly disobedient to the Great Spirit, and never forgot the lesson of Oka Falamah, the “Returning Waters.”

By W.B. Morrison
For more legends of the Choctaw, see http://mike-boucher.com/wordpress/?page_id=43

Sassafras albidum



Tri-lobed leaves of S. albidum


Is there a more intriguing name than Sassafras?  This eastern North American species is native from southern Maine and southern Ontario west to Iowa and south to central Florida and eastern Texas. It occurs throughout the eastern deciduous forest habitat type, at altitudes of sea level up to about 5000 feet.  It once occurred in southern Wisconsin, but is extirpated there as a native tree.

Sassafras albidum is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 30 feet tall (less in its northern range) with a trunk up to 2 feet diameter (also less in its northern range) and a crown with many slender branches. The bark on trunk of mature trees is thick, dark red-brown, and deeply furrowed.  The shoots are bright yellow green at first with mucilaginous (slippery) bark that turns reddish brown and in two or three years begins to show shallow fissures. The leaves come in three different shapes, all of which can be on the same branch; three-lobed leaves, unlobed elliptical leaves, and two-lobed leaves; there are rarely more than three lobes. In fall, they turn shades of yellow tinged with red. The flowers are produced in loose, drooping, few-flowered racemes in early spring shortly before the leaves appear; they are yellow to greenish-yellow with five or six tepals (petals and sepals) It is usually dioecious, i.e., has male and female flowers on separate trees.  Pollination is by insects. The fruit is a small, dark blue-black drupe containing a single seed that ripens in late summer; the seeds are dispersed by birds. All parts of the plant are aromatic and spicy—like the root beer made from the bark. The roots are thick and fleshy, and frequently produce root sprouts which can develop into new trees.


 

Flowers



Fruit

It prefers rich, well-drained sandy loam, but will grow in any loose, moist soil. Seedlings will tolerate shade, but saplings and older trees demand full sunlight for good growth; in forests it typically regenerates in gaps created by wind. Growth is rapid, particularly with root sprouts, which can reach 15 feet in 4 years. Root sprouts often result in dense thickets, and a single tree, if allowed to spread unrestrained, will soon be surrounded by a sizable clonal colony, as its roots extend in every direction and send up multitudes of shoots.

A colony with many shoots

Sassafras is often grown as an ornamental tree for its unusual leaves and aromatic scent. Outside of its native area, it is occasionally cultivated in Europe and elsewhere. The wood is dull orange brown, hard, and durable in contact with the soil; it was used in the past for posts and rails, small boats and yokes for oxen, though scarcity and small size limit current use. Some is still used for making furniture. An essential oil, called sassafras oil, is distilled from the root bark or the fruit. It was used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps, food (sassafras tea and candy flavoring) and for aromatherapy. The smell of sassafras oil is said to make an excellent repellent for mosquitoes and other insects,[citation needed] which makes it a nice garden plant. Acids can be extracted from bark for manufacturing perfumes. The essential oil was used as a pain killer as well as an antiseptic in dentistry.  The pith is used to soothe eye inflammation.

The root or root bark is used to make tea, although most commercial so-called sassafras teas are now artificially flavored as a result of the 1976 FDA ban on sassafras oil containing safrole, a potent carcinogen. A yellow dye is obtained from the wood. The shoots were used to make root beer, a traditional soft drink beverage carbonated with yeast, which owed its characteristic odor and flavor to the sassafras extract. Most commercial root beers have replaced the sassafras extract with methyl salicylate, found in wintergreen and black birch (Betula lenta) bark. A safrole-free sassafras extract is now available for flavoring. The dried and ground leaves, which do not contain safrole, are known as filé powder.  

Filé is still used for thickening sauces and soups in Cajun, Creole, and other Louisiana cooking, notably in the dish filé gumbo.  Early Louisiana  settlers learned about filé from the Choctaw Indians.  With an earthy taste that is similar to thyme combined with savory, ground sassafras will lend a unique flavor to stews, sauces and other hearty dishes. It also serves as a thickening agent but should only be stirred in at the end of cooking. If allowed to boil, filé powder will cause a liquid to become stringy and unappetizing.  

Seafood and Chicken Filé Gumbo Serves 3-4

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

4 Tbsp Creole Seasoning

1 Cup Onions, diced

1/2 Cup Green Bell Pepper, diced

1/2 Cup Celery, diced

1 Cup Andouille sausage, sliced or diced

1/2 Cup Tasso, diced

3 Tbsp Garlic, chopped

8 Cups Shrimp or Seafood Stock

3 Fresh Bay Leaves

4 Chicken Thighs, boned cut into 1″ pieces, then seasoned liberally with Creole Seasoning

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

Hot Sauce to taste

1 lb. Fresh Shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 Dozen Oysters, shucked

Kosher Salt to taste, if necessary

2 Tbsp Italian Parsley, chopped

1/4 Cup Thinly Sliced Green Onions

Boiled Rice

Fresh French Bread

Filé Powder and hot sauce at the table

Mix your onion, celery, and bell pepper (known down in Louisiana as the Holy Trinity).  Heat the oil in a cast iron dutch oven over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook to make a milk chocolate-colored roux. Add the Andouille, 1 Tbsp of seasoning, and 3/4 of the Holy Trinity, cook, stirring often, for about ten minutes or until the vegetables soften. Gradually whisk in the stock, then add the remaining seasoning, and garlic. Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken and simmer until cooked through. About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve add the shrimp, cook until done, then add the oysters and cook until the edges curl. Add the Worcestershire, Hot Sauce, and 1/2 of the Green Onions. Serve with boiled rice and crusty French Bread. Garnish with green onions and parsley.  Pass hot sauce (for those who like it hotter) and filé powder (for those who like it thicker) at the table.

A word of caution:  Commercial filé often contains no sassafras at all and won't taste right or do the thickening job it is supposed to do.  To make your own 100% filé powder, first find a sassafras tree.  Take some branches (traditionally during the August full moon) with young leaves and hang them in the sun sheltered from rain to dry for a week (this can also be done in a low oven at 200 degrees in a shorter time).  When the leaves are dry, remove the leaves from the stems and pulverize  in a mortar and pestle, a spice grinder, or a food processor.  Press the powder through a  fine sieve to remove all of the little twigs, and tough pieces.

Store in the dark in an airtight container.





A yummy chicken & seafood filé gumbo with rice. Pass the Tabasco