Phragmites use by Native North Americans

Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. occurred in North America in pre-Columbian time but has spread greatly and become invasive in the north-central and northeastern US during the 1900s. At least 46 Native North American tribes were reported to use Phragmites historically, and we compiled statistical data from the literature on 24 of these tribes. There were approximately 75 different uses of Phragmites. Each tribe had 2-25 (mean = 7.0) uses for Phragmites, of which the most frequent were: arrowshaft (17 tribes), cigarette (13), flute (12), whistle (7), pipestem (7), and matting (6). Number of uses per tribe was highest in the SouthWestern quadrant of North America, and was negatively correlated with latitude but not correlated with longitude. The apparent center of Phragmites availability and use in the SouthWestern United States is consistent with occurrence of Phragmites in pre-Columbian sediments and archaeological deposits, and at least two specialized Phragmites-using animals. The ethnobotanical importance of Phragmites should be considered in management of this plant. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.