Uses

Hickories are all extremely useful trees, providing hard wood that has been used for centuries for tools, building materials, technology, basketry and fuel. The nuts are an extremely important source of food for humans, primarily being harvested once they mature and fall to the ground. Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) is historically and currently used to make the sticks for lacrosse, the Haudenosaunee sport that they call the Creator’s game. The hard wood of Shagbark hickory has also historically been and is currently used to craft bowls, spoons, paddles, and for housing timber. Shellbark hickory wood has been used for basketry, snowshoe frames, barrel hoops, ladders, and tool handles. Bitternut hickory was historically and is currently used to make bows, snowsnakes (a uniquely Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe winter sport), lacrosse sticks, tools, and the wood has a distinctive flavor when used for smoking meat and fish (the source of hickory-smoked foods).

Kanyen'kéha linguist, cultural educator and elder Tehahenteh Miller notes that hickories are still used at Six Nations of the Grand River to make lacrosse sticks, snowsnakes, and bows – the traditional knowledge of which are all important elements of the continuance of Haudenosaunee cultural practices. Alyssa General and her father spoke with Dr. Dolan one day about the cultural significance of hickory trees, noting that they are cultural significant trees for crafts & utility and at nut-bearing time in the autumn months. They are the source of wood for lacrosse sticks, snowsnakes, and mudcats (snowsnakes are long sticks measuring 6.5 feet, and mudcats are shorter, at 37 inches long). Snowsnake as a sport is meant to uplift the spirits in the middle of winter (like a medicine). Snowsnake is a medicine society, like lacrosse, but it is enjoyed as a game as well. While lacrosse is a summer game, snowsnake is a winter game. Alyssa General’s father recounted the origin of snowsnake: “Snow snake comes from poor hunters. In the winter, they’d throw their arrow and miss and it slides along the snow and they became fascinated with it as a game.” He noted that Anishinaabe make a wider track on the ground than Haudenosaunee, who create a long narrow track out of snow. Originally, the track for snowsnake was made by horse-drawn sleighs, which eventually changed to creating an elevated chute with a long log. In creating the track, people let it sit for a while so that it will get icy – like a night or two. It is played and enjoyed primarily by men, but there is a version that women play that is slightly different with a circular track.

In Frederick Wilkerson Waugh’s notes from 1912, John Arthur Gibson described to Waugh that hickories were growing plentifully along the Grand River and in neighborhoods at Six Nations, and were used for food, dyes, pounded as an ingredient in soups; Shagbark and Shellbark nuts were mixed with other nuts (except acorns) and either beans or berries and made into bread – or made into a gravy (Waugh Box 200 F1; Box 22 F7). Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe have made tasty hickory nuts into pies and cakes for over a Century. Scott Herron described Anishinaabe using bitternut and shagbark hickories extensively for craft and utility. Amber Adams noted that shagbark hickory is part of the Haudenosaunee Creation story. Rick Hill and Chandra Maracle noted for their Healthy Roots traditional foods research that nuts from all three hickories are a nutritious source of proteins and fats.