09/29/2022
North Carolina folk healer, Emma Dupree (1898-1996).
The following is from Harriet's Apothecary (follow them on Instagram for more inspirational stories on Black healers and wellness leaders):
“Born in 1897, the traditionally lucky seventh child (among 18 siblings), Dupree grew up on the Tar River and was known in her family as "that little medicine thing" because of her early understanding of herbs. "All that we see, everything that is growin' in the earth is healin' to the nation of any kind of disease," Miss Dupree would always say.
From the time she could walk, Dupree felt drawn to the land. She would roam the woods, plucking, sniffing, tasting weeds. She grew up that way, collecting the leaves, stems, roots and bark of sweet gum, white mint, mullein, sassafras in her coattail or a tin bucket. She'd tote them back to the farm, rinse them in well water and tie them in bunches to dry.
In the backyard, she'd raise a fire under a kettle and boil her herbs to a bubbly froth, then pour it up in brown-necked stone jugs: A white-mint potion for poor circulation; catnip tea for babies with colic; tansy tea - hot or cold - for low blood sugar; mullein tea for a stomach ache. Mixed with molasses or peppermint candy to knock out the bitterness.
Her kind of folk medicine dates back centuries. As an elderly woman she shared much of her knowledge with doctors and medical anthropologists, who came to her so they could understand more about the medicinal properties of native plants."
Photo by Mary Anne McDonald
