Echinacea

Echinacea angustifolia was widely used by the North American Plains Indians for its supposed medicinal qualities. According to Wallace Simpson, its modern use for the common cold began when a Swiss herbal supplement maker was “erroneously told” that Echinacea was used for cold prevention by Native American tribes who lived in the area of South Dakota. Although Native American tribes did not use Echinacea for the common cold, some Plains tribes did use echinacea for cold symptoms. The Kiowa used it for coughs and sore throats, the Cheyenne for sore throats, the Pawnee for headaches, and many tribes including the Lakotah used it as a pain medication. 

For hundreds of years, the Plains Indians used it as an antiseptic, an analgesic, and to treat poisonous insect and snake bites, toothaches, sore throat, wounds and communicable diseases such as mumps, smallpox, and measles.