u think they smoked pot a lot? im guessing no.

[awesomemixtape10]

mountain folk in general back then.

[Sussie of Teckelhut Acres]

While it was around back then, it was not widely as known as it has been for the last 60 years . So I'm guessing probably not .

[Easton]

Perhaps for religious and medicinal purposes. Not so much recreational until later.

[goodnight]

In Loretta Lynn's autobiography Coal Miner's Daughter, she mentioned that sometimes when she was growing up they smoked some kind of plant called Life Everlasting that grew wild in the fields. Has anyone else read this book and remembered this passage? She didn't say it was marijuana, but what is it?

[Easton]

Google says it's a member of the daisy or sunflower family. When the leaves and stems are crushed, it smells of curry. It can be made into a tea to treat the common cold or stomach and bowel issues, or it can be made into a paste and applied to cuts and bruises.

www.locallifesc.com/wayback-lowcountry-life-everlasting/

[Johnny]

From the same source for Life Everlasting, they say "The plant was smoked, used in sweat lodges" so indigenous people were smoking Life Everlasting and the settlers that followed (including Loretta Lynn's community) evidently did as well.

But that doesn't shed any light on mountain folks's use (if any) of cannabis.  

[Johnny]

Indigenous people in America did cultivate a variety of cannabis, the kind that is known for its fibre, and used to 
make rope and textiles. There was ritual smoking of this variety of cannabis and said to be included in the mix to be smoked in Peace Pipe ceremonies.  

They also recognized its medicinal use: "Early Native Americans recognized the medicinal potential of marijuana. Everything from headaches to eye irritation were treated with cannabis in various Native American tribes"

ref:  How Was Cannabis Used in Native American Culture

But this still doesn't tell us much about mountain folk's use of this plant. 

[Sussie of Teckelhut Acres]

If they were using it for ceremonies and sweet lodges it was probably Peyote.

[Johnny]

Aug 24, 2023 23:27:31 GMT -5 Sussie of Teckelhut Acres said:

If they were using it for ceremonies and sweet lodges it was probably Peyote.

Zadok helped me on this. Several plants and fungi with psychoactive properties were used in indigenous rituals (sweat lodges) and ceremonies. including: cannabis (sp., peyote, a spineless cactus Lophophora williamsii), yopo (Anadenanthera peregrina) and ebene (Virola calophylla), and the ayahuasca-caapi-yagé complex (Banisteriopsis caapi)

ref:  Plants and Their Use in Traditional Societies
 

[awesomemixtape10]

i bet granny ketchum dabbled in it. ( the person who gave the family blue)

[goodnight]

Aug 24, 2023 17:29:27 GMT -5 Johnny said:

Indigenous people in America did cultivate a variety of cannabis, the kind that is known for its fibre, and used to 
make rope and textiles. There was ritual smoking of this variety of cannabis and said to be included in the mix to be smoked in Peace Pipe ceremonies.  

They also recognized its medicinal use: "Early Native Americans recognized the medicinal potential of marijuana. Everything from headaches to eye irritation were treated with cannabis in various Native American tribes"

ref:  How Was Cannabis Used in Native American Culture

But this still doesn't tell us much about mountain folk's use of this plant. 

That would be hemp, correct?

[Easton]

^ Yes. It's similar to flax in its fibres being used for making ropes and textiles, etc. Hemp has been used for such productions for over 50,000 years.

[e knight]

A little research turned this up:

www.veryimportantpotheads.com/site/geer.htm

A check of High Times magazines from 1976/77, the year that pranksters changed the Hollywood sign to read "Hollyweed" as a New Year's joke, reveals that Will Geer said he likes marijuana in his strawberry tea. Geer is sometimes credited as High Ghere (the original spelling of his last name name) and appeared as himself in "Shooting the Moonshine War" (1970) (uncredited).

[Johnny]

Aug 31, 2023 15:59:57 GMT -5 goodnight said:

Aug 24, 2023 17:29:27 GMT -5 Johnny said:

Indigenous people in America did cultivate a variety of cannabis, the kind that is known for its fibre, and used to 
make rope and textiles. There was ritual smoking of this variety of cannabis and said to be included in the mix to be smoked in Peace Pipe ceremonies.  

They also recognized its medicinal use: "Early Native Americans recognized the medicinal potential of marijuana. Everything from headaches to eye irritation were treated with cannabis in various Native American tribes"

ref:  How Was Cannabis Used in Native American Culture

But this still doesn't tell us much about mountain folk's use of this plant. 

That would be hemp, correct?

that's correct