Writers’ Wednesday – On The GO! – Healing Plants of Nevada: Medicinal Uses by Indian Tribes of Nevada (Revised Edition) Book (Off-site, KOP)
March 10, 2027 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Writers’ Wednesday – On The GO!
Wednesday, March 10, 2027
5:00 – 5:30 pm – Building open
5:30 – 6:30 pm – Lecture
Speaker: Karen Dustman, historian and author
Book Title: Healing Plants of Nevada: Medicinal Uses by Indian Tribes of Nevada (Revised Edition)
Summary of Talk: For generations, Native American communities in the Great Basin relied upon the plants of Nevada’s meadows, deserts, forests, and sagebrush country for traditional healing. Based on a little-known 1940s ethnobotanical study, Healing Plants of Nevada: Medicinal Uses by Indian Tribes of Nevada (Revised Edition) presents historical knowledge of the medicinal uses of native plants by the region’s Indigenous peoples.
Carefully reorganized and reformatted for modern readers, this updated edition arranges the plants by common name and combines the original historical research with practical plant identification, updated references, and newly prepared illustrations. Readers will discover traditional uses for dozens of familiar Western plants, including sagebrush, yarrow, willow, bitterbrush, juniper, rabbitbrush, and wild rose.
More than a field guide, this book offers a fascinating window into the deep relationship between people, plants, survival, and healing in the American West. It also serves as a tribute to the traditional plant knowledge developed over generations by Nevada’s Indigenous peoples.
Karen Dustman, author
Speaker Bio: Karen Dustman is an author, historian, and former prosecutor whose work focuses on the people, places, and stories of the American West. She is the author of more than thirty books, including multiple works on Nevada history, ghost towns, historic cemeteries, and the communities of the Sierra Nevada.
Karen’s latest book, Healing Plants of Nevada: Medicinal Uses by Indian Tribes of Nevada, explores the traditional uses of native Nevada plants by Native peoples of the Great Basin. The book builds upon a long-overlooked Nevada research study by incorporating updated plant names, additional historical context, and new illustrations.
Karen’s lifelong interest in history has taken her from archival research and historic preservation projects to speaking engagements throughout Nevada and California. In addition to her nonfiction work, she also writes fiction under the pen name Abby Rice.
She lives in the Sierra Nevada with her husband and an opinionated African Grey parrot named Rocky.
The Writers’ Wednesday Lecture Series, held on the second Wednesday of each month, features a different author who takes part in a book signing, a presentation, and a question-and-answer session with the audience.
The program intends to highlight writers who focus on Nevada, the Great Basin, or the West in general. The authors discuss the content of their books but also share details about the creative process.
We would like to thank our partner, the Knights of Pythias, for hosting our off-site lectures.
The Knights of Pythias fraternal organization promotes friendship among men and for the general welfare of its membership. They strive to make the world a better place by practicing the principles of friendship, charity, and benevolence through community service. The Knights of Pythias have been serving Nevada communities since the 1870s. There are only three active lodges left in the State of Nevada. The address is 980 Nevada Street, Reno, NV 89503.
