Staghorn Sumac and the Politics of Medical Knowledge

“A medicine long understood, just not by the systems that name it.”

A Familiar Plant, Seen Through the Wrong Lens

Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina), known as baakwaanaatig in Ojibwe, is a small deciduous tree native to Canada and parts of the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East. Its fuzzy red berry clusters and feather-like leaves make it visually distinctive, yet in dominant scientific and medical narratives, it is often framed as ornamental, marginal, or simply “wild.”

This framing matters. When a plant is categorized as decorative rather than medicinal, folklore rather than pharmacology, it quietly exits the conversation on health, innovation, and evidence. Staghorn sumac is not an obscure species; it is a familiar one rendered invisible by the way knowledge systems decide what counts as legitimate.

Indigenous Knowledge as Primary Evidence, Not Anecdote

For many Indigenous communities, staghorn sumac has never been peripheral. Its berries are traditionally used in beverages and seasonings. In contrast, the bark, leaves, and roots have long been used for their astringent and medicinal properties, including treatments for sore throats, wounds, and fevers. These practices were not isolated remedies but part of coherent, adaptive systems of care developed through generations of observation and environmental interaction.

Yet within dominant biomedical framing, such uses are often described as “traditional” in a way that subtly signals pre-scientific or unverified. This linguistic framing diminishes the epistemic status of Indigenous knowledge, even when it aligns closely with later laboratory findings.

Sumac’s presence in Indigenous storytelling further complicates this divide between culture and science. In the Musquakie legend Chasing the Bear, the leaves of the sumac turn blood red in autumn to honour a bear killed on its branches. In the Apache story Turkey Makes the Corn and Coyote Plants It, a bear provides sumac to sustain a starving family. These stories encode ecological relationships, seasonal awareness, and moral responsibility, forms of knowledge that do not fit neatly into Western scientific categories but guide sustainable interaction with the natural world.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the Language of “Discovery”

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) surrounding staghorn sumac reflects generations of close, empirical engagement with local ecosystems. While modern scientific research often begins by acknowledging this Indigenous knowledge, it is frequently framed as a starting point for scientific verification rather than as a complete and valid system of understanding in its own right.

This shift in framing is not neutral. When scientific literature positions Indigenous knowledge as something to be validated rather than respected, it reinforces a hierarchy in which legitimacy flows in only one direction. Ethical research, especially in plant-based medicine, therefore, requires more than data extraction; it demands acknowledgement, collaboration, and meaningful benefit-sharing with the communities that developed this knowledge.

Rather than replacing Traditional Ecological Knowledge, modern science has the opportunity to contextualize and deepen it through respectful partnership.

Staghorn sumac offers a compelling case study in how these knowledge systems can coexist productively when research is framed around reciprocity and care.

What Modern Science Chooses to Notice

Recent scientific interest in sumac species has largely focused on metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, a condition that accounts for approximately 90% of diabetes cases worldwide and is characterized by insulin resistance, impaired insulin secretion, and dysregulated lipid metabolism.

Most experimental studies examine Rhus coriaria, a close relative of staghorn sumac, but the findings illuminate the medicinal potential of the broader Rhus genus. Animal studies using diabetic mouse and rat models demonstrate that sumac extracts can significantly reduce blood glucose and cholesterol levels. At higher doses, some studies report improvements in oxidative stress markers as well as liver and kidney function.

Importantly, these findings are often framed as “emerging” within scientific discourse, despite closely mirroring long-established traditional uses. This contrast reveals how scientific framing can obscure continuity between Indigenous practice and laboratory evidence, even when the conclusions converge.

Why Chemistry Supports the Tradition

The medicinal potential of sumac is largely attributed to its rich phytochemical profile. Staghorn sumac contains tannins, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and anthocyanins, bioactive compounds widely recognized for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Oxidative stress, a key contributor to many chronic diseases, is precisely what these compounds help mitigate.

Advanced analytical techniques have identified dozens of flavonoids across different parts of the plant. Compounds such as quercetin, myricetin, kaempferol, catechin, and rutin contribute to its biological activity and help explain why sumac has remained pharmacologically relevant across cultures and centuries.

Seen through a framing theory lens, the chemistry does not validate traditional knowledge; it corroborates it.

Reframing the Future: From Extraction to Reciprocity

The growing scientific recognition of traditional medicine is encouraging, but recognition alone is insufficient. Many plant-based remedies remain understudied, and too often, the communities that developed and preserved this knowledge are excluded from authorship, credit, and tangible benefits.

Staghorn sumac challenges us to reconsider how healthcare knowledge is framed, categorized, and valued. When Indigenous knowledge is treated as context rather than content, innovation is limited. When it is treated as evidence, new pathways for ethical, inclusive research emerge.

Reframing the conversation does not mean abandoning scientific rigor. It means expanding it, acknowledging that health knowledge has always been plural, relational, and deeply embedded in lived experience.

This piece aims to encourage reflection on how traditional knowledge and modern science can work together, rather than in opposition, to shape more equitable and comprehensive approaches to healthcare. Acknowledgement:

I would like to thank my professor, Dr. Kitty Lickers, who is from Six Nations, and my Traditional Ecological Knowledge course cohort at McMaster University for inspiring me to take on this project. Without their perspectives and shared knowledge, this blog would not have taken its current form. -Avani

References:

1. Baakwaanaatig or Sumac. Indigenous Food Sovereignty Collective Waterloo Region. https://indigenousfoodsovereigntycollectivewaterlooregion.community/2020/07/30/baakwaanaatig-or-sumac/.

2. Heard it from a Scout: Sumac is nature’s tasty candy. www.natureconservancy.ca. https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/blog/archive/heard-it-from-a-scout-sumac.html.

3. Sumac: Indigenous Peoples’ Perspective Project: Programs | Events: Adkins Arboretum. Adkinsarboretum.org. https://www.adkinsarboretum.org/programs_events/ipp/sumac.html.

4. O’Driscoll, D. Sacred Tree Profile: The Medicine, Magic, and Uses of Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina). The Druids Garden. https://thedruidsgarden.com/2020/07/19/sacred-tree-profile-staghorn-sumac-rhus-typhina/.

5. Heidari, H.; Ahangarpour, A.; Junghani, M.; Absari, R.; Khoogar, M.; Ghaedi, E. Effects of Hydroalcoholic Extract of Rhus coriaria Seed on Glucose and Insulin Related Biomarkers… Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences 2017, 12 (5), 416.

6. Singh, R.; Gholipourmalekabadi, M.; Shafikhani, S. H. Animal Models for Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes… Frontiers in Endocrinology 2024, 15.

7. Doğan, A.; Çelik, İ. Healing Effects of Sumac (Rhus coriaria). Pharmaceutical Biology 2016, 54 (10), 2092–2102.

8. Zannou, O. et al. Phytochemical and Nutritional Properties of Sumac (Rhus coriaria). Journal of Future Foods 2025, 5 (1), 21–35. Picture credit- https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/sumac-forest.html