"We have a plant that was the center of a ceremony - the boy's puberty ceremony. Jimsom weed, or 'naktamoosh' in Luseņo, was used but it's no longer used today -- at least for the puberty ceremony. One reason is the specialist who administered the naktamoosh dealt with this plant his entire life. When he gave it to the young men he knew those men their whole lives and he knew the doses he should be giving them. Also, knowing these young men so well, when they had their visions he could interpret them. When they were done with their visions they went from youths to adults that knew what they wanted to be in life.

Now we don't have those specialists and the plant is so very much dangerous to use that we no longer use it for that ceremony. We still use it medicinally, though, as a poultice. It works good on aches and pains. So while we don't use naktamoosh for the ceremony anymore, we still respect the plant and honor it." - Richard Bugbee, interview

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"For those who have never seen a desert
in its full Spring splendor,
this film shows it beautifully."
Arizona Native Plant Society