Over the past 15 years, we have team-taught several versions of an interdisciplinary course on Native American Ethnobotany. The content and format of the course have varied, but we have always used Eastern Woodlands cultural groups as a focus for treatment of broad topics such as the adoption of agriculture and evolution of crops, and the roles of plants in healing, spiritual life, and material culture; and we have always included both lecture/discussion classes and laboratory sessions. Most recently, our course was offered through a multidisciplinary program in American Culture. We attracted 30 students with 11 different majors. Students have responded most positively to field walks in which we talk about the Native American uses of plants, guest presentations by ethnobotanists whose works we have read, field trips to museums and other sites where Native American culture has been preserved or re-created, hands-on laboratory activities, and jig-saw style reading assignments. While our focus on the Eastern Woodlands has been helpful for structuring the course and allowing us to teach to our own interests, it has also excluded some currently exciting topics and issues that draw students toward ethnobotany. Although we cannot teach the course every year, its periodic appearance identifies us as sources of advice and encouragement for students interested in ethnobotany.

Key words: Eastern Woodlands, ethnobotany, Native Americans, teaching