Black drink - online puzzles

Black drink is a name for several kinds of ritual beverages brewed by Native Americans in the Southeastern United States. Traditional ceremonial people of the Yuchi, Caddo, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee and some other Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands use the black drink in purification ceremonies. It was occasionally known as white drink because of the association of the color white with peace leaders in some Native cultures in the Southeast.

Black drink is consumed to purify an individual by removing spiritual and physical contamination and, as such, is never taken casually. The preparation and protocols vary between tribes and ceremonial grounds. The full formula is not published or given to outsiders, but a prominent ingredient is the roasted leaves and stems of Ilex vomitoria (commonly known as yaupon holly ), a plant native to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Black drink usually contains emetic herbs, which has been recorded as inducing vomiting.