FOOD - WILD FRUIT

The First Nations peoples relied on many native fruit species including: raspberries, strawberries, saskatoon berry, chokecherry, blueberry, pincherry, highbush cranberry, buffaloberry, buffalo currant and lingonberry (lowbush cranberries).

Women and children gathered wild fruit. One method of collecting berries was to place blankets under the bushes then beat or shake the bushes so the berries fell off the branches. The berries were kept in baskets.

Berries were eaten fresh or mashed and dried into cakes.

Different methods were used to dry the berries. Berries were spread out on blankets or mats and dried in the sun. Berries were also dried next to a fire.

Saskatoon berries

SASKATOON BERRIES

• Wild saskatoon bushes grow on the prairies along edges of aspen poplar bluffs, along river banks and on hillsides.
• Wild saskatoons range from Alaska, the Yukon and Northwest Territories and south to California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
• The Cree name for the fruit is “Mis-sask-quah-too-mina” (or Mis-sask-a-too-mina) a word that sounds very similar to “saskatoon”.
• It is also called serviceberry, Juneberry, shadberry, sugar pear and Indian pear.
• The First Nations people relied on the berries for food and used the plant as a medicine.
• The berries were eaten fresh, or steamed and mashed, then shaped into cakes and dried. In the winter pieces were broken off and boiled or added to soups and stews.
• The leaves and fruit were dried and used to make tea.
• The wood of the saskatoon bush was useful for arrows, spears and other tools, basket frames and cross-pieces of canoes.
• The bark and roots were also used as medicine to treat ailments including eye and stomach problems.
• A purple dye was made from the berry juice.
• Pemmican was a mixture of dried meat, saskatoon berries (or other berries) and melted fat. Pemmican was stored in a sealed pouch so it would keep for months.
• Many tribes held ceremonies and feasts to celebrate the saskatoon harvest.

Chokecherry berries CHOKECHERRIES

• A traditional First Nation’s method of preparing the berries was to crush them between two stones and then warm them up in a pan with lard and sugar. Crushed and dried berries were used for soup, stews and pemmican.
• Chokecherry sticks were used for roasting game. The wood did not burn easily and the smokiness added flavour to the meat.
• Boiled twigs were used to make a strong tea to relieve a fever.
• Tea made from the bark or roots was used to treat coughs, stomach problems and other ailments.
• Twigs were used to make pegs for teepees (tipis), and cross sticks for the wind flaps at the top of a tipi. Branches and twigs were also made into skewers, arrows, bows, pipe stems, digging sticks and bow drills for starting fires.

Wild blueberries

WILD BLUEBERRIES

• Wild blueberries bushes grow in northern Saskatchewan.
• The First Nations peoples enjoyed both fresh and dried blueberries.
• Sun-dried or smoke-dried berries were added to breads, soups, stews and meat dishes.
• Dried berries were crushed into powder and added to meat for flavour.
• A beef jerky was made with meat and dried blueberries. Beef jerky could be stored for a long time.
• The berries were crushed and the juice was used to create a dye.
• Because of the star shaped crown on the fruit, some First Nations peoples believed the wild blueberry was sent by the Great Spirit to feed their children in times when food was scarce.
• Parts of the plant were used as medicine. A tea made from the leaves was thought to be good for the blood. Blueberry juice was used to treat coughs.
• Blueberries were used to treat coughs and as a relaxant during childbirth.
• Settlers ate the berries, which were similar to berries that grew in their homeland.
• The First Nations peoples taught the settlers different ways to use the berries.