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Wild Edibles: Plants and Animals of the Boreal
The Boreal is not the easiest place to survive. The winters are long and cold and the summers are so short they are almost bittersweet and yet the Aboriginal Peoples have thrived on this seemingly harsh landscape. They have learned to harvest the Boreal forest to fulfill their needs, learning which plants are edible and by hunting the animals that share the Boreal with them.
Edible Plants of the Boreal:
Edible plants provide essential vitamins and nutrients the diets of Aboriginal peoples; berries, roots, even barks were used as additives and additional food sources and we will look at each of them in turn.
Berries:
When people think of wild edibles their first thought is usually of berries. That being said it should come as no surprise that the type of wild edible most consumed by Aboriginals are berries which can be consumed on their own or added as a sweetener to foods. Berries provide Vitamin C, Calcium and sometimes Vitamin A to the diet where it would otherwise be unavailable. Some of the most common berries that were consumed are: blueberries, crowberries, cloudberries, partridgeberries, and highbush cranberries. The berries are traditionally gathered in birch bark baskets and can be prepared many ways, either eaten fresh or mixed with another dish. One such example of this is “Eskimo Ice Cream” which involves whipping warmed animal fat into foam and adding berries and other ingredients as it cools 1, 2, 4, 5
Greens:
Greens are considered the leaves, stems or shoots of a plant. These wild edibles are an important source of nutrients such as Vitamin C, folates, creatine, iron, calcium and magnesium, which are again, very difficult to get with a strictly meat-based diet. Greens are usually gathered while the plant is young because the mature plants often taste too bitter and can become toxic. Some common greens are: fireweed, cattails and mountain sorrel, but there are many others and they can be eaten freshly after picking or after cooking. 2
Roots:
Roots, which also includes bulbs, rhizomes and tubers, were another valuable edible plant source used by Aboriginals. These parts of the plant provided a source of carbohydrates in the diets of indigenous people. Plants like water parsnip (Sium sauve) were collected in the spring and summer and the roots either eaten fried, raw or roasted. Many similar plants were gathered and utilized the same way, adding a vital carbohydrate source to the diet of the Aboriginal Peoples who used the Boreal’s bounty to survive. 2, 3
Barks:
In some regions the bark of trees could also provide a viable food source. The inner bark of some tree and shrub species, depending on the region, could be consumed often by grating it up and either eating it or drying it and grinding the product into a flour which could be added to other foods. For example, the Gwich’in and Inupiat people of eastern Canada consumed the inner bark of many willow species , the Innu balsam fir and paper birch and many more. 2
Lichens:
Despite its not so appetizing appearance lichens were often used as a food source by Aboriginal Peoples of the Boreal, especially in times of food scarcity. Lichens are very difficult for humans to digest so they had to be prepared in a highly specific manner before they became edible. One such way was to consume partially digested lichen from the stomachs of caribou. The valuable nutrients locked up in the lichens were made available to the Aboriginals by the digestive action of the caribou. Another methods of consumption was to soften it in hot water and add other ingredients such as berries, and make a sort of soup or stew with it. 2, 3
Image Source: National Geographic
Animals:
The indigenous Peoples of the Boreal generally had a meat-based diet, supplemented by the plants mentioned above. Hunting animals like caribou and moose were essential to their survival with nothing from the animals going to waste. Often Aboriginals hunted seasonally, following the migratory patterns of their major food sources in the Boreal, namely being caribou and salmon. Of course other animals like hare, moose, grouse, ptarmigan and many other bird and mammalian species were all viable food sources. 3
The most traditional methods of hunting of course involved tools like the bow and arrow, spear, net and snare, but over time some groups created specialized hunting techniques. Take for example the Beothuk People of Newfoundland; it’s well documented that they used a fence-like structure of felled trees to herd caribou into a closed in area where they could be easily harvested. 3, 6
Once the animal had been caught and the meat collected it could then either be cooked and eaten fresh or dried and stored for later consumption. The other parts of the animal like the skin, feathers, parts like antlers and even the bones were all used for things like clothing and making weapons. 3, 6
Disclaimer: This webpage is dedicated to the history of plant usage in the Boreal by Aboriginal peoples gathered through research; it is NOT a survival guide to actual plant use nor does it aim to teach such skills. Ingesting plants or trying to use them as medicines is extremely dangerous and should not be attempted without proper training and instruction.
References:
1) Johnson, D., L. Kershaw, A. MacKinnon and J. Pojar. 1995. Plants of western boreal forest and aspen parkland. Lone Pine Publ., Vancouver, BC
3) http://www.heritage.nf.ca/aboriginal/beo_hunting.html
4) http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/other/ai215e/AI215E06.htm
5) Murray, G., Boxall, P.C., Wein, R.W. 2005. Distribution, abundance, and utilization of wild berries by the Gwich'in people in the Mackenzie River Delta Region. Economic Botany 59, pp. 174-184
6) http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCESubjects&Params=A1SUB45CAT192#sub45
All Images unless otherwise stated are credited to Ashley Billard
Bunchberry (bearing fruit), Cornus canadensis
BOREAL @ MEMORIAL