Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sept 18 Book
Sept 18 Book
Plant Project
Hartley Bay 2004
Contents
Preface
Plants
dzawes/salal wnax/ skunk cabbage sgan koo/ thimbleberry makooks/salmonberry moolks/pacific crabapple smmaay/ wild blueberry tsgaaam/ licorice root sahakwdak/ western yew wal / yellow cedar wooms/ devils-club hulnns/ poison root stati/ stinging nettle 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 22
Preface
O
ur people have always strived to co-exist in harmony with all of the things that share the world with us; the plants, the animals, the rocks, the air, the waterthe whole. Our future is bonded to the wisdom of how to perpetuate this coexistence. Our world sways in a delicate balance. The Gitgaat Plant Project illustrates our belief that in order to live meaningfully we must first respect, understand, and internalize the knowledge held by our Elders, and then translate it into a way that our future remains honest and true to who we are. Hartley Bay is a Tsimshian community; we are known as the Gitgaat People, the People of the Cane. Hartley Bay is located at the junction of three major water routes on the Northwest Coast; the Douglas, Grenville, and Wales Channels. It is accessible by boat and plane. Hartley Bay, because it is isolated from much of the world, has been able to maintain its heritage and carry on the traditions that have molded us into who we are. The Gitgaat Plant Project conducted in conjunction with our Elders, our students, and the University of Victoria, has been an endeavour which has allowed students to get in touch with their past and to link it to the future. Each student or group of students selected and researched a plant that is indigenous to Hartley Bay. They learned the historical and cultural significance of the plant from the Elders, and the Western scientific knowledge using books, the Internet and other sources. The students learned research techniques, interviewing skills and traditional protocol. We are grateful to the knowledge and support given to us by our Elders, our Dziis and Yaas who take care of us and our world; to Judy Thompson who dreamed; to Dr. Nancy Turner who enabled, and advised, and pushed, prodded, and poked; to Mr. Hill who encouraged, assisted, advised, and cheered; to Mrs. Hill for her support and assistance, especially in regards to arranging some of the interviews; to Eva Hill (Mrs. H) who ensured that the work got done; to both Eva and Simone Westgarth for taking most of the pictures; to Avi Lambert who made it look good; and to the students who, though they may not realize it yet, have made a positive commitment to the future of the Gitgaat People. Cameron Hill And a special thank you to Mr. H (Cameron Hill). Without his support, his enthusiasm, and his easygoing attitude, the Gitgaat Plant Project would not have come to be. He is an amazing teacher and a wonderful role model not only for his students, but for all of the children of Hartley Bay. Judy Thompson (Edosdi)
Salal Dessert:
Mix salal berries with oolichan grease, sugar, water and other berries (bunch berries, huckleberries, blueberries and salmonberries) (Recipes given by Mildred Wilson)
Plant Studies by: Tiffany Wilson (l) Randi Bolton (c) & Cheryl Reece (r)
Plant informants: Ernie Hill Jr. Mildred Wilson and Richard Wilson Yvonne Bolton
Plant studied by: Tiffany Wilson, Randi Bolton & Cheryl Reece
Plant studies by: Jeremy Reece (l) & Erin Bolton (r)
Plant informants: Yvonne Bolton Eva Hill Helen Clifton Tina Robinson
Plant studies by: Karl Fisher (l) & Miles Reece (r)
Plant informants: Eva Hill Ernie Hill Jr. Mona Danes Elizabeth Dundas
makooks (plant) magm dziiws (yellow berries) magm atk (red berries) Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis
Food: Salmonberries are used mainly as a dessert. They are somtimes used to make jam, but are not as succesfull as other berries. Salmonberries are eaten at feasts as a dessert with oolichan grease. The green shoots of salmonberry bushes are also eaten. Harvesting? When picking, you dont pile the salmonberries too high, as they will become squished and are hard to clean. It is best if you pick the berry with the flower attached, to prevent too much squishing. What you are picking for will determine how long you stay out. If its for a feed, maybe an hour; if its for storing or feasting, three to four. Wear long sleeves and proper shoes as you do get scratched up from bushes, and it is usually muddy. Notes: It takes two to three years for a branch to grow. The berries start to ripen in the early summer months of June or July. The sprouts/stems are harvested in mid-May. You can go to different areas around Hartley Bay to pick at different times. Blossom Island usually ripens first, then McKay Reach, then Hartley Bay and last Old Town, where you can pick ripened berries from the middle of July to September. The Salmonberry plant is erect and branches can grow up to four metres. They are tall, often forming dense thickets. Salmonberries are a deciduous shrub. The leaves alternate, usually having three leaflets. They are dark greeen and sharply toothed. The flowers are pink to reddish purple. The berries are yellow or reddish, like mushy raspberries. The yellow berries are called magm dziiws ( ripen in the day ) and the red berries are called magm atk ( ripen in the night ) even though they probably dont. It is mostly associated with its colour. The stem is golden brown with numerous thorns.
Habitat: Salmonberries are found in moist to wet places, mostly along stream edges, avalanche tracks and wet logged areas. Salmonberries share their habitat with blueberries and thimbleberry. Salmonberries are picked almost everywhere in Gitgaat territory. We pick salmonberries everywhere along the boardwalks, rivers and the houses. One of the best places for picking salmonberries is Blossom Island, a small island near Union Pass, that is mostly salmonberries. We can start picking them at Blossom Island and Hartley Bay in June but we still pick them in August and September in Old Town. In Kiel you can pick salmonberries till may.
Plant studies by: Frank Dundas (l) & Tristan Reece (r)
Plant informants: Helen Clifton Simon and Margaret Reece Pat Sterritt
for picking. It was rich with them in Old Town. Kitamaat also has crabapples. There is a specific place in Old Town for green apples and they look just like the colour of Granny Smith apples (Molksa kaw kaw). When they ripen, they turn a very pretty red colour. On the other side of the river, another type of crabapple is found and its Smalgyax name is Gasasii. All up the Skeena the crabapples are tiny little ones. Preparation: When people got enough they would put them in a pot of water and warm them and after they would dry them then mix it with grease. The best was the Nass River grease. Then they would jar them. Back in the day they used to dry the blueberries and mix it with the crabapples. Some people buried the crabapples in the ground and the barrel top would be all you could see. When you cook the crabapple you dont put it on the very hotplate. But you do have to cook the crabapples to keep them. The crabapples were the main food for feasts for dessert. If you had crabapples you were rich. Everybody made jelly with crabapples and some made jam with it. The jelly was also good for turkey dinner.
Plant studies by: George Fisher (l) & Mark Bolton (r)
them in water for at least half an hour just to get the bugs and worms out of them. They you would take out the leaves and twigs. It is harvested in July to August. Notes: A blueberry is a very small berry that is blue and round. The leaves are oval and the branches can be small where you would find them low and close to the ground or growing tall. Many berries grow on one branch. Blueberries grow in and around all of Hartley Bay. We have them mostly up around our lake, rivers and streams. Preparation: It is prepared by drying in the sun for a couple of days. In Smalgyax, liigatsa means to cook the blueberries until it is a thick paste. You then pour the cooked blueberries onto skunk cabbage leaves to dry in the sun. You keep adding more paste, letting it dry, adding another layer, and keep building it up. This is called guun smmaay. It is prepared for preserving like this: 1 cup of sugar 1/2 cup of water Boil until the sugar dissolves. Put clean blueberries into jar. Add sugar mixture (syrup) up to neck of the jar. Place in pot and cover with warm water. Boil for 15 minutes. When they are done, take them off and let stand upside down on a towel overnight. Ensure a good seal. After
Plant informants: Yvonne Bolton Annetta Robinson Tina Robinson Betsy Reece
the best trees to get them from is the Yew wood tree. The fern has orange dots on the bottom of the leaf; thats the female. The leaves are narrow and long and they grow to be about 50 centimetres long and its height is about 20-30 centimetres tall. The root is covered with dirt. When you clean it, it should be alight brown on the outside and a light green on the inside. If you take the dirt off it will be all green. Our Elders say one must have a clear mind when gathering these plants. When gathering licorice fern, they say, think of licorice fern and nothing else. Say a prayer if you want some to grow there again. When you are done, you can leave a gift of thanks. Never pick for fun, and waste this precious plant. You can find licorice fern all around Hartley Bay, in forests and along the fringes of beaches. Licorice root is best found in muskeg or wet places. You usually find the licorice root in clumps, on trees, or stumps. It grows close to water. Licorice root grows on many trees and the best medicine comes from licorice root on yew wood trees. Licorice root can be picked year round, but it is best to pick in the springtime when it is at its strongest potency.
Plant studies by: Brenda Clifton (l) & Marisa Robinson (r)
Plant informants: Helen Clifton Simon and Goolie Reece Pat Sterritt
When they cut the tree down, they split them into blocks and carry them home. There they will split them into smaller pieces of kindling. The kindling should fit into a pot. It is really hard to split the yew wood because it is so tough. When they get the yew wood they will keep it in a dry place so it will stay dry and wont rot. Notes: The whole tree is used when harvested. due to the strength and diverse qualities of the wood. Licorice root found growing on a Yew is considered the highest quality. The western yew is an evergreen tree. It can grow from two to fifteen metres high and anywhere from fifteen centimetres to 70 centimetres in diameter. The trunk is often twisted and misshapen. The bark is reddish and scaly. The leaves are flat needles two to three centimeters long. It is also a conifer tree that produces a single seed that is red enclosed by a bright and fleshy cup. It looks like a huckleberry, and while eaten by birds, is poisonous to humans. Western yew grows all along BCs coast. It grows only a few kilometres from the sea shoreline. It grows in the forest area behind Hartley Bay. You can get it all year round, but it is best to get yew wood in the months between May and July. Preparation: Yew wood is prepared by taking the bark off the tree and letting the bark dry a little so it will be easier to cut into little kindling, the size of the width of your hand. For making medicine, you have to boil yew woood in an enamel pot and boil it until the pieces start floating. Then you let it cool and store in containers. If you leave it for chopping blocks, take the bark off and store in a dry area. Sometimes, cardboard is nailed around the top to keep seaweed or woxs
Medicine: Yellow-cedar is not used in our vilage for medicine but in other places, they use it for curing kidney ailments and some Coast Salish women chew on it and swallow the juice. Harvesting: Yellow cedar is harvested throughout the year. They find the best one that they can and cut it down, take it back home and cut it to the size and shape they need; using the whole tree. When only the bark is harvested, they take one strip off at a time from a tree where there are few branches or knots. Notes: Yellow-cedar trees stand about fifty feet tall with an often slightly twisted trunk. The brancehs of yellow-cedar hang down, the leaves are a bluish-green and look like they have sharp tips. It grows in moist areas where it rains almost all the time, such as in Hartley Bay. It grows up by our lake and our trails. There are many yellow cedars in and around Hartley Bay and the surrounding areas. it is best to get the bark during May and June when the sap is soft and because it is easier to take off the tree since it is the new growth. Trees can be harvested year round.
Plant studies by: Kayla Wilson (l) & Ashley Sandy (r)
The spring is the best time to pick it. Preparation: You have to cut the leaves off then scrape off the thorns. You then make shavings with the bark and the green layer right under the bark. This is the part of the plant that is used as a medicine. You use only the purest water when you use it. You cut it with a potato peeler. You mix it with fern root. You prepare tea, boil water, then put devils club in the glass then pour the boiling water then cool it off. Notes:Devils club ranges in height from one to three metres. The leaves are maple-leaf shaped and have spines on the underside. The flowers are small and white while the berries are shiny and bright-red. Devils club is found throughout Gitgaat territory, especially near streams.
Plant studies by: Christopher Stewart (l) & Jarvis Smith (r)
Plant studies by: Tiffany Wilson (l) & Cheryl Reece (r)
Plant informants:
Marisa Robinson (grade 9) in response to the following question: Write about your experience of interviewing people for the plant project.
Well, I think its pretty cool, if you ask me, and I hope we can do this again. Or let our little brothers and sisters do this and see if theyre any good at this. And well, I think this book will be cool and maybe our kids can look at this, or these books and maybe theyll get to do this experience too and theyll have fun, lots of fun. Marisa Robinson, Nov. 2003
Randi Bolton (grade 9) in response to the following question: Did you learn about things other than plants? If so, explain.
Oh yes, we learned about a lot of other plants from two of our interviewees. The information was interesting to know, it really tickled my toes. We found out lots of information. This is such a great experience for me. Im really enjoying this and since were doing blueberries, its all good, theyre so yummy too. Some things we found out about blueberries were so amazing. I never ever knew they can be used as a medicine. I just really like this whole plant project. Randi Bolton, Nov. 2003
Elizabeth said that at first she was annoyed when the boys showed up, since she was busy baking bread. (Judy Thompsons note: Elizabeth also told Nancy Turner and John Lutz about this).She said that they were gentlemen and seemed interested.
When Elizabeth realized that they were serious, she said, I kind of hesitated. They told me it was a school project. They asked all kinds of questions. They were shy at the beginning. Elizabeth said that they act different towards her now, not so standoffish. They were different from the way they are outside (they never usually talk to her). Now its different. They took turns asking questions. It was just the three of us, no VHSI was glad no one interrupted. I didnt want to be rude to the boys. The kept thanking me before they left. Elizabeth said that she even forgot about the bread! The boys seemed to be worried about her bread. Elizabeth said that she enjoyed talking with the boys and telling them what she knew about thimbleberries.
Marjorie Hill said, You dont learn from reading it in books, you have to do it.
Ernie Hill Sr. stated, It goes right through you if you read it in the book.
Marjorie then said, You wouldnt starve here if you knew how to go and get it [food]. Some people dont want to go and get it.
Plant informants
Tina Robinson
Margaret Reece
Annetta Robinson
Helen Clifton
Mildred Wilson
Betsy Reece
Marven Robinson
Archie Dundas
Elizabeth Dundas