Alright folks,
After thinking long and hard, and researching, the official podcast is beginning this week. I am still setting it up, and of course, just like this blog, its' free, so it will not be a fulltime endeavour. I will be inviting guest speakers on weekly, but the day will depend on my availability, and the availability of my guests. I'll be keeping you updated on here, and on our facebook page.
Caleb
The Man, the Myth, the.. consumer of wild things
Monday, September 3, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
A little busy these days
Have been working a lot on reenactment kit and clothing, so I have not had time to write new blogs. This, plus my job at TRACKS coming to an end for the summer has kept me mighty busy. My apologies. This will be rectified very soon with blogs covering;
-Poisonous plants and some observations regarding them
-Goose hunting in prehistoric times and today
-Ricing (plus an interview)
I am also playing with the idea of a podcast. Let me know what you think!
-Poisonous plants and some observations regarding them
-Goose hunting in prehistoric times and today
-Ricing (plus an interview)
I am also playing with the idea of a podcast. Let me know what you think!
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Wild Rice, the superfood of the Ojibway
Now in my last blog, I discussed the importance of wild rice in the seasonal aspect. However in this blog, I want to break down the nutrition and value you can get from Zizania/wild rice/manomiin.
But first, I suggest you watch this video, done by Daniel Vitalis and my good friend Arthur Haines!
But first, I suggest you watch this video, done by Daniel Vitalis and my good friend Arthur Haines!
The next few links are from the USDA regarding the full reports on both raw and cooked wild rice, and the nutrition you can receive from this grain, that is gluten free and has such a dense amount of beneficial nutrience!
This should really give you some good insight as to why Manomin is so valuable!
Alright, that's all for now folks. I will have a new blog out soon with some wild rice recipes!!
Hope you enjoy my personal experiment. If you feel like joining along,
let me know your results, research or anything else in the comments
section. Please feel free to subscribe!
Baamaapii,
Caleb Wazhusk
Baamaapii,
Caleb Wazhusk
Thursday, August 2, 2012
The Ricing Moon, a small slice of history, plus other available resources.
As I stood in awe after watching a flock of nearly one hundred Canada geese fly over me on my way to the university today, I realized it was a new moon. They reminded me it was their time now. Time of the Ricing Moon!
August in my language is called Manominiika Giizoonh, and in other dialects Manoomiiniikaa Giizis, and in others it simply is called Manomin Giizis. The shorter one translates into The Wild Rice Moon. However the other titles refer to the action of harvesting the wild rice. Simply translated, August is the Ricing Moon. Wild rice (Manomin, Zizania aquatica, etc) was and still is an extremely imporant food staple for the Anishnaubeg, and really for all humans. Being very rich in protein, dietary fibre and even lysine. For those of us trying to avoid glutens, rest easy as manomin has none. Along with thiamin, iron, riboflavin, niacin, manganese and countless other important dietary resources, manomin is also very low in fat. It was/is for the Anishnaubeg what the Three Sisters (Maize, Beans and Squash) were/are for the Haudenasaunae (Iroquois, Six Nations).
Manomin actually comes from two root words that do not actually translate into "Wild Rice". "Min" usually is the word used to describe a fruit, seed or other foodsource from a plant. "Mano", comes from "Manoo", which in turn originated as "Mnidoo", which many people call "Manitou" or "Spirit". So translated, Manomin actually means Spirit Fruit, or in more poetic terms, "Seed/Fruit the Spirits gave us". In the Seven Fires Prophecy, the Anishnaube were told that the third stopping place (Third Fire) would be identified by food growing on the water. When the Anishnaube arrived in this part of the country, they found acres upon acres of wild rice sticking out of the mud and up into the waters of the shallow lakes and large marshes. Food grew upon the water and the Anishnaube prospered for millenia.
We would spend several weeks, to a month in the ricing fields. First the people would divide up the wild rice areas between the families equally. These families would often stake out their respected areas with family markers to help make sure no one made a mistake and gathered more than others. In a canoe, the person in the bow (the front for you land-lubbers) would sit reverse and using two cedar rods would bend over a patch of the rice with one rod and then tap that rod with the other rod. This way the wild rice stalks would not be damaged from direct percussion. As well, several seeds would often cling tenaciously to the stalks from this technique. Rather than try to shake those ones loose, the harvester would merely let go of the stalks, which would often end up catapulting these remaining seeds off into the water, to be seeded for next year. This is the most efficient form of aquaponic farming I have ever seen, and its' thousands of years old!
Often my people, the Mississauga Anishnaube would take our surplus and trade to the Haudenasaunae on the southernmost shore of Rice Lake. We would trade our surplus for their surplus parched maize, dried beans and fresh squash. This was a varied diet for both nations, and through this friendship, we continued the ancient rites of the One Spoon, One Dish Wampum Belt- a very very old contractual treaty between all Nations in Ontario and beyond regarding the using of resources and food supplies which was honoured by all Nations up until the French Indian Wars.
However this moon -like many others- is called by several names within the Anishnaubeg. The other common title is Basikwa'o Giizoonh, or Flying Moon, or Moon with much Flight. This refers to what I mentioned at the beginning of this blog; birds taking flight all over the land. The Canada geese, mallard ducks, swans, herons and cranes are all warming up and getting their young ready for the long migration. By the middle of the month, many of the northern birds will have arrived in our part of the country. By Gashkanido Giizoonh (November, Freezing Moon) very few will remain, and by Mnidoo Giizoonh (Spirit Moon, December) only the winter birds will remain.
This shows a very important feature of the Ricing Moon. The people would all be spending their days in the marshes and shallow lakes, gathering hundreds of pounds of manomin, and watching the birds fly by. This was the time of year the goose and duck hunts would begin. Large nets, bolas, and even arrows with Flu-flu fletching would be cast out to capture the birds. Snares placed along the shores of the islands would entrap the birds as they waded to shore for a night's rest, or returned to the waters in the morning. The feathers would be removed (down used to warm bodies, flight feathers ued as fletching on arrows), and the meat would be smoked and preserved. Fat would collected and used in cooking/basting.
This was a time of great feasting, but it was also a time to prepare for the long haul through the winter. The ricing camps represented life. Warfare would cease during the French Indian Wars, just so the Anishnaube could go home and harvest enough manomin to provide for their families. Life was found in ricing and goose hunting. This was a time of great living for the Anishnaubeg. Everything was shared. The people would survive another winter.
Other foods available right now?
-Mayapples are now ripe in many parts of Ontario and beyond
-Wild Grapes are ripening all over the place
-Wild grass and sedge seeds are getting ready, as are the seeds of the Broadleaf plantain
-Walnuts are dropping left-right-and-center. The husks are in my opinion more useful than the nutmeat, as it can be used as a dye, a source of tanning leather, a fish poison, a remedy for poison ivy and bug bites, and even in some forms as an anti-parasitic compound to dispell worms and other bugs from the digestive system.
-Many more that I will be going over as the month progresses!
I will be harvesting wild rice later this month, and as September rolls around, I will be preparing for mornings of hunting down goose and duck.
On August 18th-19th I will be at the Lang Pioneer Village War of 1812 Re-enactment, participating in the re-enactment as one of my ancestors. The Missisaugas of Rice Lake were involved in a great skirmish, and this year we are being honoured for the first time in over 200 years for our contribution to that war. Come on out and see the show!
Hope you enjoy my personal experiment. If you feel like joining along, let me know your results, research or anything else in the comments section. Please feel free to subscribe!
Baamaapii,
Caleb Wazhusk
August in my language is called Manominiika Giizoonh, and in other dialects Manoomiiniikaa Giizis, and in others it simply is called Manomin Giizis. The shorter one translates into The Wild Rice Moon. However the other titles refer to the action of harvesting the wild rice. Simply translated, August is the Ricing Moon. Wild rice (Manomin, Zizania aquatica, etc) was and still is an extremely imporant food staple for the Anishnaubeg, and really for all humans. Being very rich in protein, dietary fibre and even lysine. For those of us trying to avoid glutens, rest easy as manomin has none. Along with thiamin, iron, riboflavin, niacin, manganese and countless other important dietary resources, manomin is also very low in fat. It was/is for the Anishnaubeg what the Three Sisters (Maize, Beans and Squash) were/are for the Haudenasaunae (Iroquois, Six Nations).
Manomin actually comes from two root words that do not actually translate into "Wild Rice". "Min" usually is the word used to describe a fruit, seed or other foodsource from a plant. "Mano", comes from "Manoo", which in turn originated as "Mnidoo", which many people call "Manitou" or "Spirit". So translated, Manomin actually means Spirit Fruit, or in more poetic terms, "Seed/Fruit the Spirits gave us". In the Seven Fires Prophecy, the Anishnaube were told that the third stopping place (Third Fire) would be identified by food growing on the water. When the Anishnaube arrived in this part of the country, they found acres upon acres of wild rice sticking out of the mud and up into the waters of the shallow lakes and large marshes. Food grew upon the water and the Anishnaube prospered for millenia.
We would spend several weeks, to a month in the ricing fields. First the people would divide up the wild rice areas between the families equally. These families would often stake out their respected areas with family markers to help make sure no one made a mistake and gathered more than others. In a canoe, the person in the bow (the front for you land-lubbers) would sit reverse and using two cedar rods would bend over a patch of the rice with one rod and then tap that rod with the other rod. This way the wild rice stalks would not be damaged from direct percussion. As well, several seeds would often cling tenaciously to the stalks from this technique. Rather than try to shake those ones loose, the harvester would merely let go of the stalks, which would often end up catapulting these remaining seeds off into the water, to be seeded for next year. This is the most efficient form of aquaponic farming I have ever seen, and its' thousands of years old!
Often my people, the Mississauga Anishnaube would take our surplus and trade to the Haudenasaunae on the southernmost shore of Rice Lake. We would trade our surplus for their surplus parched maize, dried beans and fresh squash. This was a varied diet for both nations, and through this friendship, we continued the ancient rites of the One Spoon, One Dish Wampum Belt- a very very old contractual treaty between all Nations in Ontario and beyond regarding the using of resources and food supplies which was honoured by all Nations up until the French Indian Wars.
However this moon -like many others- is called by several names within the Anishnaubeg. The other common title is Basikwa'o Giizoonh, or Flying Moon, or Moon with much Flight. This refers to what I mentioned at the beginning of this blog; birds taking flight all over the land. The Canada geese, mallard ducks, swans, herons and cranes are all warming up and getting their young ready for the long migration. By the middle of the month, many of the northern birds will have arrived in our part of the country. By Gashkanido Giizoonh (November, Freezing Moon) very few will remain, and by Mnidoo Giizoonh (Spirit Moon, December) only the winter birds will remain.
This shows a very important feature of the Ricing Moon. The people would all be spending their days in the marshes and shallow lakes, gathering hundreds of pounds of manomin, and watching the birds fly by. This was the time of year the goose and duck hunts would begin. Large nets, bolas, and even arrows with Flu-flu fletching would be cast out to capture the birds. Snares placed along the shores of the islands would entrap the birds as they waded to shore for a night's rest, or returned to the waters in the morning. The feathers would be removed (down used to warm bodies, flight feathers ued as fletching on arrows), and the meat would be smoked and preserved. Fat would collected and used in cooking/basting.
This was a time of great feasting, but it was also a time to prepare for the long haul through the winter. The ricing camps represented life. Warfare would cease during the French Indian Wars, just so the Anishnaube could go home and harvest enough manomin to provide for their families. Life was found in ricing and goose hunting. This was a time of great living for the Anishnaubeg. Everything was shared. The people would survive another winter.
Other foods available right now?
-Mayapples are now ripe in many parts of Ontario and beyond
-Wild Grapes are ripening all over the place
-Wild grass and sedge seeds are getting ready, as are the seeds of the Broadleaf plantain
-Walnuts are dropping left-right-and-center. The husks are in my opinion more useful than the nutmeat, as it can be used as a dye, a source of tanning leather, a fish poison, a remedy for poison ivy and bug bites, and even in some forms as an anti-parasitic compound to dispell worms and other bugs from the digestive system.
-Many more that I will be going over as the month progresses!
I will be harvesting wild rice later this month, and as September rolls around, I will be preparing for mornings of hunting down goose and duck.
On August 18th-19th I will be at the Lang Pioneer Village War of 1812 Re-enactment, participating in the re-enactment as one of my ancestors. The Missisaugas of Rice Lake were involved in a great skirmish, and this year we are being honoured for the first time in over 200 years for our contribution to that war. Come on out and see the show!
Hope you enjoy my personal experiment. If you feel like joining along, let me know your results, research or anything else in the comments section. Please feel free to subscribe!
Baamaapii,
Caleb Wazhusk
Monday, July 23, 2012
Regional names and their meanings, plus a recipe!
Anishnaube-akii (the land of the Anishnaube) is a broad and vast territory, which at one time spanned most of the Great Lakes, out onto the prairies, and east into Quebec. With such regional diversity, the Anishnaube had two things going on;
First, was a vast variety of food.
Secondly, they had a lot of places to name!
With such a vast territory, the Anishnaube had many titles for rivers, lakes, hills and so-forth. Many of these had something to do with food, whether directly (Tullibee River), or indirectly (where to gather hunting or gathering materials). This is not just found amongst my people, as my good friend Mark pointed out to me that in his region of Alberta, the local river was called the Bow River, because the local nations would travel down it to harvest the proper woods for bows, as well as arrows and baskets (the red osier dogwood of the region was apparently superb). With this being said, I would like to cover a few of my region, which happens to be the ancestral territory of the Missisauga, who are my direct ancestors.
I live on Rice Lake, in Central Ontario. Many people assume the name of Rice Lake would be translated into "Lake of Wild Rice". No brainer, huh? However, the Missisauga people called it Pemedashkotayang, Lake of the Burning Plains. This was due to a vast Black Oak Savannah and Tallgrass Prairie ecosystem spanning much of the lake. The Haudenasaunae People, most likely members of the Mohawk People, had a well established agricultural society based on the southern shore of Rice Lake, and frequently burned back the grasses to encourage the growth of succulent plants, which would in turn encourage the deer and other critters out into the open to be hunted by bow, atlatl, sling and many other hunting devices. So an entire lake was named after an action that was performed to access food sources.
The river closest to my house is the Otonabee. I've heard many theories as to what it may mean, until I just finally looked it up. Ottanabeezibi was the original name of the river, and was translated as follows;
Ottanabee = Tullibee (Coregonus artedi), a type of fish, often called a Chub, Lake Herring, or Northern Cisco. I like the name Tullibee, as it is the only name that does not seem to be argued about.
Zibi = River, a type of body of water that moves with the gravitational... okay maybe I don't need to explain what a river is.
So the Otonabee River, is perfectly translated as the Tullibee River. Makes you wonder how important tullibee was to the Missisauga People, huh? Well, being a member of the Whitefish family, tullibee were extremely important. Their spawning and numbers allowed the Missisauga and other Anishnaube nations the chance to harvest a large amount of fish meat (high in Omega 3 Fatty Acids and many other nutrients). This ability to harvest a big yield of protein with simple devices (basket traps, nets, spears, weirs, etc), granted the Anishnaube the chance to secure their lives for at least a couple of months. This gave them more time to focus on other food gathering subjects, community activities, and the collection of other resources, or repairing of tools.
It also granted them the chance to expand their culture, religion and society. Fishing has been connected with the Woodland Period of North America for a great many years. This is because of a higher yield of artefacts that pertain to fishing (bone harpoons, fish bones in midden piles, old weirs found under certain lakes, etc). Notice how suddenly our cultures began to drift more into agriculture, bows rather than atlatls, and much more advanced technology with a simple change in diet? Fishing was more successful than big game hunting, and often the yield was much more rewarding.
Along with the fish, other things would be caught in the traps, such as snapping turtles and eels. While out seeking fish, waterfowl like ducks and herons could be shot at in opportunistic fashion. While scanning the waters for panfish, young men would often come across freshwater mussells, as well as crawyfish and bullfrogs. While gathering such things such as fish, and shellfish, plant sources such as Water plantain, Arrowhead, and cattail would also be gathered as food sources. Sweet Gale would also be harvested for seasoning.
All with just adding fish to the diet, the Anishnaube people were able to advance their society. They had more time to expand their hunting arsenal, as well as delve deeper into their spiritual world.
Oh, and because I know you are wondering.. Tullibee is freakin' delicious. A very sweet fish meat. Here is an out of season recipe, as I often catch Tullibee in April, which happens to be the Whitefish Moon.
Roasted Tullibee
Need:
-Fire that has died down to hot coals
-Basswood bark strips
-Basswood leaves and/or burdock leaves
Ingredients:
-Gutted tullibee
-1/4 cup of garlic mustard (diced)
-Three wild leeks (diced)
-Two tablespoons of birch sap
1) Mix all ingredients other than the tullibee
2) Stuff into body cavity of tullibee
3) Wrap up in two layers of leaves
4) Bind shut with basswood bark strips
5) Place on coals and bake/roast for about 5-8 minutes
6) Flip and roast on other side for another 5 minutes
7) Open up and enjoy!
Hope you enjoy my personal experiment. If you feel like joining along, let me know your results, research or anything else in the comments section. Please feel free to subscribe!
Baamaapii,
Caleb Wazhusk
First, was a vast variety of food.
Secondly, they had a lot of places to name!
With such a vast territory, the Anishnaube had many titles for rivers, lakes, hills and so-forth. Many of these had something to do with food, whether directly (Tullibee River), or indirectly (where to gather hunting or gathering materials). This is not just found amongst my people, as my good friend Mark pointed out to me that in his region of Alberta, the local river was called the Bow River, because the local nations would travel down it to harvest the proper woods for bows, as well as arrows and baskets (the red osier dogwood of the region was apparently superb). With this being said, I would like to cover a few of my region, which happens to be the ancestral territory of the Missisauga, who are my direct ancestors.
I live on Rice Lake, in Central Ontario. Many people assume the name of Rice Lake would be translated into "Lake of Wild Rice". No brainer, huh? However, the Missisauga people called it Pemedashkotayang, Lake of the Burning Plains. This was due to a vast Black Oak Savannah and Tallgrass Prairie ecosystem spanning much of the lake. The Haudenasaunae People, most likely members of the Mohawk People, had a well established agricultural society based on the southern shore of Rice Lake, and frequently burned back the grasses to encourage the growth of succulent plants, which would in turn encourage the deer and other critters out into the open to be hunted by bow, atlatl, sling and many other hunting devices. So an entire lake was named after an action that was performed to access food sources.
The river closest to my house is the Otonabee. I've heard many theories as to what it may mean, until I just finally looked it up. Ottanabeezibi was the original name of the river, and was translated as follows;
Ottanabee = Tullibee (Coregonus artedi), a type of fish, often called a Chub, Lake Herring, or Northern Cisco. I like the name Tullibee, as it is the only name that does not seem to be argued about.
Zibi = River, a type of body of water that moves with the gravitational... okay maybe I don't need to explain what a river is.
So the Otonabee River, is perfectly translated as the Tullibee River. Makes you wonder how important tullibee was to the Missisauga People, huh? Well, being a member of the Whitefish family, tullibee were extremely important. Their spawning and numbers allowed the Missisauga and other Anishnaube nations the chance to harvest a large amount of fish meat (high in Omega 3 Fatty Acids and many other nutrients). This ability to harvest a big yield of protein with simple devices (basket traps, nets, spears, weirs, etc), granted the Anishnaube the chance to secure their lives for at least a couple of months. This gave them more time to focus on other food gathering subjects, community activities, and the collection of other resources, or repairing of tools.
It also granted them the chance to expand their culture, religion and society. Fishing has been connected with the Woodland Period of North America for a great many years. This is because of a higher yield of artefacts that pertain to fishing (bone harpoons, fish bones in midden piles, old weirs found under certain lakes, etc). Notice how suddenly our cultures began to drift more into agriculture, bows rather than atlatls, and much more advanced technology with a simple change in diet? Fishing was more successful than big game hunting, and often the yield was much more rewarding.
Along with the fish, other things would be caught in the traps, such as snapping turtles and eels. While out seeking fish, waterfowl like ducks and herons could be shot at in opportunistic fashion. While scanning the waters for panfish, young men would often come across freshwater mussells, as well as crawyfish and bullfrogs. While gathering such things such as fish, and shellfish, plant sources such as Water plantain, Arrowhead, and cattail would also be gathered as food sources. Sweet Gale would also be harvested for seasoning.
All with just adding fish to the diet, the Anishnaube people were able to advance their society. They had more time to expand their hunting arsenal, as well as delve deeper into their spiritual world.
Oh, and because I know you are wondering.. Tullibee is freakin' delicious. A very sweet fish meat. Here is an out of season recipe, as I often catch Tullibee in April, which happens to be the Whitefish Moon.
Roasted Tullibee
Need:
-Fire that has died down to hot coals
-Basswood bark strips
-Basswood leaves and/or burdock leaves
Ingredients:
-Gutted tullibee
-1/4 cup of garlic mustard (diced)
-Three wild leeks (diced)
-Two tablespoons of birch sap
1) Mix all ingredients other than the tullibee
2) Stuff into body cavity of tullibee
3) Wrap up in two layers of leaves
4) Bind shut with basswood bark strips
5) Place on coals and bake/roast for about 5-8 minutes
6) Flip and roast on other side for another 5 minutes
7) Open up and enjoy!
Hope you enjoy my personal experiment. If you feel like joining along, let me know your results, research or anything else in the comments section. Please feel free to subscribe!
Baamaapii,
Caleb Wazhusk
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
A couple of berry recipes
This being the middle of the Raspberry Moon, and so many different fruits are now ripening, I figured it would be only logical to throw out a few berry recipes. Some are pre-contact, while the others are post-contact. All of the ingredients are from the wilds, though some (like wild rice and maple sugar) are usually preserved staples from spring or fall. In other words, if you were able to keep some wild rice all through the winter and kept it all the way until right now, then these recipes are fully accurate to a traditional diet.
The recipes listed below are ones I've learned from my relatives, or found tucked away in some old book, or are of my own design. None of them came from the internet. After a few weeks of researching back in the winter on traditional Ojibway diet and our recipes, the internet would make you think that all my ancestors ate was wild rice and frybread (a deep fried bannock, often called scone -pronounced S-kaw-n). Fact of the matter is wheat ain't from North America, let alone Anishnaube territory, and it is extremely poor for your health. Ever wondered why diabetes is rampant amongst Indigenous people? Put the scone down folks, put the scone down.
Anyways, I got fed up with those pseudo-Traditional recipes, and decided I would list a few good ones right here. Any of the beverages can be sweetened with maple sugar. However I prefer not to, as the more often you sweeten your food and drink, the less you will taste of the true beauty of the food.
1) Heat-made Sumacade
WARNING! Some people are allergic to Staghorn sumac, and moreso, it must be properly identified from Poison sumac, for obvious reasons. If you have any concern regarding the sumac family and your health, I suggest holding off on this recipe until you can have yourself allergy tested for staghorn sumac. Moreso, if you can't figure out the difference between Staghorn sumac (fuzzy bark on branches with big red "cone" of fruit) and Poison sumac (smooth hairless branches, with droops of smooth white berries), and somehow get poison sumac on you, expect to deal with the same problems you would from contact with poison ivy. In that case, may I suggest the post written by my friend Arthur Haines in a previous blog here, that discusses jewelweed?
Items needed:
-Heat source (stove element, pile of coals, etc)
-Cooking pot (steel, aluminum, glass, handmade clay) Make sure the pot you use can sustain its' strength on the heat source.
-Cheesecloth (Optional) Another option is a collander, or if you want to get primitive, a woven grass mast about the size of a dinner plate.
-Jar or Pitcher
Ingredients:
-Two or Three Sumac berry clusters.
-Water
-Maple sugar for sweetening (optional)
Recipe:
-Put the berry clusters into the pot and add enough water to cover the berry clusters to the pot
-Bring to boil and then set off to steep, or for a stronger taste, simmer for five minutes and then steep.
-Strain liquid into pitcher and drink as a hot tea, or chill it to make into a nice citrusy drink.
2) Sun-infused Sumacade (My preference)
Items needed:
-Clean, large-mouth mason jar with lid.
-Cheesecloth
-Cup
Ingredients:
-Enough Sumac berry clusters to fill up 3/4 that jar
-Enough water to fill up the jar entirely
Recipe
-Put berry clusters into jar so that it is 3/4 full
-Add water
-Seal lid
-Place in the sun on a hot day for the entire day
Voila, a pretty good beverage!
3) EXTREME Sumacade (The word extreme always makes the kiddies wanna drink it)
I will not say I invented this recipe, though I have not come across it yet. If you know of anyone else who does it, let me know! This variation has a whole lot more flavours going on. First and foremost is the citrusy tang of the sumac berry clusters. The second is a very smooth, but sour flavouring from wild grapes. Finally, the ultimate in flavour; raspberries. I won't even describe the epic, astoundingly beautiful taste that comes from this recipe. Just try it yourself and bow down to the beauty that is nature, for she just rocked your world.
Items needed:
-Heat source (same as before, folks!)
-Cooking Pot (just as before)
-Cheesecloth or other alternative. My first two times making this, we ended up using bug head-nets. Since then I have always carried a bug head-net in my kit.
-Pitcher
-Cups
Ingredients:
-2 Sumac berry clusters
-1 cup of wild grape fruits (harves
-1 cup of raspberries (common, purple flowering, blackberry, etc)
-1/2 cup of other edible and in-season wild berries (blueberry is good, as is saskatoon)
-Enough water to cover fruits, and then some
-Optional ingredient: ice cubes
Recipe:
-Place fruits in pot and fill with water
-Optional step: Mash fruits. Not really needed, as the heat will burst the fruits, and the final step will mash them anyways.
-Cover and bring to boil
-Boil for five minutes, or simmer for ten
-Let cool
-When still warm, pour liquid and fruits through cheesecloth or head-net and wring the fruit out into pitcher.
I love this beverage, as it is extremely sweet, and all natural. No sweetener is needed. Each fruit you add just increases the flavours. The first time I did this was on a Basic Hunter-Gatherer course in late-September (Leaves Chaning Colour Moon), and we could not get enough of this drink!
4) Raspberry Wild Rice
An amazing recipe I first experienced back in late winter of this year. Since then, I have researched all I could, and found some traditional ingredients to bring this amazing dish into a more traditional diet.
Items needed:
-Oven
-Deep baking tray/dish (a 2 inch depth should suffice)
-Aluminum foil or lid
-Cooking pot
-Stovetop
-Ladle or big spoon
Ingredients needed
-Two or three cups of wild rice
-Three or four cups of water
-1.5 cups of raspberries
-Some cooked moose or venison (last nights' steak is great in this), maybe 1 cup of meat shredded
-Wild seasonings (Garlic mustard, wild garlic, wild leeks, wild ginger, Sweetflag root, toothwort, whatever you may have. Sweetgale nutlets/seeds are really good as a black pepper and sage substitute
Recipe:
-Fill pot with wild rice and an equal amount of water. Bring to boil and simmer for twenty minutes. If water starts to run out, add a bit more. Don't add too much, yet.
-Preheat oven to 350C
-Once that is ready, pour into baking tray.
-Add rest of the water
-Add berries and meat
-Add seasonings
-Stir evenly so all of the ingredients are mixed thoroughly
-Seal and bake for thirty minutes.
-Let cool a bit, and then serve.
This is pretty much the perfect meal in my opinion. With light seasoning of the wild herbs, you can really get a feel for the food. The wild rice is soft and puffy with texture, and the meat offers that heavy need for protein we all crave at one point or another (join us Vegetarians, join us). The berries throw in their potency with this meal, as the bake, and steam all at once. Think of it as a casserole and a stew all in one. Served cold it makes an awesome breakfast of champions.
5) Raspberry-leaf tea
Always, always, always use fresh or fully dried leaves for your wild teas!!! Partially dried is not good for the gut, believe me on this one. So either pick them and use them immediately, or dry them and save for later use.
Items:
-Heat source
-cooking pot
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup of raspberry leaves. I suggest common red or common black raspberries.
-3-4 cups of water
Recipe:
-Add leaves and water to cooking pot and bring to boil
-Boil for about three minutes, then set aside to steep for ten
-Optional step: add maple sugar for taste,
Sipped late by a fire, raspberry-leaf tea is a godsend. I dry as many as I can for winter use. Dry a few berries as well and toss them in if you really want to rid yourself of the winter blahs (that, or get outside more to soak up some vitamin D)
Alright folks, there you go. Five recipes involving the fruits of this season. I will add more next week. For now, I need to finish making some nets, and get to work on my arrows for this hunting season!
Hope you enjoy my personal experiment. If you feel like joining along, let me know your results, research or anything else in the comments section. Please feel free to subscribe!
Baamaapii,
Caleb Wazhusk
The recipes listed below are ones I've learned from my relatives, or found tucked away in some old book, or are of my own design. None of them came from the internet. After a few weeks of researching back in the winter on traditional Ojibway diet and our recipes, the internet would make you think that all my ancestors ate was wild rice and frybread (a deep fried bannock, often called scone -pronounced S-kaw-n). Fact of the matter is wheat ain't from North America, let alone Anishnaube territory, and it is extremely poor for your health. Ever wondered why diabetes is rampant amongst Indigenous people? Put the scone down folks, put the scone down.
Anyways, I got fed up with those pseudo-Traditional recipes, and decided I would list a few good ones right here. Any of the beverages can be sweetened with maple sugar. However I prefer not to, as the more often you sweeten your food and drink, the less you will taste of the true beauty of the food.
1) Heat-made Sumacade
WARNING! Some people are allergic to Staghorn sumac, and moreso, it must be properly identified from Poison sumac, for obvious reasons. If you have any concern regarding the sumac family and your health, I suggest holding off on this recipe until you can have yourself allergy tested for staghorn sumac. Moreso, if you can't figure out the difference between Staghorn sumac (fuzzy bark on branches with big red "cone" of fruit) and Poison sumac (smooth hairless branches, with droops of smooth white berries), and somehow get poison sumac on you, expect to deal with the same problems you would from contact with poison ivy. In that case, may I suggest the post written by my friend Arthur Haines in a previous blog here, that discusses jewelweed?
Items needed:
-Heat source (stove element, pile of coals, etc)
-Cooking pot (steel, aluminum, glass, handmade clay) Make sure the pot you use can sustain its' strength on the heat source.
-Cheesecloth (Optional) Another option is a collander, or if you want to get primitive, a woven grass mast about the size of a dinner plate.
-Jar or Pitcher
Ingredients:
-Two or Three Sumac berry clusters.
-Water
-Maple sugar for sweetening (optional)
Recipe:
-Put the berry clusters into the pot and add enough water to cover the berry clusters to the pot
-Bring to boil and then set off to steep, or for a stronger taste, simmer for five minutes and then steep.
-Strain liquid into pitcher and drink as a hot tea, or chill it to make into a nice citrusy drink.
2) Sun-infused Sumacade (My preference)
Items needed:
-Clean, large-mouth mason jar with lid.
-Cheesecloth
-Cup
Ingredients:
-Enough Sumac berry clusters to fill up 3/4 that jar
-Enough water to fill up the jar entirely
Recipe
-Put berry clusters into jar so that it is 3/4 full
-Add water
-Seal lid
-Place in the sun on a hot day for the entire day
Voila, a pretty good beverage!
3) EXTREME Sumacade (The word extreme always makes the kiddies wanna drink it)
I will not say I invented this recipe, though I have not come across it yet. If you know of anyone else who does it, let me know! This variation has a whole lot more flavours going on. First and foremost is the citrusy tang of the sumac berry clusters. The second is a very smooth, but sour flavouring from wild grapes. Finally, the ultimate in flavour; raspberries. I won't even describe the epic, astoundingly beautiful taste that comes from this recipe. Just try it yourself and bow down to the beauty that is nature, for she just rocked your world.
Items needed:
-Heat source (same as before, folks!)
-Cooking Pot (just as before)
-Cheesecloth or other alternative. My first two times making this, we ended up using bug head-nets. Since then I have always carried a bug head-net in my kit.
-Pitcher
-Cups
Ingredients:
-2 Sumac berry clusters
-1 cup of wild grape fruits (harves
-1 cup of raspberries (common, purple flowering, blackberry, etc)
-1/2 cup of other edible and in-season wild berries (blueberry is good, as is saskatoon)
-Enough water to cover fruits, and then some
-Optional ingredient: ice cubes
Recipe:
-Place fruits in pot and fill with water
-Optional step: Mash fruits. Not really needed, as the heat will burst the fruits, and the final step will mash them anyways.
-Cover and bring to boil
-Boil for five minutes, or simmer for ten
-Let cool
-When still warm, pour liquid and fruits through cheesecloth or head-net and wring the fruit out into pitcher.
I love this beverage, as it is extremely sweet, and all natural. No sweetener is needed. Each fruit you add just increases the flavours. The first time I did this was on a Basic Hunter-Gatherer course in late-September (Leaves Chaning Colour Moon), and we could not get enough of this drink!
4) Raspberry Wild Rice
An amazing recipe I first experienced back in late winter of this year. Since then, I have researched all I could, and found some traditional ingredients to bring this amazing dish into a more traditional diet.
Items needed:
-Oven
-Deep baking tray/dish (a 2 inch depth should suffice)
-Aluminum foil or lid
-Cooking pot
-Stovetop
-Ladle or big spoon
Ingredients needed
-Two or three cups of wild rice
-Three or four cups of water
-1.5 cups of raspberries
-Some cooked moose or venison (last nights' steak is great in this), maybe 1 cup of meat shredded
-Wild seasonings (Garlic mustard, wild garlic, wild leeks, wild ginger, Sweetflag root, toothwort, whatever you may have. Sweetgale nutlets/seeds are really good as a black pepper and sage substitute
Recipe:
-Fill pot with wild rice and an equal amount of water. Bring to boil and simmer for twenty minutes. If water starts to run out, add a bit more. Don't add too much, yet.
-Preheat oven to 350C
-Once that is ready, pour into baking tray.
-Add rest of the water
-Add berries and meat
-Add seasonings
-Stir evenly so all of the ingredients are mixed thoroughly
-Seal and bake for thirty minutes.
-Let cool a bit, and then serve.
This is pretty much the perfect meal in my opinion. With light seasoning of the wild herbs, you can really get a feel for the food. The wild rice is soft and puffy with texture, and the meat offers that heavy need for protein we all crave at one point or another (join us Vegetarians, join us). The berries throw in their potency with this meal, as the bake, and steam all at once. Think of it as a casserole and a stew all in one. Served cold it makes an awesome breakfast of champions.
5) Raspberry-leaf tea
Always, always, always use fresh or fully dried leaves for your wild teas!!! Partially dried is not good for the gut, believe me on this one. So either pick them and use them immediately, or dry them and save for later use.
Items:
-Heat source
-cooking pot
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup of raspberry leaves. I suggest common red or common black raspberries.
-3-4 cups of water
Recipe:
-Add leaves and water to cooking pot and bring to boil
-Boil for about three minutes, then set aside to steep for ten
-Optional step: add maple sugar for taste,
Sipped late by a fire, raspberry-leaf tea is a godsend. I dry as many as I can for winter use. Dry a few berries as well and toss them in if you really want to rid yourself of the winter blahs (that, or get outside more to soak up some vitamin D)
Alright folks, there you go. Five recipes involving the fruits of this season. I will add more next week. For now, I need to finish making some nets, and get to work on my arrows for this hunting season!
Hope you enjoy my personal experiment. If you feel like joining along, let me know your results, research or anything else in the comments section. Please feel free to subscribe!
Baamaapii,
Caleb Wazhusk
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Another week, another step in the diet.
This past week I was teaching a program on wilderness living skills at Canadian Bushcraft, which gave me time to focus on the diet a bit more and do a little bit of foraging. I brought wild rice with me (an obvious staple), and though I broke the diet here and there (dammit, hamburgers in cast iron over an open fire would tempt you too!) I also had the opportunity to gather and prepare some delicious food.
Harvested:
-Cattail roots and "Cossack Asparagus"
-Sunchoke/Jersualem Artichoke Tubers
-Raspberries and Blackberries
-White Pine cambium (this time of year it had a really sweet taste to it)
-Sweetflag/Ratroot/Wiikae roots
-Wild mint
-Catnip
-Plantain (for a couple of cuts and scrapes)
-Yarrow (for bug repellent)
-Jewelweed (for when the bug repellent failed)
Stuff ready in the Garden:
-Beans
-Cucumber
-Spinach
-Swiss Chard
-Sunchoke
-Dill
-Basil
Preserved
-Smoked bass
-Sundried and smoke dried jerky
Projects accomplished
-New white ash digging stick
-Atlatl dart
-Fired pottery
-New bowdrill kit
-200ft worth of Basswood fibre retted
Other projects underway:
-Fishing net
-Arrows for my 45# Black Ash Recurve bow.
-Other bowstaves Identified and marked for harvesting in the fall
Outside of the projects, harvesting and gardening, I have been busy researching exactly what is the Thirteen Moons Diet. The closest I have come across on written record is the Decolonizing Diet Project from Northern Michigan University Center for Native American Studies, whose blog can be found here. However, this is not a seasonal-oriented diet. Nothing wrong with it, in fact its' a brilliant source of information, especially for those of you who wish to try this and do not have as much access/experience in hunting, fishing or gathering. However I would not be eating duck eggs out of the natural time of year of when I would be finding duck eggs.
The only true difference between what I am doing, and what they have accomplished is the seasonal aspect, which I believe is the key to what I am trying to do. So on their part, they are doing amazing. I will definitely be following along with their research and accomplishments. So all in all, way to go folks, good work!
I will be posting photographs later today, and perhaps a video or two. Dunno if photobucket videos can be uploaded onto Blogger, but we'll find out.
Hope you enjoy my personal experiment. If you feel like joining along, let me know your results, research or anything else in the comments section. Please feel free to subscribe!
Baamaapii,
Caleb Wazhusk
Harvested:
-Cattail roots and "Cossack Asparagus"
-Sunchoke/Jersualem Artichoke Tubers
-Raspberries and Blackberries
-White Pine cambium (this time of year it had a really sweet taste to it)
-Sweetflag/Ratroot/Wiikae roots
-Wild mint
-Catnip
-Plantain (for a couple of cuts and scrapes)
-Yarrow (for bug repellent)
-Jewelweed (for when the bug repellent failed)
Stuff ready in the Garden:
-Beans
-Cucumber
-Spinach
-Swiss Chard
-Sunchoke
-Dill
-Basil
Preserved
-Smoked bass
-Sundried and smoke dried jerky
Projects accomplished
-New white ash digging stick
-Atlatl dart
-Fired pottery
-New bowdrill kit
-200ft worth of Basswood fibre retted
Other projects underway:
-Fishing net
-Arrows for my 45# Black Ash Recurve bow.
-Other bowstaves Identified and marked for harvesting in the fall
Outside of the projects, harvesting and gardening, I have been busy researching exactly what is the Thirteen Moons Diet. The closest I have come across on written record is the Decolonizing Diet Project from Northern Michigan University Center for Native American Studies, whose blog can be found here. However, this is not a seasonal-oriented diet. Nothing wrong with it, in fact its' a brilliant source of information, especially for those of you who wish to try this and do not have as much access/experience in hunting, fishing or gathering. However I would not be eating duck eggs out of the natural time of year of when I would be finding duck eggs.
The only true difference between what I am doing, and what they have accomplished is the seasonal aspect, which I believe is the key to what I am trying to do. So on their part, they are doing amazing. I will definitely be following along with their research and accomplishments. So all in all, way to go folks, good work!
I will be posting photographs later today, and perhaps a video or two. Dunno if photobucket videos can be uploaded onto Blogger, but we'll find out.
Hope you enjoy my personal experiment. If you feel like joining along, let me know your results, research or anything else in the comments section. Please feel free to subscribe!
Baamaapii,
Caleb Wazhusk
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)