Ethnobotany

Indian Potato (Claytonia lanceolata)
Aka: skwenkwinem, Spring Beauty, Mountain Potato.

The Secwepemc ate the small spherical corms by unearthing them just after they flowered. The potatoes could be eaten fresh, dried, or stored in earth pits insulating them from freezing.

 

 

Balsam Root (Balsamorhiza sagittata) Aka: tsetselq, Spring Sunflower, Wild Sunflower. The roots, young shoots, bud stems and seeds were all popular foods. The roots were dug in the spring. The roots were prepared for drying by peeling the outer skin, and the whitish inner part was steamed. They could also be eaten immediately or dried for later use. When the flower buds were still tightly closed the bud stems were gathered, peeled and eaten raw or steamed or boiled. The young leaf stalks were also peeled and eaten. After the flower has withered and gone to seed the people collected the small black seed by shaking them from the dried heads. These seeds were then dried or roasted then eaten whole.

Wild carrots (Perideridia gairdneri)
Aka: geyu7, Wild Caraway, Gairdner's Yampah, False Caraway, and Indian Carrot.

The Secwepemc ate the sweet, anise-flavored roots of the wild caraway either raw or dried. To prepare the Indian carrots the Secwepemc would either boil them or pit cook them with a meal. To store these wild carrots for the winter the Secwepemc would place them in an earth pit that was lined with pine needles or cotton wood bark to protect them from frost.

 

 

 

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