=Smooth Juneberry= (_Amelanchier laevis_ Wiegand), “gozîgagoˈ mînûn”
[thorny berry]. According to John Whitefeather, Flambeau Ojibwe,
this is the name of the Juneberry, while Charley Burns on the same
reservation called it “bîsegaˈ gwomîn”. Both knew it only as a food,
although some tribes use the bark as a medicine. Juneberries were also
dried for winter use, the Indians often preferring them to blueberries.
The Pillager Ojibwe also use them as a food and use the bark as a
medicine.
=Red Haw Apple= (_Crataegus_ sp.), “mînesagaˈ wûnj”. The Pillager
Ojibwe use the haw apples as a food in the fall of the year.
=Wild Strawberry= (_Fragaria virginiana_ Duchesne), “odeˈ imîn” [heart
berry]. Both Flambeau and Pillager Ojibwe have the same name for the
Wild Strawberry, and call it the heart berry from its shape and color.
They are very fond of it in season and make preserves of it for winter
use.
=Wild Plum= (_Prunus nigra_ Ait.), “bûgeˈ sanatîg”. The Pillager Ojibwe
find quantities of the Wild Plum in thickets and gather it for food and
for preserves.
=Pin Cherry= (_Prunus pennsylvanica_ L.f.), “baeˈ wimînûn”. The Pin
Cherry is abundant around the Flambeau Reservation and the Ojibwe are
fond of it. It is an education in itself to see a group of Ojibwe women
working on mats with a supply of fruit laden branches beside them.
With one hand they will start a stream of berries into the mouth and
the stream of cherry stones ejected from the other corner of the mouth
seems ceaseless. The Pillager Ojibwe also have the tree and use it in
the same manner.
=Sand Cherry= (_Prunus pumila_ L.), “sewaˈkomîn”. The Flambeau Ojibwe
find plenty of this species on sandy openings in the forest, and gather
the fruit for food.
=Wild Cherry= (_Prunus serotina_ Ehrh.), “okweˈ mîn” [worm from egg
of a fly]. The Flambeau Ojibwe prefer this cherry to all other wild
cherries, and dry it for winter use. Some of them also make whiskey
from the ripe cherries.
=Choke Cherry= (_Prunus virginiana_ L.), “saweˈ mîn”. Although the
fruit of this cherry is sufficiently acrid to be unsatisfactory to the
whites as a food, the Pillager Ojibwe like it, especially after the
fruit has been frosted.
=High Bush Blackberry= (_Rubus allegheniensis_ Porter), “odatagaˈ
gomîc” [blackberry stem].[142] The Flambeau Ojibwe relish the
Blackberry and also the Dewberry (_Rubus villosus_ Ait.) although we
found no specimen nor distinctive name for it. They make a jam of the
berries for winter use.
=Red Raspberry= (_Rubus idaeus_ L. var. _aculaetissimus_ [C. A. Mey.]
Regel & Tiling) “meskwaˈ mîn” [red berry]. This is a favorite fresh
fruit of the Flambeau Ojibwe and is also used for making jams for
winter use.
SALICACEAE (WILLOW FAMILY)
=Large-toothed Aspen= (_Populus grandidentata_ Michx.), “asadiˈ”
[bitter bark]. The Ojibwe scrape the cambium layer to obtain a food
which is boiled and is something like eggs. They also scrape the
cambium of several other trees for food.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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