Exploring their roots
Tribal children come together for Huckleberry Camp
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BLUE BAY – Nine miles up a washed-out road, above the clear blue waters of Flathead Lake, tribal children forged their way through thick bushes and fallen logs in search of a tiny purple treat that has been harvested by the Salish and Kootenai tribes for generations.
“This is something our people have done for thousands of years,” tribal elder Anita Whitworth said. “Huckleberries are one of the staple foods for us. They are very important.”
That’s why the Tribal Health Department and SKC Field and Fitness thought it would be a good idea to finish off the summer with a two-day Huckleberry Camp at the Blue Bay Campground on Flathead Lake to bring together tribal youth and teach them the ways of their forefathers.
According to Lynette Dupuis of SKC Field & Home Food and Fitness, the two-day event was funded through Field and Home from a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture-Food and Nutrition Service to provide children with nutritional education programs. Part of this funding was used to purchase camping and cooking equipment to support community camping events.
“The goals of Field and Home are to increase the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, unprocessed grains and lean meats and to increase physical activity,” Dupuis said.
Traditionally, tribal individuals pick the first berry, pray with it, thank it, and hope it will be there again next year for picking. As the eager children vanished into the mountainside for the huckleberry pick on Wednesday, Whitworth said a prayer for all of the children and their first berry.
Berries picked by the youngsters were used to make jam and huckleberry cheesecakes, that is, if they weren’t first devoured by those who picked them.
“Having the kids get out in the mountains gets them off the couch,” Elmo Fitness employee and event coordinator Howard Walker aid. “(Harvesting food) is what our people did through the different seasons.”
Local foods that have been traditionally harvested by the Salish and Kootenai are Bitterroot in May, Camas in June and huckleberries in the months of July and August.
“Most of the kids here get in the mountains once or twice a year,” Walker said. “A lot of kids here grew up without a dad to teach them things taught long ago.”
Along with two afternoons of huckleberry picking, youth were eager to jump into the cool waters of Flathead Lake after making the trek back down the mountain. Later that evening around the fire children also learned how to play stick game, a traditional activity that has been played for generations.
“It’s important for the kids to get together and do traditional things like this,” Whitworth said. “It’s important we don’t lose our ways.
