Plant ProjectHartley Bay 2004

The Gitga’at

The Gitga’at Plant ProjectHartley Bay 2004

Cover Photo by Nancy J. Turner

Photographs in The Gitga’at Plant Project were taken by Judy Thompson, Nancy J. Turner and Mr.Borge, except where

credits acknowledge other photographers.

Hartley Bay School Students:Frank Dundas, Tristan Reece, Krystal Dundas, Jeremy Reece, Erin Bolton, Tiffany Wilson, Cheryl Reece, Vanessa Fisher, Randi Bolton, Brenda Clifton, Marisa Robinson, Karl Fisher, Myles Reece, Kayla Wilson, Ashley Sandy, George Fisher, Mark

Bolton, Christopher Stewart and Jarvis Smith.

Hartley Bay School is part of School District 52.

This book is dedicated to the memory of Chief Johnny Clifton

Contents

Preface 4

Plants

dzawes/salal 5w’nax/ skunk cabbage 6sgan k’oo/ thimbleberry 7 mak’ooks/salmonberry 8 moolks/pacific crabapple 9sm’maay/ wild blueberry 10 ts’üga’aam/ licorice root 11sahakwdak/ western yew 12 wal / yellow cedar 13wooms/ devil’s-club 14hulnns/ poison root 15stati/ stinging nettle 16

Photo Album 17

Elders and Plant Informants 22

Our 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 water…the whole.

Our future is bonded to the wisdom of how to perpetuate this coexistence. Our world sways in a delicate balance. The Gitga’at 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 Gitga’at 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 Gitga’at 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 Ya’as 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 Gitga’at People.

Cameron Hill

And a special thank you to Mr. H (Cameron Hill). Without his support, his enthusiasm, and his easygoing attitude, the Gitga’at 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)

Preface

dzawessalalGaultheria shalon

Food: Salal berries are used for making desserts, jams, syrup, and jelly.

Material: Children use the leaves to make a headband. The leaves are also used for separating dried seaweed cakes in a bentwood boxes. They are laid in between each cake so the cakes don’t stick together. Florists use the leaves as decora-tive additions to bouquets.

Harvesting?: When you go picking, you don’t pile salal ber-ries too high because they will become squished, and are hard to clean. It is best if you pick the berries with the stem still attached. It doesn’t take long to gather berries if you know where they are. Once you’ve picked what you need, you keep the stems on if used for jelly and pinch the berries off if used for jam or dessert. Salal berries are harvested in the late summer until the first frost.

What does it look like? The flowers are a pink and oval urn shape. The leaves are shaped like an egg and the leaves are evergreen, thich and shiny. The berries are reddish blue/dark purple. The berries grown on one side of the stem. They grow along the ground.

Notes: It is best if the berries are still attached to the stem when picked. Salal berries can be found almost anywhere around Kiel, Mossy Bay, Fin Island, Hartley Bay, and Old Town - oftentimes near water and shady areas.

Salal Berry Jam:10-12 cups squeezed salal berries5-6 cups sugar1-2 cup(s) water.Boil for 20 minutes.

Freezer Jam:10-12 cups squeezed salal berries5-6 cups sugar1-2 cup(s) waterAdd certo, or similar product.Put in freezer until ready for use.

Plant informants:Ernie Hill Jr.Mildred Wilson and Richard WilsonYvonne Bolton

Plant studied by: Tiffany Wilson, Randi Bolton & Cheryl Reece

Plant Studies by:Tiffany Wilson (l)Randi Bolton (c)& Cheryl Reece (r)

Salal Dessert:Mix salal berries with oolichan grease, sugar, water and other ber-ries (bunch berries, huckleberries, blueberries and salmonberries)

(Recipes given by Mildred Wilson)

Material: Skunk cabbage has been used in several different ways. Our people have used it to dry blueberries for different uses, such as preserving in jars. The leaves are also used for drying thimbleberries on. Stink eggs are wrapped with the leaf to protect the eggs from cracking. Children also use them as a cup to drink from rivers and streams. The Gitga’at people do not eat this plant.

Harvesting? Skunk cabbage starts growing in the spring and dies through the winter months. Leaves can be picked in the spring, summer and fall. The largst leaves are the best. When you pick skunk cabbage leaves, break them off close to the ground.

What does it look like? The plant leaf is oval-shaped and clustered, four to ten decimetres long. The skunk cabbage appears in the early spring and the yellow sheath is up to two decimetres long. The stalk breaks up and reveals brown oval seeds that are embedded in a white pulpy tissue. The skunk cabbage resembles the skunk becuase they are both smelly.

Notes: Skunk cabbage grows in British Columbia and is most common in coastal forests. Skunk cabbage grows in swampy grounds, mostly in dark mucky soil, beneath alder and conifer trees, and rarely in dense shade. In Hartley Bay, skunk cabbage is practically everywhere, beside the road, under boardwalks, around buildings, among trees, in bushes surrounding rivers and streams.

Plant informants:Yvonne BoltonEva HillHelen CliftonTina Robinson

w’naxskunk cabbageLysichiton americanum

Plant studies by:Jeremy Reece (l)& Erin Bolton (r)

sgan k’oothimbleberryRubus parviflorus

Food: Thimbleberries are mostly used or eating by people, birds and animals. You dry thimbleberries into cakes. A little bit of berries makes a lot of jam. When you see the bushes or branches just coming up or sprouting, you can pick them and use [these parts] in a salad. The berries ferment quickly. Plas-tic containers should not be used - use cedar bas-kets as they will last longer. The berries can be used in pancackes and other fruit desserts.

Material: The leaves are used when travelling with fish (pinks and coho salmon). If you are on a boat coming from Old Town and you are travelling out to other com-munities, you take the guts out of the fish and stuff the inside wiith the leaves of this plant. This gets the slime off. With the sticks you lay them out to put the fish on, so the fish doesn’t get dirty.

Harvesting? Look for bushes of the thimbleberry with ripe, deep red berries. When you pick them you have to take off the flower that it grown on so when you put it in the bucket, it won’t squish. Although they resemble raspberries, they are very small and it takes a long time to fill a container. But a very small amount goes a long way. They are very flavourful. Thimbleberries are harvested from June to late September.

Notes: The branches are one to two metres tall with brown bark and it is green on the inside of the bark. The leaf looks like a maple leaf, only they are green. The flowers are white and the berries are a deep red when ripe. The branches have no thorns. The leaf is fuzzy on the back, which makes it feel soft. Whe you are picking the berries you can come to tell the bushes from the unique smell of this plant. This plant usually grows near the lake or river but you will find the thimbleberry in the mountains too. They grow in a kind of hard, muddy soil. You’ll find them mostly in the open. It grows right in Hartley Bay, along the boardwalks, rivers and houses. You can also pick them in Old Town.

Freezer Jam method: Lynne Hill said, to make jam you mash the berries up and add sugar. Stir until all the sugar melts. Then, add Certo and stif constantly for three minutes. Put into jars. Leave jars out for 24 hours before putting in the freezer.

Drying: Gather the berries and cook them unitl they get thick enough (like a paste). At this point the berries can be spread onto leaves of skunk cabbage, to dry in the sun. When it is re-ally dry, you put more of the berry paste on and continue to dry. Then, put into jars and pour melted wax over the top to stop mould from growing. Thimbleberries can be frozen whole to be used in various desserts.

Plant informants:Eva HillErnie Hill Jr.Mona DanesElizabeth Dundas

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 don’t 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 pre-vent too much squishing. What you are picking for will deter-mine how long you stay out. If it’s for a feed, maybe an hour; if it’s 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 ber-ries 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, usu-ally 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 don’t. It is mostly associated with its colour. The stem is golden brown with numerous thorns.

mak’ooks (plant)magm dziiws (yellow berries) magm atk (red berries)SalmonberryRubus spectabilis

Plant studies by:Karl Fisher (l)& Miles Reece (r)

moolksPacific crabappleMalus fusca

Food: Crabapples are the most important thing back in the day. They would use it to serve it after dinner for dessert. When No’o (Lucille Clifton) had too much, Kitkatla would come down and buy the crabapple off of No’o for twenty dollars. Kitamaat has crabapples. At a big feast they would serve crabapples and that because it was valuable.

Material:Crabapple wood is not only strong, but it is also very flexible. If you have trouble with your boat propeller, you can use the wood from the tree as a blade to help you get home.

Harvesting? Crabapples are picked in bunches with their stems still attached. They are then placed in an enamel pot, covered with water and simmered on the stove until they’re just soft enough for the stems to come off easily when they’re twisted. September is the month for harvesting crabapples and about this time of the month they would be getting it all ready for jarring.Everyday of the month of August we would pick blueberries until the month of September came and we picked crabapples.

Notes: Crabapples grow on small trees which do not grow straight. The flowers or apple blossoms range in colour from white to pink. The crabapples start out green and become yellow to reddish in colour. The crabapple is the shape of an egg. Old Town and Kish Kosh are the natural places where crabapples grow. Old Town is a place

Plant informants:Helen CliftonSimon and Margaret ReecePat Sterritt

Habitat: Salmonberries are found in moist to wet places, mostly along stream edges, ava-lanche tracks and wet logged areas. Salmonberries share their habitat with blueberries and thimbleberry. Salmonberries are picked almost everywhere in Gitga’at territory. We pick salm-onberries 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 salmon-berries. 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)

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 k’aw k’aw). 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 Sm’algyax 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 don’t 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 informants:Ernie and Marjorie Hill

sm’maay / maayoval-leaved blueberries/ powder bluesVaccinium ovalifolium

Food: Here in Hartley Bay we use the blueberries as a treat at our traditional feasts (examples: pies, ice, tarts, cakes and jam).

Medicine:The parts that are used are the roots, only when they are bruised, for diabetics to make them feel better.

Material: The juice is used for dying clothes and bark.

Harvesting? It is harvested by going out and picking them by hand off bushes. It’s a long process; it can take hours to fill a two and a half-gallon bucket. To clean them you would soak

Plant studies by:George Fisher (l)& Mark Bolton (r)

Plant informants:Yvonne BoltonAnnetta RobinsonTina RobinsonBetsy Reece

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 Sm’algyax, liig’atsa 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 sm’maay.

It is prepared for preserving like this:1 cup of sugar1/2 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

ts’üga’aamlicorice root (fern)Polypodium gllycyrrhiza

Food: As a candy it has a strong licorice taste. Sucking the root also staves off hunger.

Medicine: Licorice root has been used by the Gitga’at people for thousands of years as a medicine. It is made into a drink. material: Some people use licorice fern as a tobacco.

Notes: Licorice root grows on the branches and trunks of many different trees, nestled in the moss and lichens. One of

Plant studies by:Vanessa Fisher& Randi Bolton

the best trees to get them from is the Yew wood tree. The fern has orange dots on the bottom of the leaf; that’s the female. The leaves are narrow and long and they grow to be about 50 centimetres long and its height is about 20-30 centime-tres 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 informants:Helen CliftonSimon and Goolie ReecePat Sterritt

sahakwdakyew wood, western yewTaxus brevifolia

Medicine: Yew has long been known by the Tsimshian for it’s medicinal qualities and curative powers. It is used to stop the sprea of cancerous growth. Yew derived medicine is stored in a bottle and drank on a daily basis.

MateriaL: Yew is very important to the Gitga’at people because it is used to make: chopping blocks used to chop seaweed, clubs for pounding wooks, paddles, spears, bows and wedges.Yew wood is used for carving but, due to it’s density, may be difficult to use. It is traded with other First Nations in the interior of the province. The chief of Hartley Bay, Johnny Clifton, had a 300 year old talking stick made of Yew. Harvesting? When they harvest yew wood, they chop it down. the yew tree is very valuable because of how strong and dense it is. Therefore, the gitga’at people will use the whole tree when it is chopped down. Sometimes there is licorice root growing on it. If there is, it is considered the healthiest and most helpful medicine for cancer.

Plant studies by:Brenda Clifton (l)& Marisa Robinson (r)

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 won’t 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 BC’s 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

Plant Informants:Helen CliftonMarven Robinson

walyellow cedarChamaecyparis nootkanensis

Material: Yellow cedar is used for carving. The trunk of yellow cedar is used for making the frames of the drums that we make.The bark is used for weaving to make baskets, clothes, and other supplies. It is also used for binding things together because it is sticky. The people who carve yellow-cedar carve during the winter, when there is more time available, and the wood has been properly dried.

plant studied by:

Plant studies by: Krystal Dundas (grade 9)

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 informants:Mildred WilsonMona DanesMarven Robinson

woomsdevil’s clubOplopanax horridusMedicine: Devil’s club is used as a medicine. It kept Chief Johnny Clifton’s sugar down (diabetes). You really have to believe in it. Some people bathe in it to wash away the bad luck. It’s also good for removing head lice. It’s used just like a shampoo.

Harvesting? Natives only took four at a time. You have to cut the leaves off then scrape off the thorns and the bark is where When you pick you have to be happy when you pick that way your mind is clear. People need to stay focused and happy while they are picking.When you’re done with the devil’s club you put it back, you put it back on the ground. It brings good luck.

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 devil’s club in the glass then pour the boiling water then cool it off.

Notes:Devil’s 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. Devil’s club is found throughout Gitga’at territory, especially near streams.

Plant informants:Chief Johnny andHelen Clifton

hulnnspoison rootVeratrum viride

WARNING: This plant, as the name “poison root” implies, is extremely poisonous. Never touch or eat it, or drink water in which it has been growing. Use for medicine only under strict care and attention from a trained medicine specialist.

Medicine: The Elders in Hartley Bay use poison root in several different ways. Many people make medicine bags with chopped up pieces of the root to keep sicknesses away.

People also burn and smudge poisonroot around their house to keep bad spirits and bad luck away.

Notes: A spade or an axe is used to dig up the roots. The roots are then rinsed and hung to dry. Poison root grows near mossy ground and where there are lots of roots. Yvonne Bolton gets her poison root up the lake on the side of the road or on the trail to the water tower. Yvonne Bolton usually harvests poison root during the summer months.

Plant informants:Archie Dundas (pictured harvesting hulnns)

Plant studies by:Christopher Stewart (l) & Jarvis Smith (r)

Plant studies by:Jeremy Reece& Erin Bolton

statistinging nettleUrtica dioica

Food: The leaves are used in salads, but you have to make sure to properly remove the nettles.

Medicine: Mildred Wilson, has said the roots can be used as medicine for the measles. The roots are cleaned and bruised, and a tea is made out of them.

Material: Stinging nettle was used to make fishing nets. In Old Town they used to harvest stinging nettle.

Preparation: Stingin nettle is prepared by cleaning the roots and pounding them to make a juice for tea. They would wash the roots several times and prepare a juice. Some people would dry the stinging nettle and use it for tea.

Notes: Stinging nettle is a weed that is covered with coarse hairs, that when touched leave a sting; and usually a rash and welt. The leaves are green, heart shaped, toothed and long. They have tiny flowers, which can be greenish or pinkish in colour. They are clustered together and hang in a drooping fashion. The stem is hollow and reddish brown in colour. The stinging nettle grows one to three metres tall. The plant has a smell meant to keep you away. Stinging nettle grows in moist rich soil around village sites, such as Old Town. it grows among salmonberry and thimbleberry bushes. it is found all around Hartley Bay. Kiel is over-grown with stinging nettle. The best time to harvest stinging nettle is in the fall, mainly in October. Stinging nettle is an indicator for seaweed. When the plants grow tall the seaweed is growing as well.

plant studied by:

Plant studies by:Tiffany Wilson (l)& Cheryl Reece (r)

Plant informants:

Plant informants:

photo album2004

Marisa Robinson (grade 9) in response to the following question: Write about your experience of interviewing people for the plant project.

“Well, I think it’s 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 they’re 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 they’ll get to do this experience too and they’ll 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. I’m really enjoying this and since

we’re doing blueberries, it’s all good, they’re 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 Thompson’s 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 it’s different”. They took turns asking

questions. “It was just the three of us, no VHS…I was glad no one interrupted. I didn’t 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.

Ernie Hill Sr. stated, “It goes right through you if you read it in the book.”

Marjorie Hill said, “You don’t learn from reading it in books, you have to do it”.

Marjorie then said, “You wouldn’t starve here if you knew how to go and get it [food]. Some people don’t want to go and get it.”

Margaret Reece

Tina Robinson

Yvonne Bolton and Mona Danes

Plant informants

Annetta Robinson

Helen Clifton

Mildred Wilson

Betsy Reece

Marven Robinson

Archie Dundas

Elizabeth Dundas

Till the next plant project...