22 GEOEGE M. DAWSON ON THE 



common only in high cool woods, is largely used, notwithstanding its bitter taste. No 

 edible berry is, in fact, altogether ignored, and few edible substances of any kind, though, 

 curiously enough, none of the Indians ever heard of anyone eating the mushroom, which 

 is often abundant. 



Of the black or bull pine (P. Mm-rayana), the cambium layer is eaten when it is soft 

 and gelatinous, at the time the leaves are still growing. The thin bark is peeled off and 

 the cambium layer scraped from the surface of the wood. It is sometimes dried and 

 kept, the whole process being precisely the same with that practised by the Tinneh. 

 In the Shoo-whâ'-pa-mooh dialect this tree is named ko-kwil-Tit', the cambium layer stho- 

 ku'ulk'. The cambiixm of Abies subalpina, ml-rnip', and that of the cottonwood {Populns 

 trichocurpa) is also sometimes eaten. 



The sappy and still nearly white parts of the large leaf-stalks and stems of the Her- 

 acleum lanaLum are eaten in the spring, before the plant acquires the acrid taste which it 

 has at maturity. This, again, is a favourite article of diet with the Tinneh, and when 

 taken at the right stage is not much inferior to celery. This plant is named Kon-lulp by 

 the Shoo-whfi'-pa-mooh, hd-ko by the N-tla-kfi-pe-mooh. 



When the cones of Pinus albicaulis are fully formed, toward the end of summer, but 

 before the scales expand and allow the nutlets to fall, the Indian women resort to the 

 mountains where these trees abound at heights between 5,000 and 6,000 feet, often camp- 

 ing for days there, and gathering and eating the nutlets. The trees are generally not 

 large, and those which have a load of cones are usually cut down in order to obtain the 

 cones. The cones may be simply roasted in the fire, when the scales are easily broken off 

 like those of an artichoke, and the nutlets may be eaten from the central core in the same 

 manner in which green corn is eaten. They have a not unpleasant taste, though with a 

 distinct suspicion of turpentine, and are nearly the size of small garden peas. "When 

 the cones have been roasted the nutlets are also sometimes beaten out and dried, and 

 thereafter bruised together with berries and eaten. The tree is named k-tshl-'kâlp', the 

 cones is-lshl-ka-km', and the nutlets is-tshl'-'kuh, in the Shoo-wha-pa-mooh language. 



Nutlets from the cones of the yellow pine {Pinus ponderosa) and the Douglas fir (Pseu- 

 dotsuga Doughisii) — Ska-cVp in both Shoo-whâ'-pa-mooh and N-tla-kâ-pe-mooh — though 

 much smaller, are also eaten. In this instance the women take advantage of the squirrels 

 and mice as collectors and rob the stores laid away in hollow logs or stumps by these 

 animals. 



The pith or inner part of the stalk of the Epilobium {E. spicatum) is eaten while still 

 young and sappy. This is also commonly employed as an auxiliary article of diet by the 

 Tinneh tribes in Northern British Columbia. It is easily obtained free from the woody 

 part of the stalk by running the back of the thumb-nail along the broken stalk. The 

 Shoo-wha'-pa-mooh name of this plant is ts'-ha-nulp , the N-tla-kâ-pe-mooh tsvLâ-kât. 



The black hair-like lichen (Alecloria jubata), which grows abundantly on the higher 

 plateaux and mountains upon trees in thick woods, is eaten by the Shuswap people as by 

 the Tinneh to the north. It is called 2<;7-/«A by the Shoo-whâ'-pa-mooh, and wl-idi by the 

 N-tla-kâ-pe-mooh. Having been collected by the women, it is first freed from twigs and 

 bark and washed in water. Then, siirrounded by leaves, etc., it is placed in a hole in the 

 ground and a fire is made above it. The roasting continues for a night, after which it 



