Blueberries During Colonization Era
Many species of blueberries were plentiful before and during the European colonization of North America, and these were held in high esteem by natives. According to legend, the Great Spirit sent the “star berries” to relieve famine. The berries were so named because of their star-shaped calyx.
Anne Pollard, the 12 years old puritan who was the first ashore after the 1630 landing, wrote that Boston’s Beacon Hill was covered with blueberries.
Josselyn, a New England traveler of the early 1600s, called numerous “Skycoloured” berries a most excellent summer dish that the colonists ate in milk and sweetened worth sugar and spice.
Kalm, Champlain, and other early travelers into the hinterlands of America recorded that the colonists learned from the natives to sun-dry fruit for winter use in puddings, cakes, bread and pemmican.
As a display of generosity and honor, the Iroquois offered fresh blueberry corn bread to the white settlers.
Rather than relying upon uncertain sunlight, natives along the foggy, rainy Northwest pacific coast smoke-dried their blueberries. Today’s fruitcakes and breads are direct descendants of those native favorites.
Fruit of related species are utilized around the world. Spaniards enjoy their native, black, juicy, Maderia whortleberry.
In Jamaica, the sour, red Jamaica bilberry is widely used to make a jelly. The berries of mortima appear on local market in Ecuador and Colombia. The Highlanders of Scotland eat their blueberries in milk or tarts.
Other parts of the highbush blueberry plant were also utilized by both colonists and natives, the leaves, when chewed yield a drug known as vaccinium; a tea made from the leaves and fruit was remedy for diarrhea and suppressed menstruation. Infusions of the flowers and rhizomes were used to treat infant colic, to induce labor and to purify the blood. The strong flexible wood made excellent tool handles.
Blueberries During Colonization Era
