Native American and blueberry

Wild berries are an important source of food for birds and other wild animals and native people enjoyed them long before the first European discovered North America.

Blueberries often are used to symbolize many different things in literature, art, mythology, and everyday life. It has been thought that the red color of many berries symbolizes life or the blood of mythical creatures.

French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, found native people gathering wild blueberries for use during the winter months. They dried them in the sun, beat them onto powder which was added to parched meat and the resulting product was used as seasoning for soups and stews and curing of meats.

The Northeast Native American tribes revered blueberries and much folklore developed around them. The blossom end of each berry, the calyx, forms the shape of a perfect five-pointed star; the elders of the tribe would tell of how the Great Spirit sent ‘star berries; to relive the children’s hunger during a famine.

Parts of the blueberry plant were also used as medicine. A tea made from the leaves of the plant was thought to be good for the blood.

North American Indians preserved blueberries in various ways. In Northern areas, the Inuit placed the berries in seal oil, or stored them in leather bags deposited in the permafrost. The berries were also dried in the sunshine or by a fire.
Native American and blueberry