Sacred Gifts from the Land

I BELONG TO THE LAND OUT OF WHICH I CAME.

— Chief Tulhuulhulsuit, Nez Perce, 1855

Digging Yampah (Photo by Michael Ridge) — **Digging Yampah** *(Photo by Michael Ridge)*

  The bounty of native foods here is the result of generations of stewardship through selective hunting, fishing, and digging. Root gardens grow larger and healthier with well-timed harvests. Digging sticks, called tu’•k’es (pictured right), are engineered to gather edible roots like łit’a’•n (bitterroot), qém’es (camas), and varieties of qa•ws (biscuitroot). The tu’•k’es aerates the soil and exposes a bed for seeds knocked off plants during harvest, ensuring the health of the root garden when families return year after year. 
  

Qa•ws, harvested in the wal’áwa homeland

  
When springtime arrived in wal’áwa, families camped together at known digging places to harvest qa•ws. A feast was held to welcome this early season root and the abundance of other foods to follow, a practice which continues today at Nez Perce longhouse ceremonies.

    In summer, women would dig up qém’es bulbs, clean off the black outer husk, and steam cook them underground for hours. Prepared this way, the starches are broken down and the sweet result tastes like chocolate.

This K’ÁPOY was used in combination with a pestle to crush berries or pound roots, such as this QA•WS. Dried foods were then formed into cakes to eat during winter. The illustration by Haruo Aoki on in the Nez Perce dictionary shows how a woven basket can be used with the K’ÁPOY.

<— Previous: People of wal’áwa

Sacred Gifts from the Land

I BELONG TO THE LAND OUT OF WHICH I CAME.

This K’ÁPOY was used in combination with a pestle to crush berries or pound roots, such as this QA•WS. Dried foods were then formed into cakes to eat during winter. The illustration by Haruo Aoki on in the Nez Perce dictionary shows how a woven basket can be used with the K’ÁPOY.

<— Previous: People of wal’áwa

Next: Tamá·lwit —>

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