Local Ecological Knowledge and Importance of Bakeapple (Rubus chamaemorus L.) in a Southeast Labrador Métis Community

  • Amanda L. Karst 245 McDermot Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R3B 0S6
  • Nancy J. Turner School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Victoria BC, V8W 3R4
Keywords: Labrador, Métis, bakeapple, local ecological knowledge, Rubus chamaemorus

Abstract

Bakeapple, or cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus L.; Rosaceae) is a circumpolar perennial with orange aggregate fruits, which has been a vital food resource for many northern peoples including those of the Subarctic and Arctic areas of North America. This study documented the importance and local knowledge of bakeapple in the predominantly Métis community of Charlottetown, Labrador. The cultural importance of bakeapple is evidenced by the social customs surrounding its picking, by its prevalence in people’s homes and at community events, and by its formal and informal economic exchange, within and outside the community. The local ecological knowledge of bakeapple that residents of Charlottetown possessed also illustrates its importance. Local knowledge of interviewees included different habitat types associated with various bakeapple densities and fruit sizes, bakeapple development/phenology (e.g., “turned in” stage) and variations in the berry (e.g. in color and size). Bakeapple remains a culturally important species with a high profile in Charlottetown, although lack of interest in bakeapple picking by younger people may affect future use.

References

Anderson, J. P. 1939. Plants Used by the Eskimo of the Northern Bering Sea and Arctic regions of Alaska. American Journal of Botany 26:714-716.

Andre, A. and A. Fehr. 2001. Gwich’in Ethnobotany: Plants Used by the Gwich’in for Food, Medicine, Shelter and Tools. Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute, Aurora Research Institute, Northwest Territories.

Arnason, T., R. J. Hebda, and T. Johns. 1981. Use of Plants for Food and Medicine by Native Peoples of Eastern Canada. Canadian Journal of Botany 59:2189-2325.

Berkes, F. 1999. Sacred Ecology. Taylor and Francis, Philadelphia, PA.

Clement, D. 1990. L’ethnobotanique Montagnaise de Mingan. Centre d’études nordiques, Université Laval, Quebec.

Eidlitz, K. 1969. Food and Emergency Food in the Circumpolar Area. Studia Ethnographica Upsaliensia XXXII. Almqvist and Wiksells Boktryckert AB, Uppsala, Sweden.

Griffin, D. 2001. Contributions to the Ethnobotany of the Cup’it Eskimo, Nunivak Island, Alaska. Journal of Ethnobiology 21:91-127.

Hawkes, E. W. 1916. The Labrador Eskimo. Government Printing Bureau, No. 1637. Johnson Reprint Corporation, New York.

Heller, C. 1976. Wild Edible and Poisonous Plants of Alaska. Cooperative Extension Service Bulletin F-40, University of Alaska, College.

Holloway, P. S. and G. Alexander. 1990. Ethnobotany of the Fort Yukon Region, Alaska. Economic Botany 44:214-225.

Jones, A. 1983. Nauriat Niginaqtuat: Plants That We Eat. Maniilaq Association, Kotzebue, Alaska.

Kari, P. R. 1987. Tanaina Plantlore. Dena’ina K’et’una: An Ethnobotany of the Dena’ina Indians of Southcentral Alaska, 2nd ed. US National Park Service, Alaska Region.

Karst, A. 2005. The Ethnoecology and Reproductive Ecology of Bakeapple (Rubus chamaemorus L. Rosaceae) in Southern Labrador. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.

Kuhnlein, H. V. and N. J. Turner. 1991. Traditional Plant Foods of Canadian Indigenous Peoples: Nutrition, Botany and Use. Gordon & Breach Science Publishers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Makinen, Y. and H. Oikarinen. 1974. Cultivation of Cloudberry in Fennoscandia. Report from the Kevo Subarctic Research Station 11:90-102.

Murray, G., P. Boxall, and R. W. Wein. 2005. Distribution, Abundance and Utilization of Wild Berries by the Gwich’in People in the Macknezie River Delta Region. Economic Botany 59:174-184.

Omohundro, J. T. 1994. Rough Food: The Seasons of Subsistence in Northern Newfoundland. Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. Johns.

Oswalt, W. 1957. A Western Eskimo Ethnobotany. Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska 6:16-36.

Parlee, B., F. Berkes, and Teetl’it Gwich’in Renewable Resources Council. 2006. Indigenous Knowledge of Ecological Variability and Commons Management: A Case Study on Berry Harvesting from Northern Canada. Human Ecology 34:15-528.

Russell, P. N. 1991. English Bay and Port Graham Alutiiq plant lore. Pratt Museum. Homer, Alaska.

Shishmaref Day School. 1952. Eskimo Cook Book. Shishmaref, Alaska.

Taylor, K. 1971. Biological Flora of the British Isles. Rubus chamaemorus L. Journal of Ecology 59:293-306.

Thornton, T. F. 1999. Tleikw aaní, the “Berried” Landscape: The Structure of Tlingit Edible Fruit Resources at Glacier Bay, Alaska. Journal of Ethnobiology 19:27-48.

Turner, N. J. 1995. Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples. UBC Press, Vancouver.

Turner, N. J. 2004. Plants of Haida Gwaii. Xaadaa Gwaay guud gina k'aws (Skidegate), Xaadaa Gwaayee guu giin k'aws (Massett). Sono Nis Press, Winlaw, B.C.

Turner, N. J. and J. C. Thompson, eds. 2006. Plants of the Gitga’at People. ‘Nwana’a lax Yuup. Hartley Bay, BC: Gitga’at Nation and Coasts Under Stress Research Project, Cortex Consulting, Victoria, B.C.

Walker, R. 1985. Applied Qualitative Research. Gower Publishing Company, UK.

Young, S. B. and E. S. Hall. 1969. Contributions to the Ethnobotany of the St. Lawrence Island Eskimo. Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska 14:43-53.

Published
2011-07-15
How to Cite
Karst, A. L., & Turner, N. J. (2011). Local Ecological Knowledge and Importance of Bakeapple (Rubus chamaemorus L.) in a Southeast Labrador Métis Community. Ethnobiology Letters, 2, 6-18. https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.2.2011.28
Section
Research Communications