Vegetable food products of the foraging economies of the pacific northwest

Twenty‐seven roots, berries and sprouts common in the pre‐contact diet of Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest have been analyzed and found to be valuable sources of Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn and ascorbic acid. Native peoples serially harvested these indigenous foods as part of their economic rounds. These members of the Lily, Purslane, Barberry, Currant, Rose, Parsley, Heath, Honeysuckle, Sunflower and Water‐plantain families are among those regularly collected by these foraging groups whose economic strategies were keyed to the use of multiple resources and the storage of large quantities of processed foods. Stored vegetable foods, particularly berries and roots, along with dried fish, provided ample and nutritious diets during seasonal periods of resource non‐productivity. These indigenous foods are compared with some commonly used commercial species.

Key words:

• Indigenous roots
• berries
• sprouts
• Pacific Northwest Native peoples
• foraging strategies
• nutrient composition