Chapters 4.45
4.45. Seaside strawberries
Sierra Mucci , University of Guelph, Canada
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Suggested citation for this chapter.
Mucci,S. (2022) Fleshy Fruits. In The Student Encyclopedia of Canadian Indigenous Foods. Editor, M.N. Raizada, University of Guelph, Canada. http://www.firstnationsfoods.org/
Introduction
The seaside strawberry is an important food source and medicine in Indigenous cultures. They have a strong belief that strawberries help understand the connection between mind, body, spirit, and emotions (City of Toronto, 2017). These wild strawberries are still found today but not eaten as much as other kinds of strawberries. The seaside strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) assisted in the evolution of fragaria x ananassa strawberry that is broadly grown to this day. This specific strawberry is used medically by Indigenous Peoples to regulate menstrual cycles and a poultice of the chewed leaves can be applied to a wound to treat burns (TPD, 2022). See Figure 1 for an early Fragaria chiloensis plant, before it was more broadly known.
Plant And Species Information
The seaside strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) has many thick, deep green, shiny, leathery leaves, white flowers with five petals, and are found close to the ocean along the entire Pacific coast (Kuchnlein and Turner, 1991). Plants of this fruit are low, stocky, runners’ stout , often perennial mostly forming after fruiting; petioles are about 2-20 centimeters long (Darrow, 1966). The seaside strawberry grows in moist, sandy soil or even found in meadows and rock crevices along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to California (Smith, 2017). The strawberries are harvested and commonly eaten fresh or preserved for later use by Indigenous People (Kuchnlein and Turner, 1991).
Historical Background/Geographic Origin
A French spy, Amédée-François Frézier who was also an engineer in the French Army Intelligence Corps, brought the Chilean strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) from Chile to France in 1714 (Grubinger, 2012). Fragaria chiloensis is native to the fog belt along the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to British Columbia to the central California coast and distribution in Chile (Hancock et. al, 2013). Migrating birds are presumed to have carried seeds from North America to South America, hence why this fruit has such a broad dispersal (Hancock et al, 2013).
Associated Indigenous People
There are many different Indigenous groups that live along the Pacific Coast, although they might not have all consumed the beach strawberry they were in the region where it grew. The American Indians of the Northwest Coast were typically the people that lived on the narrow belt of the Pacific coastline and offshore islands (Britannica, 2022). Some of the well known tribes along the coast included the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Kwakiutl, Bella Coola, Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), Coast Salish, and Chinook (Britannica, 2022). Refer to figure 4 for a map of where all the tribes are located along the Northwest Coast. In Alaska there are also five main groups including the Northwest Coast Indians, Inupiaqs, Yupiks, Aleuts, and Athabascans (State of Alaska, 2022). All of these tribes could have encountered beach strawberries (Fragaria chiloensis) because they lived in regions of lush forests, mild climate, edible plants, and overall near the water in conditions the beach strawberry needs to grow in (State of Alaska, 2022). The Inupiaqs are a more familiar group to Canadians because they settled along the North Coast of Alaska and Canada, where they were known as Inuits (State of Alaska, 2022). During the brief, cool summer they experienced they hunted, fished, and most importantly in this case, gathered berries and roots (State of Alaska, 2022).
Consumption
With any type of fruit there are many ways of consuming it:eating the fruit fresh, preserving the fruit, or using the fruit for different recipes; within Indigenous groups this berry was historically mostly preserved for further use. Women and children were usually the ones that gathered the wild fruit, the common method of collecting berries was to place blankets or some type of large cloth under the bushes and shake off the fruit so it fell off and was then easy to collect (Giannetta, 2011). In this case the beach strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) is a lower yielding plant and might not have had as many berries so they could’ve been picked by hand. The berries had many uses but typically were eaten fresh or mashed up and then dried into cake shape to be later used (Gianetta, 2011). There were other methods of preserving the berries such as the berries being spread out on a blanket or mat and left out in the sun until they were completely dried or they were dried next to a fire (Gianetta, 2011).
The leaves were also used by Indigenous People to be added to tea to add flavouring (Grieve, 2010). Oddly enough in the early days of discovering beach strawberries (Fragaria chiloensis) the people were fermenting the juice of the strawberry, ultimately making an alcoholic beverage (Hancock et. al, 2013). Jam is also a popular way of consuming berries of any kind. This is a simple recipe for jam from Constance Sullivan or Waaseya Anang Ikwe (meaning Bright Star Woman) who is part of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Ojibwe tribe. To make it you need 4 cups of beach strawberries (Fragaria chiloensis), ½ - 1 cup of water, and sugar. You simply boil the berries, mash them, add sugar, and then add them to jars. Overall, the possibilities of how to consume beach strawberries is endless as there are many recipes that could be made with them, or they can simply be eaten fresh.
Benefits To Humans
Some of the health benefits were mentioned already such as Indigenous Peoples using Fragaria chiloensis to regulate women's menstrual cycles and a poultice of the chewed leaves being used to treat a burn wound (TPD, 2022). This plant is very useful since every part of it has a use. The leaves, roots, and runners have been used to treat many different types of diseases they could have faced and the root was specifically used to clean people's teeth by chewing on it (Grieve, 2010).
Modern Contribution
The modern strawberry that we know and love now is a cross between Fragaria chiloensis and Fragaria virginiana that was accidently crossed in a Royal Botanical Garden in France that is known as the commercial strawberry, Fragaria x ananassa (Gunduz, 2016). Like mentioned earlier on when the Fragaria chiloensis was brought back from Chile only female flowers were brought back so they thought they were useless (Britannica, 2022). But then Fragaria virginiana was sent to France and they later found out that the two could be used to make a cross that is now the biggest commercial type of strawberry, Fragaria x ananassa (Britannica, 2022).
References
1.City of Toronto. (2017, June 21). National Aboriginal Day. Retrieved from https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/96d4-A170444_NAD_Brochure_final_web.pdf
2.Darrow, G. M. (1966). The strawberry: History, breeding, and physiology
3.Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Northwest Coast Indians . Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved November 16, 2022, from https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Northwest-Coast-Indians/480466
4.Finn, C. E., Retamales, J. B., Lobos, G. A., & Hancock, J. F. (2013). The Chilean Strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis): Over 1000 Years of Domestication. HortScience, 48(4), 418–421. https://doi:10.21273/hortsci.48.4.418
5.Fragaria chiloensis. Fragaria chiloensis - Useful temperate plants. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2022, from https://temperate.theferns.info/plant/Fragaria+chiloensis
6.Giannetta , J. (2011, September). Food - Wild Fruit. First Nations peoples and wild fruit. Retrieved November 16, 2022, from http://www.saskschoolsinfo.com/firstnations/fruit1.html
7.Grubinger, V. (2010). History of the strawberry. Uvm.edu. Retrieved from: https://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/strawberryhistory.html
8.Gunduz, K. (2016). Fragaria chiloensis. Fragaria chiloensis - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. Retrieved November 16, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/fragaria-chiloensis
9.Harriet V.K. and Nancy J.T. (1991). Traditional plant foods of Canadian Indigenous peoples : nutrition, botany and use.
10.Smith, M. G. (2017, July 28). Strawberries native to BC. The British Columbia Food History Network. Retrieved from: https://bcfoodhistory.ca/strawberries-native-british-columbia/
11.State of Alaska . (n.d.). Alaska Natives . Retrieved November 16, 2022, from https://alaska.gov/kids/learn/nativeculture.htm
12.Sullivan, C. (2018, November 27). Wojapi recipe - native American Heritage month. Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. Retrieved November 16, 2022, from https://www.paysbig.com/blog/wojape-recipe-native-american-heritage-month