Document Type

Other

Publication Date

1-1-2007

Keywords

chokecherries, drying process, native american food tradition

Extension Number

ExEx 14104

Department

Consumer Sciences

Description

Fresh chokecherries have a bitter and astringent taste; when dried the taste becomes sweeter. Native Americans preserved chokecherries for use in traditional foods such as pemmican (also known as wasna) and wojapi (chokecherry pudding). Pemmican is ground dried meat mixed with tallow and dried, crushed chokecherries. The mixture is shaped into small patties or squares and allowed to harden. Tribes used pemmican during a move to new hunting grounds; it was light weight, easy to carry, and a good source of protein for energy.

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