pun’hwe’num’ – is the term we use in Stz’uminus for the month of May. This is named for speenhw “blue camas” [Camassia leichtlinii (Baker) S. Wats. and/or C. quamash (Pursh) Green. Some Elders say tum’peenhw – tum’ – time of camas, or tum’pe’un’hw – time of getting camus. This was an important starch food for our people. It was gathered from island bluffs and high fields and baked, steamed or roasted. It has a sweet taste similar to marshmallows. There were strict rules about who could harvest where and when. And our ladies tended the camas plots to make sure that they thrived. The dried camas would be put away in the winter box and used in soups during the winter time, along with wild onions, and wapato.
Roxanne Seymour from shtsum’inus on camas
Featured Plant
tushnets | Saskatoon Berry
Saskatoon berry plants range in size from small shrubs to small trees that produce large, white, showy blossoms. Saskatoon berries are purple to nearly black fruits that are edible and sweet. They are widely distributed in coastal British Columbia, including all of Vancouver Island.