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
tth’uxtth’ux | Stinging Nettle
Stinging nettle is a perennial plant that produces tiny, greenish flowers in dense clusters. It is covered with stinging hairs that will cause an irritating rash upon contact. It grows in meadows, thickets, streambanks, open forests, and disturbed sites throughout coastal British Columbia
These irritating plants have been used to rub on the skin as a counter-irritant medicine to treat chest and shoulder pain while the roots have been used as an arthritis medicine.