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
q’umun’ulhp | Bigleaf Maple
This species has the largest leaves of any maple, hence the common name (and the scientific specific epithet macrophyllum, which means big leaf). It is a large, often multi-stemmed, deciduous tree, which may reach a height of 35 m (115 ft). The greenish-yellow flowers, which are borne in large, hanging clusters, mature to produce winged fruits (samaras) that are disseminated by wind. This tree occurs on dry to moist sites, at low to middle elevations from southwestern British Columbia to southern California. It occurs throughout the Hul’q’umi’num’ territory.
Bigleaf maple wood has been used for paddles, bowls, spoons, utensils, for carving and to smoke fish. The “sap” (cambium), removed from the layer between the bark and the wood, is a traditional food. The winged fruits, which fly through the air like a whirlybird, were used as a lure for fishing lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) and “red snapper” (or yelloweye rockfish, Sebastes ruberrimus). The large leaves were used as an undermat for drying some edible fruits and roots.Used for willow baskets. The rangy ones at higher altitudes are used for paddles.