Sustained by First Nations: European newcomers' use of Indigenous plant foods in temperate North America

Abstract

Indigenous Peoples of North America have collectively used approximately 1800 different native species of plants, algae, lichens and fungi as food. When European explorers, traders and settlers arrived on the continent, these native foods, often identified and offered by Indigenous hosts, gave them sustenance and in some cases saved them from starvation. Over the years, some of these species – particularly various types of berries, such as blueberries and cranberries (Vaccinium spp.), wild raspberries and blackberries (Rubus spp.), and wild strawberries (Fragaria spp.), and various types of nuts (Corylus spp., Carya spp., Juglans spp., Pinus spp.), along with wild-rice (Zizania spp.) and maple syrup (from Acer saccharum) – became more widely adopted and remain in use to the present day. Some of these and some other species were used in plant breeding programs, as germplasm for hybridization programs, or to strengthen a crop's resistance to disease. At the same time, many nutritious Indigenous foods fell out of use among Indigenous Peoples themselves, and along with their lessened use came a loss of associated knowledge and cultural identity. Today, for a variety of reasons, from improving people's health and regaining their cultural heritage, to enhancing dietary diversity and enjoyment of diverse foods, some of the species that have dwindled in their use have been “rediscovered” by Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples, and indications are that their benefits to humanity will continue into the future.

Keywords

• ethnobotany
• wild food plants
• North America
• European settlers
• edible wild plants