Preparing food was a challenge in the days of our old ancestors. They had no stoves, no pots and pans. All cooking was done around a campfire. All utensils and cooking "pots" came from nature's storeroom. Our people made them of materials from nature, such as bark, bone and antlers. Spoons were carved from wood or made from sheep horn.

The main cooking pots before the time of non-natives was birchbark. Baskets made from this light-weight, flexible material could be sewn tightly. If the seams were sealed with a mixture of softened pitch and grease, the baskets would be waterproof. They were made in many sizes, depending upon their use. A cooking basket would be much larger than a basket for picking berries. Birchbark baskets were well-suited to our lifestyle long ago. We were always moving and everything had to be carried. The birchbark basket was light to carry, although it was bulky. If we did not want to carry it, there was more bark to make baskets along the way.

A turn-of-the-century stove

When metal pots and pans were brought to our country, they replaced birchbark because they were so much stronger. The metal pots were easier to cook with, since they could be placed directly on the fire. Baskets were easy to make, but were another time-consuming chore. Metal pots and pans reduced women's work.

Much of the plants and berries were eaten raw as they were gathered. Some were boiled. Any that was to be preserved for later use were dried. Dry food fit into our nomadic lifestyle. Dry food was light in weight. It took little space, also, because dry food loses water and becomes smaller as it dries.

Sometimes dry food was powdered by crushing it on a flat stone. The powdered dry food took even less space. It could also then be mixed with other foods. Powdered dry meat could be mixed with crushed berries and fat to make a concentrated food which is called pemmican. A small square of pemmican had enough food value to be food for a day.

Boiling meat and plants was one of the main ways of cooking long ago. A waterproof birchbark container was filled with water. Small smooth stones about the size of an orange had been scrubbed clean and put into the fire to heat them. When the rocks were hot, they were dropped into a small container of water to remove the ashes. Then the hot stones were put into the birchbark basket filled with water. When the water was boiling, meat and vegetables were added. More rocks were added as needed to keep the water hot.

Today, we are all familiar with roasting wieners over the campfire. Our people have always used this method to cook small game, ribs, birds, and fish. Pieces of smoked dried salmon are delicious when toasted over flames.

Salmon tails were prepared by being stuck on a stick and roasted by the fire. A thin stick was flattened on one side and sharpened. It was then pushed through the salmon tail along the backbone. The stick was then driven into the ground beside the campfire. The stick was turned a few times during cooking to cook all sides of the fish. Several salmon tails could be cooked on one stick at the same time.

Scotty-cooking is a method of cooking which suspends the meat over hot coals. Two forked sticks are driven into the ground on either side of the campfire. A third stick is placed between the two to form a crossbar. The meat is tied to the crossbar with a rope that is long enough to twist. The rope (or chain) is twisted. As it unwinds the meat turns so that it cooks evenly.

A thin stick with the bark removed is used to turn the meat. This stick is called a giz. One end is stuck straight into the ground. To use it, grab the end near the ground. Use the clean end to give the meat a turn. Put the same end back into the ground. This keeps the turning end clean. This type of cooking generally takes some time.

Scotty-cooking was a favourite way of cooking moosehead, beaver (whole), or any large piece of meat. If you hang bum-guts to cook on this frame, by the time the moose is gutted, they will be cooked and ready to eat.

For some foods, including root vegetables, a pit would be dug and filled with leaves. Food would be placed in the leaves, covered with more leaves. Sometimes it was wrapped in larger leaves, such as skunk cabbage leaves. A fire built on top of this food-pit cooked the food.

Partly-spoiled gopher meat was a former delicacy. Long ago gopher meat was preserved by gutting one gopher and taking the bones out of it. This was done very carefully so that the skin of the gopher made a little bag when the ends were sewn shut.

To fill the bag, other gophers were cleaned and skinned as usual. The bones were removed from the meat. The meat was stuffed into the bag until the bag was completely filled. Then the ends were sewn tightly to make the gopher-bag airtight.

The old people say that they made many of these gopher-bags of meat and stored them in their cache. They kept for many months. They said that this was "a good eat", but only if the meat was just slightly spoiled. If it was spoiled too much, the dogs ate it.

Salmon heads were used to make partly-spoiled headcheese. A small pit was dug and lined with leaves and branches. The salmon heads were placed inside and covered well with leaves. Then the earth was put back in the pit. After about four or five days, the headcheese would be ready to eat. Nowadays the heads are placed in an airtight container. It is a very smelly dish. Not everyone likes it.

Long ago, our people used to preserve fat in the form of grease. Grease is fat that has been melted. This process is called rendering fat. The old people used to boil bones and/or fat to make grease. They would skim the grease off the water when it rose to the surface. In the old days, the grease would be stored in bags made from cleaned bladders. Bladders stretch and are strong. They also have only one opening which can be tied to seal it.

Our people have always preserved food, put it up for use later. It was like putting money in the bank today, to be used when we need it later. The main way for putting up food for later use was by drying it.

Meat, fish, plants and berries were all dried. Meat was sliced very think and then hung on a frame over a smudge (to keep insects away). Plants were hung upside down. Some plants must be dried out of the sun, but some could be dried sun dried. Berries were spread on a blanket and turned often to dry them evenly. Salmon required much more work to dry, since drying salmon took several weeks and so many were dried at one time. Special smoke houses were built to smoke the fish. [See Houses for details on how to build a smoke house.]

Late in the fall, when salmon were still swimming in upper parts of rivers, they were caught and frozen. Our people built wooden cribs (four-walled boxes of saplings). They then caught salmon and threw them into the crib. The fish froze whole. Another way to freeze salmon late in the year was to put the fish into small pools of water. When the water froze, the salmon were preserved.

Today we have cook stoves, microwave ovens, electric appliances, and barbecues to use in preparing our food. We use metal, wood, or plastic spoons, flippers, beaters, and a number of different utensils for cooking. Even when we go camping and cook over a fire, we have many pots and pans to use. Our cooking methods for campfire cooking are variations of the way the old people used to cook.

Our ancestors had a healthy diet. Their food was natural, with no preservatives or additives. They prepared everything that they ate. Nowadays we do not prepare everything we eat. Many (most?) of us even buy bread, rather than baking our own. Some of our people say that modern foods, like chips and pop, are not good for our children. Some believe that we should be taking control of our own food again. They say that if we would grow our own vegetables and cook our own food, that our children would be healthier.