Huckleberry Picking

• Other Authors: G.F. MacDonald Collection
• Format: Still Image
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1972
• Subjects: Tsimshian > Gitxsan > Kitwankul > Kitwancool > Basket >; Tsimshian > Gitxsan > Gitanyow > Kitwankul > Kitwancool > Basket >; Gitanyow; Tsimshian; Tsimshian*
• Online Access: https://digital.lib.sfu.ca/billreid-960/huckleberry-picking

The Gitxsan name for huckleberries is sim maa'y, meaning "the real, the true berry". They are the favoured berry for drying as they retain their flavour well, and are easy to roll when dry. These scenes of food gathering and processing were initiated in order to record some of the traditional food practices among the Gitxsan and to fill some of the gaps left by earlier anthropologist and cultural observers. The objective was to create colour images of practices that were partially captured in earlier black and white photographs and in early texts such as those written by Marius Barbeau and William Beynon. The Book Builders of 'Ksan produced a volume on these collecting and processing practices titled Gathering what the Great Nature provided: food traditions of the Gitksan, by the people of 'Ksan.