Red Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.) “aˈgîmak” [snow-shoe wood]. The cambium layer of the ash is scraped down in long, fluffy layers and cooked. It is called “sagîmaˈ kwûn”, which incorporates the name of the ash with “wûn” or eggs. They say it tastes like eggs. Many other trees are given the same sort of treatment for food purposes.
PINACEAE (PINE FAMILY)
White Pine (Pinus strobus L.), “jîngwaˈ k”. In the spring the Ojibwe use the young staminate catkins of the pine to cook for food. It is stewed with meat. One might think this would taste rather like pitch, but they assured the writer that it was sweet and had no pitchy flavor.
Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis [L.] Carr.), “gagagiˈ wîc”. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the leaves of Hemlock to make a beverage tea. This sort of tea is oftentimes used by the Indian Medicine man to carry his medicaments and disguise the fact that the patient is taking medicine.
POLYPODIACEAE (FERN FAMILY)
Brake (Pteris aquilina L.), “ana ˈganûck” [general fern name]. The Flambeau Ojibwe are fond of young fern sprouts as a soup material. The young fern tips, with coiled fronds, are about like asparagus tips, only not stringy with fibrovascular bundles like asparagus. The tips are thrown into hot water for an hour to rid them of ants, then put into soup stock and thickened with flour. The flavor resembles wild rice. Hunters are very careful to live wholly upon this when stalking does in the spring. The doe feeds upon the fronds and the hunter does also, so that his breath does not betray his presence. He claims to be able to approach within twenty feet without disturbing the deer, from which distance he can easily make a fatal shot with his bow and arrow. After killing the deer, the hunter will eat whatever strikes his fancy.
RANUNCULACEAE (CROWFOOT FAMILY)
Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris L.), “o ˈgîteˈ bûg”. The Flambeau Ojibwe use the leaves as a green to cook with pork in the springtime.
ROSACEAE (ROSE FAMILY)
Smooth Juneberry (Amelanchier laevis Wiegand), “gozîgagoˈ mînûn” [thorny berry]. According to John Whitefeather, Flambeau Ojibwe, this is the name of the Juneberry, while Charley Burns on the same reservation called it “bîsegaˈ gwomîn”. Both knew it only as a food, although some tribes use the bark as a medicine. Juneberries were also dried for winter use, the Indians often preferring them to blueberries. The Pillager Ojibwe also use them as a food and use the bark as a medicine.