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Science Botany

Food Plants of Interior First Peoples

by (author) Nancy Turner

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Aug 1997
Category
Botany
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774806060
    Publish Date
    Aug 1997
    List Price
    $27.95

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Where to buy it

Out of print

This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.

Description

For centuries, First Peoples in B.C. have harvested a variety of wild plant foods. Berries, nuts, roots, greens, mushrooms, lichen -- all were important components of their diets. They learned which plants and plant parts to eat, the best seasons for gathering them, the most efficient methods of harvesting, and the best ways to prepare them for eating and storage. In this companion book to Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples, the author describes more than 150 plant foods used by first Peoples in the interior of British Columbia and northern Washington. Originally published in 1978, this new edition is expanded and updated.

About the author

Nancy Turner is an ethnobotanist, and Distinguished Professor Emerita, School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Canada. She has worked with First Nations elders and cultural specialists in northwestern North America for over 50 years, helping to document, retain and promote their traditional knowledge of plants and environments, including Indigenous foods, materials and traditional medicines. Her two-volume book, Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge (July, 2014; McGill-Queen’s University Press), integrates her long term research. She has authored or co-authored/co-edited 30 other books, including: Plants of Haida Gwaii; The Earth’s Blanket; “Keeping it Living” (with Doug Deur); Saanich Ethnobotany (with Richard Hebda), and Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples, and over 150 book chapters and papers. Her latest edited book is Plants, People and Places: the Roles of Ethnobotany and Ethnoecology in Indigenous Peoples’ Land Rights in Canada and Beyond (2020). She has received a number of awards for her work, including membership in Order of British Columbia (1999) and the Order of Canada (2009), honorary degrees from University of British Columbia, University of Northern British Columbia and Vancouver Island and Simon Fraser Universities.

Nancy Turner's profile page

Editorial Reviews

The book is attractive, accessible and scholarly. If you’re interested in this area, the book is a basic requirement.

Alberta Sweetgrass

At last, this little treasure of a book is back in print. A must-have reference for anyone interested in wild edible plants and the traditional cultures of B.C.’s coastal First Peoples.

Beautiful British Columbia Traveller

Newly revised and updated, this edition contains many colour photos and has a convenient water-resistant cover which makes it appropriate for field use. An invaluable aid.

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