Rosaceae Prunus virginiana var. demissa (Nutt.) Torr.

Western Chokecherry

Montana Indian - Food, Staple

Use documented by:
Blankinship, J. W., 1905, Native Economic Plants of Montana, Bozeman. Montana Agricultural College Experimental Station, Bulletin 56, page 19

View all documented uses for Prunus virginiana var. demissa (Nutt.) Torr.

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Scientific name: Prunus virginiana var. demissa (Nutt.) Torr.
USDA symbol: PRVID (View details at USDA PLANTS site)
Common names: Western Chokecherry
Family: Rosaceae
Family (APG): Rosaceae
Native American Tribe: Montana Indian
Use category: Food
Use sub-category: Staple
Notes: Fruit used as an important ingredient in the preparation of 'pemmican.' Pemmican was made by the Sioux and other tribes by mixing certain berries, such as the buffalo berry, the choke cherry and the sarvice berry with the fat of the buffalo, pounding up the whole which was then packed away in skins. Sometimes jerked buffalo was put into an oven to render it brittle, beaten up on a skin with these berries, some marrow fat being added to give consistency, and finally packed in skin bags. This was a regular article of commerce and highly prized by the old trappers and hunters for its portability as a condensed food and for its keeping qualities. Later the flesh and tallow of the ox was substituted for that of the buffalo and is still used to some extent.

RECRD: 10191 id: 30918

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