SUSTAINABILITY

NATIVE AMERICAN TRADITIONS 

 

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Running Squirrel is a native Cherokee who carries tribal knowledge passed down from his ancestors.  Foraging helps connect him to these lost traditions, to sustainable lessons first learned in his childhood.

Sustainability

near Dougan Falls
Skamania County, WA
29 September 2010

SUSTAINABILITY

Respect Mother Earth. Respect the land. Learn from the animals. When foraging always leave something behind for whoever comes next. In this way you’re sure to find something when you come back.

OTHER RELATED TERMS

FOOD SECURITY
“Having consistent year round access to safe, local, affordable and culturally appropriate food that is grown, raised, produced and moved about in manners that are responsible to the environment while reflecting a consumption of natural resources that is equitable with a view to our offspring seven generations from now.” – Erika Allen
 
EATING IN SEASON
Wild edibles grow everywhere. You need to be aware of what’s around you. When you spend time outside, see how things change throughout the year.
 
WILD HARVEST
The foraging of foods which grow in the wild without cultivation or human assistance.
 
FORAGING
“Professional foragers travel between Alaska, the Yukon, British Columbia, Saskatehewan, Washington, Oregon, Colorado and California. Foraging is fun, adventurous, healthy, rewarding and romantic…it’s an activity that connects you viscerally to nature, it requires respect yet imparts knowledge.” -Tyler Gray

 

ADDITIONAL TEXT TAKEN FROM THE PHOTOGRAPH

“If only the top three leaves are taken, a plant will regrow. If cut off at the ground, it dies. Most people, they want the whole plant.”

WHEN THE INDIANS CAME UPON A NEW LAND AND DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO EAT, THEY ASKED MOTHER EARTH FOR GUIDANCE. Her answer was to eat what the animals eat: elk eat ferns, skunk cabbage and licorice root. Deer search for miners lettuce and wood sorrel. Rabbits like licorice root. Running Squirrel mixes it all together for his famous WILD SALAD: lemon balm, mustard and wood sorrel (for a “dry taste”) + miners lettuce, wood violets and chick weed (for “moistness”).

ABOUT RUNNING SQUIRREL
Running Squirrel’s parents arrived to Chinook country when he was about 10 years old. His father had a little farm in Oregon and they always traded with other Indians, mostly for fish. His mother was the one who showed him how to forage, which he still does to this day.

ADDITIONAL WEBSITES OF INTEREST

Mikuni Wild Harvest

Forage SF

Forage LA

site by Lyra Designs

Farm Fairies

As speculators keep driving the price of available farmland higher, new farmers like Kasey and Jeff from Lonesome Whistle Farm in Eugene, Oregon are priced out of the market. Socially responsible "slow money" investors help small farmers buy farmland ... keeping food local and affordable.