Wapato and camas

[Theresa Kishkan]

Wapato (Sagittaria latifolia), a member of the water-plantain family, is
mentioned in lots of places as a main food source among the Northwest
peoples. In the book you mention, Mike, Food Plants of Coastal First
Peoples, by Nancy Turner,  wapato is also cited as a major article of
commerce among the Chinook of the lower Columbia. Henry Zenk (whom I believe
is on this list!) describes its use in his contribution, on the Kalapuyans,
to the Handbook on North American Indians. Lots of reference in the Handbook
to camas as a major food source and lots of descriptions of preparation,
from roasting to steaming to stone-boiling.....
Theresa Kishkan
RR1 Site 20 C11
Madeira Park, B.C.
V0N 2H0
(604)883-2377
Red Laredo Boots (1996); Sisters of Grass (2000)

"This is the old west where a secret cove with an old house
  is called history, a raven cackling on a limb, mythology."
                                            --Charles Lillard