The Ozette Prairies of Olympic National Park - Natural Resources ...

old graveyard near where the old (Mr. Wesley Smith) school house used to be at LaPush. The writer has
seen it in the upland regions. At Forks Prairie it grows as high as a horse. The burning of this fern year
by year was what kept up these prairies and extended their area. The Indians burned the prairies over
for the purpose of clearing out the area so they could shoot deer and elk when they came to feed on the
young sprouts. The prairies, about ten in number, probably were started as camping sites, which were
gradually extended by the annual burnings. They also dug the roots of these ferns and pounded them
into a pulp, which they dried. This they made into a sort of dough when it was needed and baked it into
a blackish bread, which they claim was good eating. Unluckily, the writer appeared too late on the scene
to see any of this fern paste bread.
[p. 204] Scouring rush. The Indians of the coast dig the rootstocks of this rush and eat them. They have
a sweetish, not bad taste and are considered a great delicacy by them. They also dry them for future
use. They also gather them to be eaten during several of their medicine ceremonies as they are said to be
“good medicine.”
Selaginella oregano. It might also not be out of place to mention that the fern is the weed of the region
and in the prairie sections is one of the hardest weed pests to get rid of. It is about an equal of the Canadian
and Russian thistles. The bracken fern is the harder fern to eradicate. At Quillayute Prairie ferns
have taken whole farms.
[p. 211] Skunk cabbage. A plant resembling a cabbage somewhat; but with larger leaves and no “head.”...
In the spring the bear feeds on this plant. The Indians also use its leaves. When roasting the cammas
(La cammas, as the Indians call it), they cover the cammas heap, which they have collected with layers
of leaves of this plant. This they cover with a light layer of dirt and then over all they pile considerable
wood. This they ignite and keep burning till the cammas is cooked beneath it. Sometimes a pit is used
for this baking process. The natives say that the cabbage leaves give a good flavor to the cammas fruit;
but a white man would hardly think so. The natives also wrap red elderberies in leaves of this cabbage
when preparing them by the native baking process. They also wrap fruits, usually cooked fruits, in the
leaves of this plant and then bury the whole in the muck of some swampy region. This was their way of
“canning” fruit. The old people told the writer that it would “keep.”
[p. 212] Camas. Called by the Indians la camas, pronounced as one word with the accent on the first
syllable. Common wherever there is an open area, most abundant in the “prairies,” especially Quillayute
Prairie. Scilla fraseri is also another plant from which the Indians use the bulb roots and call “Lacamas,”
as has been previously mentioned. The bulbs are very similar to those of the Quamasia and are prepared
in the same way. The Indians have many myths about this plant.
141