Rocky shoreline

Twenty-five years ago, as a kid at camp, I was enchanted by the notion that our backwoods could provide real sustenance. We chewed on Vitamin Crich rosehips, guzzled Labrador tea (with mixed results — overly enthusiastic, we drank too much and paid repeated visits to the outhouse).

Though Canadian Shield country is not as rich in wild food as more tropical climes, people have been living up here for thousands of years. Caribou, other game, and fish were the foundation of their diet, but these were necessarily supplemented by berries, roots, bulbs, and shoots.

So there's no need for the visitor to exist entirely on dried foods and fish. Blueberries, raspberries, and saskatoons grow in profusion — though this largesse must be shared with the resident bears, so be sure to announce your presence when gathering berries. Wild chives can add some zing to fresh-caught trout. Young tender fireweed can be cooked and eaten like other greens; they're high in vitamins A and C. Abundant members of the aster family, like dandelion and sow thistle, can be eaten raw in salads or cooked as a vegetable, while the roots of the Canada thistle, though not very tasty, make a meal in a pinch.

Perhaps more important, the people who have lived here for thousands of years have gathered intimate knowledge of the medicinal properties of the region's plants. The Chipewyan boiled fireweed for a worm-medicine; the Woods Cree chewed the inner root to make a poultice to draw out infection from abscesses and other wounds. Delicate but hardy bluebells grow in the most unlikely places, and have been used to make medicinal teas for flus and fever, while dried chopped roots were used to help heal cuts and wounds. One-flowered wintergreen contains vitamin C; the seeds & capsules are edible raw or roasted, and they're used in a tea for colds, sore throats, and upset stomachs.