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Show ( scoparium) amid conifer cover and the grouse whortleberry ( scoparium) amid deciduous- conifer cover. The bog blueberry ( occidentale) is not noted for the wet meadows areas, nor is the low bilberry ( myrtillus) identified in the conifer cover by ECOTONE. Two consultants identified the regions around the mountain lakes as good locations for blueberries especially above Uintah and Whiterocks canyons ( 3.1; 4.1). The most accessible are gathering areas along Farm Creek Road to Pole Creek Lake and Chepeta Lake ( 4.4). While not identifying any specific sites, one consultant reported that they not only grew in the Uinta and Whiterocks canyons but any place where it is wet or dry, including warmer locations on the reservation ( 2.1). None of the consultants distinguished between varieties of blueberries or separated blueberries from elderberries. A difficulty with making distinctions in verbal descriptions from our interviews and other ethnographic sources is that both the elderberry and blueberry have fruits which are blue to red, the main difference being that the seed of the elderberry is hard and at the center of the fruit, while blueberries do not have a noticeable seed in the fruit ( Goodrich and Neese 1986: 104, 138- 9). Ute Food Uses: M. Harris ( Oral History, American West Center, 1969) mentioned eating blue grapes, which could be either the elderberry or blueberry depending on the seed. Janetski ( 1983: 65- 6) listed blackberries as one of the berries used by the Utes. These berries are still picked, dried, and boiled for food consumption by some people on the reservation ( 1.1; 1.4; 2.1; 3.1). Smith ( 1974a: 269) described / puwu= pi/ as a berry mashed, dried in the sun and stored for winter use. Uses by Neighboring Great Basin Populations: The Gosiute apparently dried the leaves of the blueberry and used them as a tobacco ( Chamberlin 1911: 384). Fowler ( 1986: 73) reports that the Oregon Northern Paiute also ate the fruit of the blueberry. A,. 1.2.... jSilver.. buffaloberry ( Shepherdia argentea, Elaeagnaceae): The Ute name is " a cup" ( 1.4), / nika= pi/ ( Smith 1974a: 269). Reported Locations: Found in the Uinta Basin, it is common in ditches, washes, drainages, fencelines, along rivers, bottomlands, and among aspen, cottonwood, spruce, willow, dogwood, rose, and pine communities ( Goodrich and Neese 1986: 136). ECOTONE ( 1995: A- 4, A- 8, A- 12, A- 22, A- 33) lists the argentea and the canadensis ( russet buffaloberry) varieties as found on the Uintah- Ouray Reservation. Indeed, Warren Ferris ( 1983: 342) described the abundance of these berries in 1834 when he traveled along the Uinta to the Green River. One Ute consultant ( 2.1) said, " they're everywhere, they don't care where they grow." However, two consultants ( 1.1; 4.1) noted that while buffaloberries are ubiquitous, their quality varies widely. As a 35 |
