Traditional Porphyra practises (Part 1)

Welcome back! As mentioned yesterday, there were many First Nations that harvested Porphyra. The Hanaksiala, Haisla, Kitasoo, Oweekeno, Tsimshian, Pomo, Kashaya, Tolowa, Yurok, Hesquiat, Nuxalk, and the Kwakwaka’wakw are among the many who are known to have used it (Moerman, 1998). The presence of Porphyra nearby did not guarantee that it would be eaten; some coastal Nations, such as the Ditidaht and the Makah, did not historically harvest or eat Porphyra (Turner, 2003). The number of harvests in a season could vary between Nations, with some like the Gitga’at and the Saanich (Straits Salish) harvesting Porphyra twice over the course of a year (Turner, 2003; Williams, 1979).

Porphyra abbottiae is the most commonly eaten species of the local Porphyra and may be considered by many to have the best-tasting flavour (Turner, 2003). Identification is very important, as there are other seaweeds that occupy the same ecological zone in the intertidal or are look very similar to P. abbottiae. These other seaweeds are different in texture and flavour, possibly even indigestible. Once of these seaweeds is one that Helen Clifton of the Gitga’at described as ‘seal seaweed’, which may be a species of algae in the genus Iridaea (Turner, 2003). This seaweed can grow where P. abbottiae is found and should not be picked.

Knowing when to pick the seaweed is not guesswork.The conditions for harvesting seaweed must be ideal. If conditions are not good, the harvester risks having his or her seaweed spoil, or risks their own life in unsafe conditions. Harvesting usually takes place in the month of May (Turner, 2003; Turner, 1975), when the Porphyra fronds are young and short (usually up to about 30 cm). Further north up the British Columbia coastline, some species of Porphyra are harvested from early spring up to July (Turner, 2003). The water should be at the low-tide line, and the Tlingit & the Gitga'at specify that to start in the morning will be the best for drying the seaweed (Garibaldi and Turner, 2004; Curtis, 1915). The Gitga’at and the Kwakwaka’wakw say that seaweed should never be picked when it is raining. It is also forbidden to harvest laver that is below the water-line or is floating in the water (it is said that it will start to rain if you do so; Garibaldi and Turner, 2004). Garibaldi and Turner (2004) call these a temporal taboo and habitat taboo, respectively. The first taboo applies only to the time when it is raining (when harvesting is restricted only to the exposed, intertidal habitat) while with the second taboo (the habitat taboo) harvesting is restricted only to the exposed, intertidal habitat. These are very practical taboos, because harvesting on slippery rocks when it is raining greatly increases the risk of injury or possibly death by drowning. A taboo passed down to each generation helps protect the new, inexperienced harvesters from accidents not witnessed in the community’s collective living memory, but that had occurred perhaps centuries earlier.

Depending on the timing of the tides, some of the Porphyra will dry directly onto the rocks where it is growing. If the seaweed has dried on the rocks where it is growing, the harvester would peel it off. If the laver is still wet, the harvester would pluck it off the rock (Boas, 1921). The seaweed has to be dried soon after it is picked or it will rot. By picking Porphyra that was already dry, the job of making it ready to eat was a bit easier. Seaweed that was already dry was less likely to go bad should bad weather suddenly arrived for several days (but it is important to keep that seaweed dry! But, with everything there are a few small exceptions. We'll look at one technique that involves fermenting Porphyra before drying it). In the past, harvesters used big cedar baskets to carry the seaweed. When the basket was full it was emptied into the canoe (Boas, 1921). The harvester returned home when the canoe was full or the weather turned to rain.

References

Boas, F. 1921. Ethnology of the Kwakiutl: based on data collected by George Hunt. Government Printing Office: Washington, D.C.
Garibaldi, A. and Turner, N. 2004, Cultural Keystone Species: Implications for Ecological Conservation and Restoration. Ecology and Society, 9: 1 [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol9/iss3/art1
Moerman, D. E. 1998. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press: Portland, Oregon. Pp. 433.
Turner, N. J. 1975. Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples. Royal British Columbia Museum. UBC Press: Vancouver. Pp. 21-22.
Turner, N. J. 2003. The Ethnobotany of Edible Seaweed (Porphyra abbottae and Related Species; Rhodophyta: Bangiales) and its Use by First Nations on the Pacific Coast of Canada. Canadian Journal of Botany, 81: 283-293.
Williams, M. D. 1979. The harvesting of “sluckus” (Porphyra perforata) by the Straits Salish Indians of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Syesis, 12: 63-69.