Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
Gitxsan name: t'imii'yt
Wet'suwet'en name: din'ïh
Botanical Description
- trailing evergreen shrub, brownish red bark
- oval to spoon-shaped leaves, leathery, dark green, shiny
- small, pinkish white flowers, urn-shaped, drooping
- bright red berries like miniature apples; edible, mealy, tasteless pulp
- found in sandy and well-drained exposed sites, rocky slopes
- low elevations to alpine tundra
Photo courtesy of Frank Boas (48kB)
Ethnobotanical Description
The berries were gathered in the fall or sometimes even in the dead of
winter. They were fried in oil or boiled in soups with meat or fish. The leaves were made
into a tea and used by the Gitxsan as a beverage, tonic and diuretic and also as
part of a mixture for sacred ceremonies.
This digital collection was produced under contract to the SchoolNet
Digital Collection Program, Industry Canada.
Revised: 08/21/98
