Band—Is a group of Indians who originate from a specific reserve.
	Cattail (Typha latifola)—The cattail plant grows in slow-moving or still water. The grass-like leaves are long, flat and slender. The flower of the cattail is a tall stalk with a velvety brown “sausage” at the top. This “sausage” can be broken up for pillows and insulation. The young stalk is peeled and eaten fresh or boiled in soups and stews. The roots are edible. The long blade-like leaves can be woven into mats.
	Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)—Chokecherries taste best in later autumn. The berries are a wine colour when they are ripe. The taste is a combination of sweet and bitter and they have a pit about 1/3 the size of the berry. The chokecherry shrub is about 1.5 metres to 3.5 metres in height. Chokecherries are picked and eaten fresh, or they are pounded into cakes, dried and then stored.
	Cow Parsnip (Celery Family) (Heracleum lanatum)—Cow parsnip is used as a green vegetable and is harvested during spring. Despite the plant’s strong odour, the peeled stems are sweet and succulent, having a flavour reminiscent of celery and a texture like that of rhubarb. Use caution with the celery family including water hemlock and poison hemlock as these plants are not edible and could be mistaken for cow parsnip. These poisonous plants are more slender with smaller flowers and finely divided leaves.
	Elders—Men, women, and even children who have the most distinguishing characteristic of wisdom which relates directly to age. Elders serve as advisors in the Indian communities.
	Ethnobotany—The study of plants and their relationship with people.
	Gooseberry, Black/Wild (Ribes lacustre)—Gooseberries are picked, eaten fresh, or made into jams and pies. These berries are picked in the summer and dried for use in the winter. They are bitter when green, but very sweet when ripe. When they are over ripe, they are red in colour.
	Horsetail, Common (Equisetum arvense)—Common horsetail is one of the most widespread plants in the world and is often found growing in areas that have been disturbed. The Ktunaxa use the common horsetail as a scrubber and as a polisher.
	Horsetail, Scouring Rush (Indian Sandpaper) (Equisetum hyemale)—Scouring rush horsetail is used as a sandpaper substitute in craft work and for sharpening bone tools as well as for smoothing and finishing bows and arrows. The hollow and leafless green stems of this plant are two to three feet tall. They are jointed and ribbed and very tough to touch. The Horsetail bares no true flowers. It reproduces by spores located in cones at the tip of separate, whitish reproductive shoots.
	Huckleberry (Vaccinium family)—The huckleberry can be harvested from July to September (depending on elevation). The huckleberry grows in cool mountains where it has a lot of moisture to thrive on. Huckleberries are dark purple to almost black in colour when they are ripe. They are eaten fresh or with milk and sugar. Huckleberries are made into jams, pies and fruit salads. Huckleberries can also be frozen for future enjoyment or dried and stored for winter.
	Ktunaxa—The tribe of people native to the southeast corner of British Columbia, northwest Montana, and northeast Idaho. Also known as the Kootenay Indians.
	Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum)—The nodding onion may be identified by its onion odour, grass-like leaves and small pink flowers that are clustered in an umbrella-like head. It is a popular food that is harvested from May to July, but is better if it is picked before flowering. The nodding onion can be eaten raw and bundled then steam-cooked in underground pits. After it is cooked in the pits with other foods, it becomes sweet in taste.
	Nootka Rose (Rosa nutkana)—Rose hips are well known for their high vitamin C content. Rose hips ripen in late summer but often remain on the bushes long after ripening. They can also be gathered frozen from the bushes in mid-winter. People make rose hip tea, jellies and even wine.
	Oregon Grape (Berberis nervosa)—Oregon grapes grow on low shrubs with leathery, holly-like leaves with bright yellow flowers. The round, deep-blue berries grow in clusters and have a greyish, waxy coating. The berries are gathered in mid-August when they are fully ripe. The tart taste of the Oregon grape is best suited for jams.
	Pine Grass (Calamagrostis rubescens)—This course grass is used fresh to whip soapberry and as a lining in pit cooking ovens. They are also spread out on the ground and berry juice is squeezed over the grass and left to dry in the sun. It is a common, yellow-green grass and grows abundantly at low to mid elevations in dry coniferous forests and clearings. Pine grass rarely forms a head except in open, sunny areas.
	Pit Cooking—A pit is dug in the ground and then a fire is built in the pit. Rocks are placed in the fire and when they become red hot, a thin layer of soil is placed on the hot rocks, alternating layers of branches, needles, or bark and the plant material to be cooked. The food is left for several hours or overnight.
	Raspberry (Rubus idaeus)—Raspberries are eaten fresh and are commonly mashed and dried in cakes for winter storage. You can find them in sunny locations such as stream banks, open woods, clearings and talus slopes.
	Regalia—Is traditional clothing worn by the Ktunaxa. Today this clothing is mainly worn for dances such as Powwows.
	Reserve—Is land set aside by the Government of Canada for use by Indian Bands. These lands are owned by the Government.
	Saskatoon Berry (Amelanchier alnifolia)—Saskatoon berries grow on shrubs that are 0.5 metres to 3 metres in height. When the berries are ripe, they are deep purple in colour and have small seeds inside. The berries are dried and pounded into cakes. They are sweet and are eaten fresh or as a dessert. The plant grows in dry, hot areas at a wide range of elevations.
	Soapberry(Soopallalie) (Shepherdia canadensis)—The berries contain saponin, a chemical similar to soap which, when whipped, turns into a frothy substance called Indian Ice Cream. The berries are very rich in iron and are eaten fresh, dried for later use, or boiled into a syrup to drink as a beverage.
	Spring Beauty (Claytonia lanceolata)—Spring beauty has small potato-like corms. This small, delicate herb has white flowers that appear after the snow melts. These potatoes are dug during May and June. They can be eaten raw.
	Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)—They are well liked and ripen in May, June and July, depending on their elevation. They are eaten fresh. Although the berries are delicious and sought after, they are generally too small and too sporadic to be picked in quantity. The wild strawberry is a low-growing perennial plant that sends out trailing runners as a means of reproduction.
	Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)—People consider thimbleberries superior in flavour to wild raspberries and wild strawberries. However, being soft and juicy, they are difficult to pick and, therefore, are seldom gathered in large enough quantities to be dried for winter storage.
	Tule (Scirpus lacustris)—The tall, round stems that are pulpy but tough are usually harvested at the peaks of maturity in late summer and early fall. Tule mats are light with a good insulating capacity because of their pithy centre. When it rains, the shoots swell, forming a water-tight seal. Tule mats are sometimes used in place of buckskin hides to cover the tipis. Animals, such as muskrats, use tule as coverings for their dens.
	Watercress (Rorippa nasturtiom aquaticum)—An introduced plant used by the Ktunaxa/Kinbasket people, it is a good source of greens. The watercress has a spicy, hot quality that makes it ideal for flavouring stews and soups.
	Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)—Yarrow is a very useful medicinal plant. It stops the bleeding from wounds and cuts, it is used as a poultice on burns and open sores. Yarrow can also cure fevers and colds, and alleviate toothaches. The leaves are crushed, either by chewing them or by mashing them in water and then wrapped around the wound. It is also believed that it acts and promotes rapid healing.
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