Pit-cooking
Pit-cooking (qwlem) is one form of cooking plants and meat that the Secwepemc people performed on almost a daily basis. Some of the foods cooked in the pits were roots, bulbs, tubers, rhizomes, other plants and various wild game meats. A pit was roughly one meter by one meter in size. Depending on the quantity of food to be cooked, the pit could be larger or smaller. Red willow sticks and grass would have to be gathered to fill the pit. When the pit was dug, a fire was built inside the pit to dry the damp soil. This allowed the pit to act like a ceramic pot and keep the heat in while cooking. A separate fire was built to heat the cooking rocks.
When
the cooking rocks were ready, the ashes in the pit would be cleaned out.
The cooking rocks would be placed into the bottom of the pit with Y-shaped
sticks. A stick about two inches in diameter is placed vertically on the
rocks. A layer of wet grass is then placed on top of the rocks and a layer
of red willow is placed on top of it. The food is placed on top of the
red willow and the process is repeated. This process is repeated until
the pit is full. After the pit is filled, the vertical stick is carefully
removed. About a quart of water is poured down the hole onto the hot rocks
below. Steam is produced and the hole is plugged with more soil to stop
the steam from escaping. Another fire is built on top of the pit to help
cook the food and left over might. The next day, the Secwepemc people enjoy
the well-cooked food.
Most cooking pits were located near pithouse villages but some were found where there were large quantities of food.