Top Ten Best First Nations Foods - Part 1

In my opinion, one of the greatest impacts that America’s First Nations have had on the world was through their crop breeding. Unfortunately, most people don’t know much about food history and sadly the contributions of First Nations to world cuisine are often taken for granted. But First Nations crop plants have provided us with many of the most widely eaten and nutritious foods in existence (as well as some of the tastiest). So here is part one of my list of the top ten best foods from the Americas (in order of my own personal preference-it is my blog after all!).

8. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa)

Hailed as a super food by vegans and vegetarians for its complete protein levels, this seed has increased in popularity partly because it is a healthy, whole grain. Quinoa has been eaten by South Americans for about 7,000 years. However, Quinoa production plummeted for a time as Spanish conquistadors in South America forbade the Andean peoples from cultivating it due to its association with traditional religious ceremonies. Fortunately, some of the Andeans continued to grow quinoa because it tolerates dry, somewhat saline soils at high altitudes where other crops cannot thrive. Quinoa is everywhere now, stuffed into vegetables, pilafs, grain salads, and even breakfast cereal.

6. Peppers (Capsicum spp.)

Peppers have been giving humans a spicy thrill for over 5,000 years. Whether you like them sweet or hot, all peppers (also called capsicums or chilis) were first cultivated in central and South America. Peppers became most popular in warmer climates such as the Mediterranean and southeast Asia where they benefit from the long growing season. Rich in vitamin A and C peppers are enjoyed raw, powdered as a spice, or cooked in sauces.

Stay tuned for the final five foods coming in May!

Scientists have spent many decades arguing with each other about lichens. It’s a plant! No, it’s a fungus! No, it’s an alga. It’s a fungus parasitizing an alga. No, it’s an alga parasitizing a fungus! Nobody’s parasitizing anybody! They’re living in harmony like a bunch of hippies in a commune! I prefer to think of a lichen as an organism with an identity crisis. No wait, that’s not very flattering. Perhaps they are more like legless organism support groups. Or maybe they’re akin to exclusive nightclubs with a “no animals allowed” sign on the door.

Image: Fungi were still considered to be primitive plants when the Museum first opened.

In reality, lichens cannot be classified as anything because they are composite organisms containing species from (probably) four different kingdoms. The scientific name of the lichen is based on the name for the fungal host (Kingdom Fungi) but lichens also contains photosynthetic organisms called “photobionts”. The photobiont is usually a green alga (Kingdom Plantae) but sometimes a golden or brown alga (Kingdom Chromista) or a cyanobacteria (Kingdom Bacteria). Some lichens, like the dog lichens (Peltigera spp.), have both green algae and cyanobacteria in them (it’s the party spot of the lichen world cause the cyanobacteria mix a mean nitrogen smoothie!). Some biologists even consider lichens as “self-contained mini-ecosystems”.

You’d think with our high powered microscopes, fancy computers, and DNA analysis that we would have this classification thing all worked out. But the more things change the more they stay the same, and scientists are still arguing about how we should classify the organisms on our planet. Whatever we decide call them, there’s one thing for certain-the lichens are completely indifferent to our puzzlement over their true nature.

While proofreading a scientific journal article I recently wrote, I found myself thinking “wow, this is really boring!” Scientists always write their journal articles in technical, impartial terms so as to sound as objective as possible. That’s part of the reason why scientific conferences are so enjoyable; you often get an opportunity to find out about the real problems scientists encountered while trying to conduct their field research. That got me thinking – what if scientists wrote the blunt, honest truth about our field research experiences instead of the dry, dispassionate scientific jargon that we feel compelled to write? So for your benefit here are some of the things a scientist might write in a journal article and what it might have actually meant.

Now you might think I’m joking but some of the things I mentioned really happened either to me or someone I know. Guess which ones! So remember if you are ever reading something written by a scientist, there’s often a much more interesting story behind it than anyone will ever know.

Seven years ago I went to northern Manitoba in search of a rare water-lily with American botanist John H. Wiersema. This water-lily appeared to be a fertile hybrid between two species: Fragrant Water-lily (Nymphaea odorata) and Pygmy Water-lily (N. leibergii). The only problem was that the specimen had been observed only once way back in 1948 by renowned botanist Homer J. (no not Simpson!) Scoggan. In order to determine if the water-lily was a unique species, we needed some fresh DNA!

After a fruitless (literally and figuratively) trip in 2007, Manitoba Hydro graciously flew both John and I up north to search a small river for the elusive water-lily in July of 2008. After a long boat ride, our persistence was rewarded with the first sighting of the water-lily in 60 years. John took DNA samples to give to his research associate Dr. Thomas Borsch to do the required genetic research. The genetic work confirmed that this plant is a fertile species of hybrid origin that does not reproduce with either of the parent species. Six years later, a peer-reviewed paper describing and naming the new species as Lori’s Water-lily (Nymphaea loriana) has been published the the NRC Press journal Botany (Read more here). The water-lily was sadly named after Dr. Wiersema’s late wife.

Most people do not realize how long and laborious the procedure to scientifically describe new species is. Herbarium specimens must be studied, field work undertaken, and often genetic and biochemical laboratory work performed. This process can take years, even decades to complete as scientists usually cannot spend all of their time doing research (other stuff like tedious paperwork usually gets in the way). Even after the research is all done, a species is not officially recognized until it has been peer-reviewed and published in a scientific journal. Further, the specimens collected must now be protected and cared for in perpetuity as they are the official documentation of the species’ existence, a task that The Manitoba Museum gladly undertakes. The dried, pressed specimens were glued onto special acid-free paper, labelled, databased, and stored in a climate-controlled vault for future reference and scientific research.

Now the next phase begins: conservation. This species is endemic to Canada, meaning that it is found nowhere else in the world. My colleagues and I estimate that there are only about 750 Lori’s Water-lilies in the world, making them extremely rare. Pollution of our northern waters from agriculture and natural resource development, and changes in water levels due to climate change are potential threats to this species here and in central Saskatchewan where two other populations are found. In a soon to be submitted paper, my colleagues and I will be recommending that this new species be protected under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, due to its extreme rarity.

Get to know your wild neighbours!

Two-thirds of our crop species worldwide depend on wild pollinators to some degree! Those pollinators need more than just crop plants to survive – they need wild plants too.

Staff at the Manitoba Museum have been quietly studying pollinators for over fifteen years. The Museum’s Curator of Botany, Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson notes that “we really don’t know much about how wild plants and pollinators interact with each other or whether their populations are declining. One of the interesting things I’ve discovered during my field work is that pollinators of crop plants like canola and sunflower also need to feed on prairie wildflowers to survive.”

Unfortunately, many of the Manitoba Museum’s plant and insect specimens are difficult to display in regular gallery exhibits and can only been seen during special behind-the-scenes tours or in temporary exhibits. But now thanks to a virtual exhibit you can learn more about these amazing creatures. The exhibit is called Prairie Pollination and can be found at www.PrairiePollination.ca.

Visit PrairiePollination.ca

The Manitoba Museum gratefully acknowledges our project sponsors:

The Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC), an initiative of the Department of Canadian Heritage, was established in partnership with over 1,300 Canadian Heritage Institutions.