Cranberries are very common in northern forests. They grow abundantly in many different areas and have long been a traditional staple food item for Aboriginal peoples. Northerners still continue to gather this fruit every fall and preserve it for winter days ahead.

What is a Cranberry?

The cranberry has many common names; wild cranberry, alpine cranberry, and low bush cranberry. It has been given the Latin name of Vaccinium vitis-idaea by botanists (a specialist in the study of plants) and it is classified as a member of the Heather Family.

The Cranberry plant forms a low mat over the ground. It is an evergreen shrub; the leaves stay green all winter long. The plant is about 10 cm to 20 cm long.

The leaves are elliptical (football shaped to egg shaped). The leaves are dark green, very shiny and their edges roll under slightly. The leaves grow on stems which are thin and very much like twigs. The stems lay along the ground and take root every so often along its length.

The berries can be in various shades of red to dark red, almost burgundy coloured in winter and early spring. They are round and about the size of a garden pea. Inside the berry, the flesh is pink to beige coloured.

The cranberry grows in many different habitats in the North. You can find it from boggy areas to dry rocky areas throughout its range. It is more dominant in open turfy and boggy places throughout the North. The berries will grow in profusion along rotted logs and on top of mosses and underneath trees. It sometimes forms dense mats over the ground like a vibrantly coloured carpet

How was it used?

Long before the arrival of Europeans to the North American continent, Aboriginal peoples had been picking the cranberry for use as a food staple during long winter months to supplement their diet of meat and fish.

There are stories in the North of how some berries could be stored for months and sometimes years because they did not spoil easily. People would pick them in the fall and place them in birch-bark containers and place the containers under the moss where it could remain in a cool dry state until it was needed. The berries were also mixed with grease or the fat of animals to lengthen storage time.

The European explorers like the Aboriginal peoples picked and stored the cranberry for food. One of the explorers noted how the cranberry was picked in great abundance, stored in casks in sugar and shipped back to England where it was highly favoured as a treat .

Have fun while exploring our northern forests and remember to tell someone where you are going before setting out on a wilderness hike.