The Métis
Pemmican
Pemmican
- A single buffalo supplied the Métis with a large amount of meat. Therefore, they needed to find a way to preserve some of that meat to keep it from going bad.
- Most of the buffalo meat was used to make ‘pemmican’, which lasted for year without spoiling.
- Pemmican was usually made from buffalo meat.
- Drying the meat ensured that it did not go bad.
- How to make pemmican:
- First, the buffalo meat was cut into long strips.
- The strips were then dried on racks, either over a fire, or in the sun.
- The dried buffalo meat was then pounded into granular form.
- Once in granular form, it was placed into animal-hide bags.
- Hot buffalo fat was poured into the bags and mixed with the dried meat.
- Wild berries were added to the mixture for flavour.
- The hide bag were sewn shut, and the pemmican kept for years.
- Pemmican was a nutritious and filling snack, and was eaily transported on long trade journeys.
- Pemmican recipe
- Ingredients:
- 2 lbs of buffalo meat
- ¼ cup of berries (blueberries or saskatoon berries)
- 5 tablespoons of animal fat
- Steps:
- Cut meat into long strips
- Hang meat in the sun to dry
- When dry, pound strips into flakes
- Mix together flakes and dried berries in hide bag (or bowl)
- Add melted fat (hot)
- Add berries (optional)
Learn More About The Metis Here
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