For generations of Indigenous peoples across North America, pimihkan (also written pemmican or pemican) was a portable powerhouse, a delicious and nutritious food that sustained life on the hunt.
Cree culture carrier Vivian MacDonald, from Grande Cache in Alberta, raised in the Nose Creek Settlement, continues the tradition of hunting, gathering and preparing pimihkan the way her ancestors did.
To make pimihkan the way her ancestors did, she uses tallow, dried meat and berries such as saskatoons, bog cranberries and/or huckleberries. Although these ingredients are simple, the work involved in preparing pimihkan is very time consuming.
I met with Vivian at Terroir Symposium in Calgary. In this conversation, we delve into the age-old methods of preparing pimihkan and the surprising way she consumes it today.
