The Notukeu Museum and Archaeology On-line

Experiments in Pemmican Preparation

By Henri Liboiron and Bob St Cyr, in the collections of The Notukeu Museum and Archaeology On-line

Experiments in Pemmican Preparation
by Henri Liboiron and Bob St-Cyr
Ponteix, Saskatchewan

INTRODUCTION

The word pemmican is derived from the Abnaki word pemikan (pay-me-kan) and the Cree word pimikan (pe-me-kan). In the Cree language, the word was originally used to describe the action of bone marrow grease preparation, but later evolved to mean the product itself.

The origins of pemmican are shrouded in deep antiquity. One origin comes from the observation that meat dried in the hot sun and wind or over a fire could be preserved. Likewise, ripe fruit in season falling to the ground under a hot sun would dry up and be edible, or easily preserved. However, the stage for pemmican preparation took place when it was noted that melted fat, suet, marrow grease and tallow could be preserved by storing in sealed containers such as bladders and intestines.

There is no question that pemmican similar to that of today's existed before the historical period. The art of making pemmican was borrowed from the American Indians. It was the major food staple which enabled Alexander Mackenzie in 1793 to be the first European to cross the North American continent. By this time, it was stored in green bison skin bags called parfleches sealed with melted tallow. As the parfleches dried they shrank causing the meat to be compressed. Thus vacuum sealed it permitted ease of handling on long journeys as well as being convenient for storage. It could also be used for emergency rations if fresh meat was not available. It eventually became the food of many travellers.

The preparation of pemmican evolved over thousands of years, for the purpose of storing a present surplus of meat against future needs. It provided calories in a portable, lightweight and highly compact form which made it suitable for travellers. It became the best concentrated, unspoilable and easily transportable food in North America.

In today's context, the dried meat provided protein, the berries vitamins essential for warding off scurvy whereas the fat and marrow were important as a ready source of energy. No wonder it became the ideal staple food of the fur brigades. Dieticians today would find it difficult to concoct a better balanced basic meal or diet without the benefits of refrigeration or preservatives since greens, roots and tubers could be added to the pemmican when available.

From the record, pemmican was made from thin slices of lean meat from large game animals such as: bison, moose, elk, and deer. They were dried over a fire, or in the sun and wind. The dried meat was ground and shredded between stones, to which was added ground dried wild berries. Finally, melted fat, suet, and bone marrow grease was added to the mixture. It could be eaten as a soup, broth, stew or as is. When available, leaves of the peppermint plant or wild onions were added for flavour. It's greatest asset was that it kept well.

The Hudson's Bay Company bought tons of pemmican from the Indians and later the Metis had established a certain standard of quality. It paid a premium price for pemmican made solely from the best of lean meats and only bone marrow grease. This was called sweet pemmican, which could be preserved for years. The record shows that some eaten four years later could not be discerned from the fresh kind, either in taste or quality.

Pemmican was originally stored in the stomach or intestines of animals. The Hudson's Bay Company demanded that pemmican be stored in 45 kg parfleches sealed with melted tallow. It was prepared and reserved as the staple food of the fur brigades. During the fur trade, if a paddler requires 3.6 to 4.5 kgs of meat per day to sustain him, 0.7 to 0.9 kgs of pemmican would provide the equivalent nutrition. Hudson's Bay Company pemmican consisted of 50% dried meat and 50% fat/marrow.

Next to the fur trade, pemmican production was the most important industry on the high plains. It became so important to the fur trade that the Hudson's Bay Company sought to monopolize the pemmican market. This angered the Metis who were the main suppliers. Thus they withheld the supply thereby breaking the attempted monopoly.

The best pemmican was made solely from the red meat of bison cows and young bulls and could be stored indefinitely. Old bulls were slaughtered primarily as dog food or eaten in dire emergencies because of the toughness of the meat. When placed over a fire, the pebbling fat and oils are released making it pliable and very edible.

Since dried berries are easily preserved, only fat or bone marrow grease had to be melted and stored away in a sealed container if it was not used right away. To store pemmican, the use of hide containers sealed with hot tallow is mandatory. In a modern context it can be said that packaged pemmican was the forerunner to the canning principle and process in North America.

"Cut buffalo meat into strips and hang on a rack to dry in the sun. Pound the meat into shreds with a stone. Mix the shreds of meat with hot buffalo fat and berries. Pour the hot mixture into 45 kg buffalo-hide bags and let it cool and harden. To serve, cut off chunks with an axe and eat raw or boiled."

The above is a recipe for pemmican as the Metis used to prepare it after a bison hunt. Experiments in making pemmican, like all other such projects warrant long term planning and preparation. A basic knowledge must be acquired in order to proceed; therefore archival research is mandatory. The necessary equipment must be conceived and made in advance, just as the horse should always preceed the cart. Most of the items of importance will be itemized and explained. They include: hearths/fuel, drying racks, meat, berries, and bone marrow grease. (click on link above )