The Whistling Moon

By Heidi Bohan

As the fourth new moon= from winter solstice waxes to full, the forest bursts with new growth, called to life by the chorus of frogs and birds. The morning song of the winged ones reaches a crescendo, and the drumming call of woodpeckers on hollow wood joins the melody. Together they create a joyous symphony for spring. Above it all one= can hear the persistent whistle of robin and chickadee as they call their mates= and mark their territory, and so this moon is named. The swallows make a grand return at this time and our minds turn to the lingering warm evenings to co= me.

The people are also ca= lled to life, emerging from the plankhouse after a winter of ceremony, healing and creation. New baskets are ready for the coming season of harvest to repleni= sh spent food stores; nets are readied for the runs of fish and flight of fowl; paddles are pulled from their winter rest and new coats of paint are applie= d to canoes.

Bodies crave the fresh nourishment from the spring growth of stinging nettle, Siberian miners lett= uce, Pacific water parsley*, youth-on-age, violets, fireweed and maple seedlings; eaten fresh or boiled. Elders recall large batches of spring nettle soups, = made from the first new shoots, and eaten until gone; cleansing the body from the accumulations of winter stored foods and providing much needed vitamins and minerals.

Fiddleheads from brack= en and lady fern are steamed in pits and served with eulachon oil. Flower petals f= rom big leaf maple, Oregon grape, and salmonberry are bright tasty snacks. And especially favored are the new growing shoots from salmonberry, thimbleberry and cow parsnip*. The very early new stems of these plants are peeled and t= he sweet inner core eaten fresh or steamed.

The Whistling Moon sig= nals that great schools of herring will soon be moving into the estuaries, each female laying thousands of eggs in shallow waters. Boughs of western hemlock and cedar are laid into the bays and are soon coated with thick layers of herring roe, pulled to shore, and eaten straight from the boughs, the fresh= eggs bursting with flavor and nourishment. The roe can be smoked and dried, or m= ade into a spring tonic soup mixed with chopped willow catkins. The schools of = smelt are also making their annual runs up the rivers during this time and are ca= ught in large quantities, in dip nets of nettle fiber, or swept into canoes with rakes made with Douglas fir, bound with cherry bark, with oceanspray or yew teeth to catch these small fish. Smelt may be roasted or smoked, or = the oilier species can be allowed to ferment until the oils separate to create ‘grease’. This fish oil is used in the way butter is used in ot= her cultures, and helps to aid in the healthy digestion of many of our native f= oods.

The people have deep k= nowledge about their food; the foods themselves are healing, keeping the body in balance. The people know the healthiest ways to prepare them; eaten fresh, = slow cooked in steam pits or near the low heat of smoky fires, or boiled with ot= her foods. They know the most beneficial combinations of foods, the order in wh= ich food should be eaten, and the times of year certain foods are needed the mo= st. And ceremony and thankfulness is a part of every meal adding deeper value t= o these foods.

The people go out to g= ather with this knowledge, passed on from hundreds of generations of collected knowledge. Listen for the whistling of our winged friends and notice the stories that unfold during the Whistling Moon.

*Pacific water parsley (Oeno= nthe sarmentosa) and Cow parsnip (Heracleum lanatum) can both be easily confused with highly toxic related species. As with all of the above foods, do not experiment= with these plants without expert knowledge or assistance.