Who Harvests Big Huckleberry, and Why

Huckleberry Summit, Pack Forest

June 21 2007

Susan J. Alexander, PhD

US Forest Service, Alaska Region

People harvest berries for subsistence and personal use throughout North America.

The distinction between subsistence and personal use is not always clear. Berry picking is part of many family traditions.

Susan Alexander. “Anita Alexander and Bear” 1999

Use of huckleberries in cultural traditions has long-standing importance.This 1939 picture from

Keno Creek in the Bonners Ferry Idaho area depicts a Native American family camp in a traditional huckleberry picking area. J. Russell Dahl, 1939. USDA Forest Service, Northern Region Archives.

Huckleberries are also picked and sold commercially.

Throughout North America, products such as food items, skin care products, and floral items are created and sold by imaginative entrepreneurs.

Jerry Smith, date unknown.

Susan Alexander 1998

Many people pick for both personal use and for sale.

Selling berries can be a way to supplement a family’s income, such as with this Hmong couple selling huckleberries at a farmers market in Missoula Montana.Nan Vance 1996

Picking, eating, gifting and trading, and selling huckleberries is a way of life for many people.Huckleberries are important to a variety of people with diverse backgrounds, for personal consumption, as a way to express and maintain family and cultural traditions, for income, and finally, because they are tasty.

unknown 1996. Orofino ID

Susan Alexander 1996. Huckleberry Inn Government Camp OR

Susan Alexander 1996