By Shaun Scott, Puyallup Tribal News
Puyallup Tribe Cultural Director Angie Totus said she thoroughly enjoys witnessing Tribal Members learn a new skillset.
Totus and Culture Coordinator Victoria Horrell were the instructors during the Culture Department’s canned salmon class on May 20 at the Winners Gym in Tacoma.
“I’m always thankful for the outcomes for our students who are learning. They walk away with something new that they learned, and they’re going to continue on with what they learned with their families,” Totus said. “Part of our teachings focus on our traditional foods. I want them to carry that on and know how to take care of these foods. This day and age we do a lot of canning.”
Horrell is adept at the canning process due to years of repetition.
“We cut it in advance and once we get it filleted, cleaned and cut the salmon into little sections, we had our students Tetris style place the pieces in their jars with the meat on the outside and the skin on the inside. The skin is more rigid so it protects and helps the salmon from falling apart,” Horrell said. “We use a little bit of salt for preservatives and we will use vinegar for the cleaning of the rims to erase all of the oils.”
The jars were carefully placed into containers on top of a hot stove. Each student filled 12 jars apiece. The next step required an immense amount of patience.
“The canning process on the stove takes an hour and 40 minutes,” Horrell said.
Once time was up, Totus and Horrell advised each student to wait for an additional few minutes until there was no smoke billowing from the container. When it was all over, the original five slabs of salmon produced 48 jars of canned salmon.
Totus said she wholeheartedly believes having canned goods on the shelves in the winter months is essential.
“It is always best if the power or anything ever turns off, you got your canned goods,” Totus said. “If you happen to freeze the salmon and the power goes out, then you have to end up canning it, because you still can do it when it is frozen.”
The Culture Department also hosted a Huckleberry Jam class that same week.
The two-hour session featured classmates going through the entire process of producing huckleberry jam. Individuals in attendance displayed attention to detail, with their eyes focused on crushing each berry before carefully maneuvering the contents into the saucepan. Steady hands were required as they slowly poured lemon juice into spoons for stirring.
Totus said it’s valuable to learn the techniques of canning.
“I really stress to them in our circle that this is a huckleberry jam class, but you can also have the ability to can raspberries, strawberries and other vegetables,” she said. “I was really pleased to see the young ones (young adults) really want to learn. I’m really happy with that. You can just see their happiness.”
Totus said canning various food items allows Tribal Members to enjoy their favorite foods all year long.
“We have always prepared ourselves for the winter months. When we can, we can continue to eat our traditional foods throughout the year,” Totus said. “One thing I always talk about with our students, ‘How do you prepare? How do you save it for your family?’ Canning is a good way of preserving.”
The fact huckleberry season is on the horizon brought a smile to the Totus’ face.
“Huckleberries are one of our truly traditional foods that we gather in the mountains,” Totus said. “We really encourage them (classes) to go where these huckleberries come from. They are naturally growing and we like to gather our huckleberries from mid-August into September.”
