Western Serviceberry

General Information

• Plants: Shrubs 3 to 16 feet tall. Leaves simple, toothed along the upper half of the margin, with soft, silvery hair at least on the lower surface.
• Flowers: White, arranged in short racemes of three to twenty flowers.
• Fruits: Purple, edible berries.
• Flowering Season: April to July
• Habitat/Range: Open woods from sea level to high elevations in the mountains from Alaska to California and east to Alberta and New Mexico.¹

Blackfeet Ethnobotany^*

by Darnell and Smokey Rides At The Door

The Blackfeet name for serviceberry is Okonoke, and is the single most important plant to the Blackfeet people. Gathered in abundance every year, the shrub has many uses, though its most prevalent use is as a food. The berries, high in vitamins and minerals, are used to make berry soup. Ceremonies can only be held when berry soup is present. It is dried and stored for winter use. When the berries are ripe, it is an indicator that the time is right for the Holy Ookaan, the Medicine Lodge. The juice of these ripe berries is often given to children.

As for food products, the uses are many. The berries are mixed with suet, or fat, and pounded meat to make pemmican, a trail mix-type, energy-rich food. Today, the berries are often found in syrups, cakes, muffins, jams, etc. For the Blackfeet, gathering these berries is still seen as a family tradition and affair, a place to pass on cultural knowledge and the art of storytelling to the next generation.

The berry is not the only important part of the plant. The hardy branches are used for pins and buttons for lodges. They are also used for tripods, arrows, spears, lances, digging sticks, and the cross pieces for the buffalo boat. The flowers are used as a component, along with other spring flowers, to create a perfume for the hair.²

From the Journals

by H. Wayne Phillips

Lewis and Clark collected three serviceberry specimens in 1806: one on April 15 near “rockfort camp”; another on May 7 along the Clearwater River either near present-day Lenore or Peck, Idaho; and the final one on June 27 along the Lolo Trail beyond present-day Lolo Creek in Idaho.³ On the specimen collected in April, Lewis tagged it with a note, "Service berry A Small bush the Narrows of the Columbia R. Aprl. 15th 1806."

In his April 8, 1806 weather notes, Lewis remarked, "the serviceberries, chokecherries, the growth which resembles the beach (red alder), the small birch and grey willow have put fourth their leaves." A few days later on April 11, near the present-day Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, Clark stated: "vegitation is rapidly progressing. Sarvis berry, Sackacommis [kinnikinnick] and the large leafed ash [big-leaved maple] is in blume."

Though not formally collected until 1806, or prior specimens lost, Lewis noted in his journal on August 2, 1805, in present day Madison County, Montana:

also black goosberries and serviceberries now ripe and in great perfection. we feasted sumptuously on our wild fruits, particularly the yellow currant and the deep perple serviceberries, which I found to be excellent. the serviceberry grows on a small bush and differs from ours only in colour size and superior excellence of it's flavour. it is somewhat larger than ours.⁴

Other species within the Amelanchier genus exist and thrive in the eastern part of the country. It was a familiar plant to him, and the journals reflect the fondness Lewis had for the serviceberry. It is also recorded in the journals at different points in time that the serviceberry was enjoyed with groups of both Salish and Lemhi Shoshone peoples.⁵

Additional Information: Birds and small mammals use the berries produced as a food source, and some insects feed on the leaves. Historically, some regions referred to this plant as "pigeon berry," but we now refer to it by an adaptation of the Cree word for serviceberry.⁶ Another common name for this plant is saskatoon, from which a Canadian capital city in the center of this plant's native range is named.⁷

^*While traditional medicine is still practiced in many cultures including the Blackfeet culture and has many uses, please do not consume any plant material without consultation of a health professional.