High Bush Cranberry

nêhiyawêwin (Cree): nīpiminān ("summer berry"), môsômin (high bush cranberry or mooseberry) Latin: Viburnum edule , Viburnum opulus L. Low-bush cranberry, squashberry, arrowwood, crampbark, mooseberry, pembina

Description

This shrub can grow up to 4m tall. The leaves are three-lobed and coarse-toothed. Its white flowers develop into orange to red cranberries that are very juicy, but are sour and don't smell very nice. (Marles et al., p. 160)

Food

The berries can be eaten alone or used in recipes. They can be used as a substitute when making pemmican when blueberries or saskatoons are unavailable (Dene Elder, published in Marles et al., p. 160).

Medicine

Another name is "crampbark" because the bark helps to stop cramping of the uterus, bladder, and stomach. Just whittle the branches and brew them into a tea or poultice. Even miscarrages may be prevented by slowing down the uterus contractions (Gray, p. 201). Some traditional healers use the berries to treat urinary problems (Eid et al., 2008). The bark tea can help prevent infection from afterbirth (Dene Elder, published in Marles et al., p. 160). The bark extract has been scientifically shown to relieve spasms and treat menstrual cramps (Dobeils 1986, Bisset and Wichtl 1994 in Marles et al., p. 160).

Highbush cranberry is also being researched to treat early stages of colon cancer (Foster & Duke, p. 323).

It's been scientifically shown that lowbush cranberry can help muscle cells to accept more sugar, which helps to treat diabetes (Eid et al., 2008). The bark tea is also used as a gargle for sore throats (Gray, p. 202).

Some traditional medicines combine Highbush cranbarry with yarrow or plantain. (Gray, p. 202)

The bark tea is used to treat insomnia (Dene Elder and Métis Elder, published in Marles, p. 160).

For eye inflammation, a wash of the berries is used by the Montagnais (Foster & Duke, p. 323). This group of people is also known as the Innu and are from the land now known as northern Québec and parts of Labrador.

References

(Banner image) Kaz, A. [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_High_Bush_Cranberry_(2)_(5025351975).jpg

Dene Elder, Cold Lake, AB. Interviewed 1994, published in Marles et al., 2012.

Eid, H., Martineau, L., Saleem, A., Asim, M., Vallerand, D., Benhaddou-Andaloussi, A., Nestor, L., Afshar, A., Arnason, J., Haddad, P. (2008). How lowbush cranberry works to lower blood sugar levels. CIHR Team in Aboriginal Anti-diabetic Medicines, Department de pharmacologie, Faculte de medicine, Universite de Montreal. Montreal, QC. http://www.taam-emaad.umontreal.ca/ Retrieved from http://www.taam-emaad.umontreal.ca/document/FRP-015-1-05-X%20Eid%202008-11-20%20(PlainLanguage).pdf (Accessed Feb. 20, 2020).

Foster, S. and Duke, J. A. (2014). Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America, Third Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Gray, B. (2011). The Boreal Herbal - Wild Food and Medicine Plants of the North - A Guide to Harvesting, Preserving, and Preparing. Whitehorse, Yukon: Aroma Borealis Press, co-published by CCI Press, Canadian Circumpolar Institute, University of Alberta. http://borealherbal.com

"Highbush Cranberry". (n.d.) Retrieved from University of Alberta Indigenous Teaching & Learning Gardens website: https://sites.google.com/a/ualberta.ca/our-garden/our-plants/highbush-cranberry (Accessed April 2020)

"high bush cranberry or mooseberry - môsômin". (2004). In Alberta Elders' Cree Dictionary English-Cree. Retrieved from nehiyaw mansinahikan Online Cree Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.creedictionary.com/search/index.php?q=m%C3%B4s%C3%B4min&scope=1&cwr=47579 (Accessed March 10, 2020)

Marles, R. J., Clavelle, C., Monteleone, L., Tays, N., and Burns, D. (2012). Aboriginal Plant Use in Canada's Northwest Boreal Forest. Edmonton, AB: Natural Resources Canada.

Métis Elder, Sucker Creek First Nation, AB. Interviewed 1994-5, published in Marles et al., 2012.