by Bill Stoddard
The First Nations have lived in Oregon for at least 15,000 years. One of their most important foods is camas. The camas is part of the Asparagus family, and there are two types found in the Willamette Valley. They are Common Camas (Camassia quamash) and Giant Camas (Camassia leicthlinii). Giant Camas is more prevalent and is preferred because of the size of the bulb, which can be up to 2 inches across. The color of the flower ranges from light blue to a dark blue that is almost purple.
Example of light blue camas bloom
Example of dark blue/indigo camas bloom
While camas can grow in almost any conditions they prefer moist soil and full sun. Camas blooms only once each year, in approximately April to May.
Every tribal band, group, or family had a traditional area where they harvested camas every year. I should also say that most of the Willamette Valley was much moister than it is now because of lack of flood control. As a result, camas was much more prevalent in the valley prior to settler’s arrival. While the camas bulbs were normally harvested in the fall, they were in fact available any time of the year when needed. The harvested area was broken up into about five or six sections that would be harvested over that number of years depending on the climate that year. The sections could be as large as an acre. Only the medium to large bulbs would be harvested and the rest replanted or left in the ground to grow. The camas plant was one of the very few plants that was actively cultivated by clearing weeds and overgrowth, tilling the soil, and fertilizing it through controlled burning. The seeds could be planted to expand the camas fields with the understanding that it takes at least three years for the seed to become a bulb and then several more years before the bulb is big enough to harvest. So, cultivation and harvesting of the camas is a long term program.
Common Camas
Camassia quamash
Giant or Great Camas
Camassia leicthlinii
The reason camas is so important is because it is a high energy food that can be processed and stored for long periods of time. Every spring the people would go out to the camas fields and harvest a few bulbs for spring ceremonies. Also during this time they would check their fields for white blooms of the Meadow Death Camas. This had to be done every year during the blooming period. Once the blooms are gone there is no way to distinguish the difference between the bulbs of the meadow death camas versus the giant camas. It should be noted that the death camas is not related to the giant camas. it actually belongs to the Lily family. Eating a small portion of the death camas can cause excess salivation, vomiting, muscle weakness, and tremors. Consuming anything near 2% of the body weight can cause death.
Meadow Death Camas
Toxicoscordion venenosum
Once the camas bulbs are harvested in the fall, they are cooked in a pit for anywhere from 24 to 72 hours, depending on the projected use. The need for cooking for such a long period of time is because the bulb contains a chemical called inulin, which is undigestable in the human stomach. The cooking hydrolyzes inulin, converting the complex carbohydrate into simple ones (see footnote). The longer the bulbs are cooked, the more the fructose caramelizes until the bulbs turn black. After cooking for at least 24 hours the bulbs taste somewhat like a roasted pear or baked sweet potato, only sweeter. I should also mention that because of the inulin, eating too much camas, especially when undercooked, often will cause cases of excessive flatulence.
The pit oven is of a traditional style starting with a fire in a pit to create a bed of coals. The coals are then covered with stones. Once the stones are hot enough, they would be covered with large leaves such as skunk cabbage or maybe some cedar boughs for taste. Then a layer of the camas bulbs, more leaves, and more bulbs for several layers comprising sometimes of hundreds of pounds of bulbs! The pit is then covered with dirt and left to cook for the required minimum of 24 hours.
When the cooked camas bulbs are removed from the pit, they are processed in a couple different ways. They can be dried and pounded into powder for baking or as a thickening agent. They can also be mashed and formed into cakes and stored for later use or for trade. I myself have eaten it several different ways after pit cooking or cooking in the oven. I’ve mashed the bulbs and eaten them with butter and salt; cubed the bulbs and eaten them in a stew; or sliced the bulbs then pan fried them with a sprinkling of sea salt and lemon juice. The last method was my favorite one because I could vary the crispness of the slices.
Camas can be found in fields, along roadsides, in forest meadows, along creeks; many places. You might consider planting them in your own garden to expand the range of the camas again.
FOOTNOTE: Peacock, Sandra. (2008). From complex to simple: Balsamroot, inulin, and the chemistry of traditional Interior Salish pit-cooking technology. Botany. 86. 116-128. 10.1139/B07-111.
Click here for fun recipes to try with camas bulbs!