"At this time of year, my nose tickles at the smell of cooking jellies or roasting pork; they bring back memories of my life on the reservation. It's the time of the year when my mother and grandma, Little Sioux, would can and dry, dry and can, until the first frost.

This is the tail end of the season, and the caboose, so to speak, is buffalo berries. Buffalo berries need one good frost or the worms will stay in them, my grandma used to say. We ate them before the frost, though.

I guess I didn't believe my grandmother until one day, I collected a jar full to take home with me. When I got there, I looked in the jar and there were worms all right. I never told my brothers and sisters; I figured they were better off not knowing since the worms didn't seem to hurt us."

Get the Story:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: A time for canning, remembering (The Grand Forks Herald 9/13)
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