Feed Your Curiosity With Métis Food

Traditionally, the Métis were hunters and their lifestyle largely revolved around the Plains buffalo. Every aspect of their lifestyle was dependent on the buffalo hunt. They needed buffalo to survive. However, when the skilled Métis hunters were not on a buffalo hunt, they spent time hunting other animals for food such as pronghorn antelope, moose, elk, mule deer, prairie bush rabbit and wild birds such as prairie chicken, sage grouse, duck and geese. If fishing was available in the area, it was also a major source of food for the Métis people. The Métis also gathered wild berries and edible wild plants. Berries were important food for the Métis. They were eaten alone or added to a dried preserved meat called ‘Pemmican’. Dried berries and pemmican were stored in animal skins to prevent them from going bad.Bannock – The Métis ate a lot of ‘Bannock’. Bannock was a combination of Scottish bread and Indian fry bread that could be baked in an oven, cooked in a skillet over a fire or fried. The benefit of Bannock was that it was easy to make, transport, lasted a long time without spoiling and was quite filling. The Métis harvested wild turnips, peeled and dried them, and then pounded them into flour for use in the Bannock.