Lax Kxeen (Prince Rupert) is home to many First Nations focused community events. Two of the highlights of my year are the All Native Basketball Tournament and National Indigenous People’s Day – where you can usually always find a vendor selling yel ‘as – whipped soapberries, Indian Ice Cream .

Yel ‘as is usually found at one of the Nisga’a or Gitxsan  booths, because soap berries do not flourish on our wet coast! I’m thinking you *might* be able to find them on the most inland parts of laxyuubm Ts’msyen (Tsimshian territory) , but we have yet to find ‘as ourselves! In the harvesting groups on Facebook, I’ve seen people out harvesting ‘as, which made me crave a cup of yel ‘as!

Steve’s mama Ruby and gma Millie grew up on ‘as, and used yel ‘as as a dessert topping! They’d have it on top of frozen ma̱ḵ’ooxs [ma̱/*ḵ’ooxs] – salmonberries and sugar, or on top of salmonberries and ḵ’awtsii [*ḵ’aw/tsii] – eulachon grease .

‘As can be either green (picked early in the season) or red (ripe berries). When eaten by themselves, they taste a little bitter. Soapberry bushes grow to be about 1-2 metres high, and like to live in open wooded areas in rocky soil. The scientific name for ‘as is Sheperdia canadensis.

Soapberries have many health benefits: they’re high in vitamin C, and have been said to treat high blood pressure, indigestion, acne, and even induce labour! Pretty much every part of this plant can be used to make traditional medicines – including the roots, leaves, bark, and the berries themselves:

Researchers found the tiny red, slightly sour fruits are rich in lycopene (also found in tomatoes) which is an antioxidant that appears to lower the risks of certain cancers.

BC Food History – follow this link for a soapberry jelly recipe!

However ‘as also has a chemical soap-like compound called saponin (that gives it that foamy texture), which can upset your stomach. Like anything fun and delicious – always eat in moderation.

Traditionally, Ts’msyen (Tsimshian people) would acquire ‘as through trade, which is how we came across these soapberries. Mr. Campbell said his father would trade up in Hagwilgyet – Gitxsan territory – for dried ‘as. It would come in dried bricks, and they’d cut or break a piece off and re-hydrate it overnight. More recently, someone decided to jar the berries, and it is now the popular method for preserving them! ‘As can be hard to digest in large quantities, so Mr. Campbell suggested eating ‘as with a meal/ something fatty.

Because yel ‘as is so foamy, Penny also suggested swishing the whipped soapberries in your mouth or pushing though your lips to help pop the bubbles before swallowing. This reduces the amount of air you’re swallowing to avoid an upset stomach (and thus, less gas). This was new to me, because usually I eat yel ‘as so fast – there is no time for swishing!

To whip up a batch of yel ‘as, nowadays we use an electric egg beater or a metal whisk (whisking by hand takes much longer than an electric egg beater). Penny said they used to whip soap berries with sg̱a̱n dza̱’was [sg̱a̱n/dza̱/*’wes] – salal branches , to get them frothy!

In the Nisga’a territory, I attended a National Aboriginal Day event in Gitlaxt’aamiks – New Aiyansh while I was working at CFNR. They had a whipped soap berry competition, where the participants raced to whip the soap berries with a bare hand in a large bucket. It looked like a lot of work (maybe because they were racing), but also a lot of fun! I’m told this yel ‘as turns out as more of a dense foam, than the yel ‘as made with an egg beater.

My cousin Laura Leask also told me of a different method of making Indian Ice Cream, where warm ḵ’awtsii (eulachon grease) and snow are whipped together by hand. Then the preserved berries (like salmonberries and blueberries) were poured overtop. Apparently this Indian ice cream has a similar consistency to conventional ice cream!

Yel ‘as – Whipped Soap Berries, Indian Ice Cream

Step 1: pop open your jar of ‘as and measure two spoonful’s into your mixing bowl. I used two heaping spoonful’s the first time, and tried three heaping spoonful’s on the second batch because I was trying to make enough for the office. Three heaping spoonful’s was too much for the size of my bowl, and the soapberries were starting to overflow the mixing bowl!

Step 2: crush the berries with the back of your spoon. This is easier to do if you don’t have a lot of the juice from the jar in your initial spoonful. If you have too much liquid mixed in with your whole berries, they tend to slip away while you’re trying to crush them (I learned a lot on the second batch lol)

Side note: I’ve heard that some people take the seeds out of the mashed berries for a smoother consistency, but I like the seeds so I left them in the mixing bowl.

Step 3: use an egg beater to start whipping up the soap berries. As you’re mixing the berries add a teaspoon of water and a teaspoon of the juice from the jar. Blend for a bit, then add another spoonful of water and a spoonful of the juice.

Step 4: as you’re blending the soap berries, water and juice, add a little bit of sugar at a time – about 1/2 teaspoon (Penny used a coffee mug to sprinkle a little in at a time).

Step 4: once the soapberries have expanded, the foam is firm enough to stick to your spoon and not fall off, and the sugar offsets the bitterness of the soap berries – you’re ready to serve!

For the strawberry batch, there is one extra step – adding the mashed up strawberries! I kept on the ratio theme, and for each scoop of berries, that’s how many fresh strawberries I mashed up.

I think the strawberry recipe could work well with thawed frozen strawberries – that have a runny consistency. The mashed fresh strawberries tasted exactly like thawed frozen strawberries 🙄 or strawberry jam, and I thought it was a lot of work to mash the strawberries up! Next time I’d use frozen strawberries for sure.

T’oyaxsut ‘nüün – thank you Mr. Campbell for allowing me to record your Sm’algyax  pronunciation for this blog, and for sharing your ‘as stories. Ada t’oyaxsut nüün Penny White for showing me how to make yel ‘as! I learned a lot writing this blog.

Follow güüdisk on Instagram for more harvesting photos, including additional info on making yel ‘as!

S&L – June 15, 2021