soapberries

Ni ghru

is the Southern Tutchone name for this plant and it's berries; the Tlingit call it

Xakwl'ee.

Sheperdia Canadensis or soapberries is a staple in a traditional diet. The berries, dried, could last indefinitely. Rich with vitamin C, the juices boiled with water is used as a stomach cleansing tonic; as an antiseptic wash; and reduced to produce a refreshing and healthy juice. Sweetened and frothed to a meringue consistency soapberries is a favourite dessert. Unless you grew up with soapberries as part of your diet it is an acquired taste; the seeds are many and impart the bitterness many people trying soapberries for the first time dislike.