In our oral history interviews, we hear from our elders that in the past (pre-contact), people would set fire to the huckleberry picking areas at the end of the season...oh, around October?
This would cause a wildfire that would naturally burn itself out. This cleared the land, started new-growth, and refreshed the huckleberry bushes.
Today, we don't do that. And the huckleberries are beginning to vanish.
If we tried to start a fire today, we'd be sitting in jail with our lips all purple.
