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Native Artist - Nokomis
Picking Berries
Picking berries was an important activity for the women of my mother's generation. Not only were the berries nutritious and tasty, they could be sold to passing tourists or to the travelers who ventured off the trains when they stopped at the station.
There were few other opportunities for the women to make their own money.
For example, in my family, my father made a good living selling furs in the winter and guiding tourists in the summer. But along with his money came expectations (if not outright verbal suggestions!) as to how that money should be spent.
With my mother he didn't get very far down that road, but there were some women who had no money unless their husbands handed them a nickel and sent them to the store with the expectation there'd be change back when they returned home.
Berry money was like egg money for farm women in the mainstream culture... theirs to spend as they pleased with the added perk that it was a fun communal activity.
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