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INUVIK
Summer is in full bloom in Inuvik.

David Bob has a nose for blueberries. On Aug. 3, he showed off his considerable expertise in gathering the delicious fruits in the Gwich'in Territorial Park. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

That's the theory of local berry pickers, who are flocking to the woods to beat the bushes – and the bears – for some low-hanging fruit such as blueberries and cloud berries.

It took some time and a bit of fancy talking to get this inexperienced Inuvik Drum reporter on a berry picking outing. As it turns out, people locally are more than a little secretive and touchy about their favourite locations.

Mention berry picking to some of the experienced types, and you can watch a shadow of furtive paranoia mask their faces as if they have suddenly been recruited by the CIA. Even people who are otherwise open and forthright about things clam up when it comes to talking about the fruits of their labours.

Kevin Floyd, one of the most knowledgeable outdoorsmen in the area, is usually a font of information on anything pertaining to fishing, hunting and living off the land.

Even he, though, advised caution on the subject of berry picking.

"It's a sensitive, sacred thing," he advised.

Instead of approaching anyone directly and openly, Floyd said, watch the elders and follow them as they head out of town.

That notion didn't really have much appeal, so I kept posing the question to other people. With one or two exceptions, everyone reacted as if they were guarding a state secret. However, David Bob, the student wellness co-ordinator at the Aurora Campus, was on the other end of the spectrum.

"I sure do know about berry picking," he said cheerfully over Facebook. "I've been doing it since I was seven."

Another acquaintance, who asked not to be named, also let the cat out of the bag. She said many local people head out on the Inuvik Ski Club trails to stock their larders, while others simply stop along the Dempster Highway and begin picking.

Bob said he was planning on gathering some blueberries on Aug. 3 at some of the sites in the Gwich'in Territorial Park and invited a curious reporter to come along and see how it's done. That was an offer eagerly accepted, since I can devour blueberries by the bucket but had never picked any in the wild.

So after a quick barbecue with lots of yarrow added to it to deter the bugs, Bob set out to show me the finer points of berry picking.

More accurately, he showed me the basics and then turned me loose on the vegetation, which was swarming with clouds of biting insects.

It wasn't long before I nipped back to the parking lot to don some defensive armour in the form of a bug jacket drenched in insect repellent and a light pair of gloves. Armed better, I spent the next 90 minutes gathering up a small amount of berries.

Bob, enjoying a hot, sunny summer's afternoon on a long weekend, took a more casual approach. After I'd been picking for 60 minutes or so, he sauntered into the fields with his three-month old puppy, and quickly skimmed as many berries into his bucket as I had painstakingly gathered in an hour.

"If you pick them one at a time, it takes forever," he said with some amusement.

I had caught on to that quite a while earlier, using the same kind of technique to shake down the bushes as Bob displayed, with a lot less skill and flare.

More annoying was the fact the insects were bothering him not at all.

"They don't like yarrow," Bob said with the merest hint of smugness. "And I put a lot on the fire."

We foraged a while longer before calling it a day.

Bob explained the cranberries were coming into season next, and extended an invitation to learn those skills as well.

Stayed tuned for how that turns out.

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