Mousefood, Melqurat, Maqaruaruat or Anlleq is a native
foraged
Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behav ...
food and medicine highly prized by
Yupik Yupik may refer to:
* Yupik peoples, a group of indigenous peoples of Alaska and the Russian Far East
* Yupik languages, a group of Eskimo-Aleut languages
Yupꞌik (with the apostrophe) may refer to:
* Yup'ik people
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg ...
people on the
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
Foraging
Mousefood consists of the roots of various
tundra plants which are
cached by "mice" (
voles
Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...
) in burrows. People forage and eat the food that the "mice" have harvested and stored.
[ Elders teach that when collecting mousefood, one should always leave half of the cache for the "mouse". They also recommend leaving a gift – something that the "mouse" can eat.
]
Species
Various species of tundra plants may be foraged as mousefood. The roots of tall cottongrass, white cottongrass and Russett cottongrass are less than an inch long. They are eaten, put in soup, or used medicinally with seal oil
Omega−3 fatty acids, also called Omega-3 oils, ω−3 fatty acids or ''n''−3 fatty acids, are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) characterized by the presence of a double bond, three atoms away from the terminal methyl group in their chem ...
. "Eskimo sweet potatoes" are the roots of '' Hedysarum alpinum''. As the name suggests, these roots are somewhat sweet and are used in Akutaq.
References
Inuit cuisine
{{NorthAm-native-stub