Chugachmiut is a tribal consortium representing the seven tribes of the Chugach Region of Alaska (Chenega Bay, Eyak, Nanwalek, Port Graham, Qutekcak, Tatitlek, and Valdez). The Native people of this region rely heavily on subsistence gathered food for sustenance and nourishment. Studies by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game show that a significant portion of the total foods consumed, 375 pounds per person per year, are from subsistence hunting and gathering. In the traditional Native diet, fruits from the Alaska blueberry (Vaccinium alaskensis Howell) plant and the salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) are a major source of sweet food and hence are culturally as well as nutritionally important (Viereck and Little 1972).
Alaska blueberry fruits are also an important source of food for many species of wildlife including songbirds, gamebirds, mice, chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons, and black bears (Viereck and Little 1972). Twigs and foliage are used as browse by rabbit, snowshoe hare, bear, goat, elk, and deer (Hanley 1987). Alaska blueberry plants are an important source of winter browse because it is often found in older stands with shallow snowpack, making it more accessible to wildlife. Utilization may also increase in early winter in open areas when lower growing vegetation becomes covered with snow (Matthews 1992).
