Stems
Nanngingnuaghak Iñupiaq Name: Nanngingnuaghak phonetic spelling: nan-ningnign-new-a-ghak plural: Nanngingnuaghat translation /other information none known English Name: Felt leaf willow Scientific Name Salix alaxsensis Source: Anderss
This tall shrub grows very well along the stream and creeks near Golovin, reaching heights of small trees, but usually not more that 8-10 feet tall. In a land which trees are scarce, the tall shrubs are often mistaken for trees. The leaves are elliptical and have a distinctive felty underside. The bark is gray and smooth. Unlike chura, the willow from which leaves are eaten in early summer, the stem of nanngingnuaghak is eaten after the new shoot of the stem is about a foot long. The new shoot is cut from the shrub and the bark is stripped away. The tender young wood is chewed for the flavor. Ruth Sellers, Maggie Olson's sister, told me that nanngingnuaghak stem taste just like honeydew melons. I found the plant, peeled the bark, and chewed it like I was told; but, I was in Golovin later in the summer and my sample was fibrous, tough, and chewy. There was a slight flavor of honeydew but the juices that run thick in the plant early in the summer had dried up and I was unsuccessful at eating the nanngingnuaghak. I felt like a beaver trying to eat the woody stem of the plant. I will have to try the plant in early summer when the sap in fresh and the wood is tender.