Oregon Public Broadcasting

Coeur d'Alene tribal members dig up water potatoes in the fall. It's one of their traditional foods.

Coeur d'Alene tribal members are finishing the harvest of traditional foods that  their ancestors relied on to stay alive.

In the fall, they dig up small tubers known as water potatoes.

Doug Nadvornick reports the tribe uses the harvest as a way to pass along its traditions to its children.

On the Coeur d'Alene Reservation, Water Potato Day is a holiday, celebrated with singing and drumming.

While tribal members have the day off, a hundred children and their teachers from nearby schools are hard at work.

Their classroom is the shore of Lake Chatcolet. They learn from tribal members like Mark Stanger how to find little roots called water potatoes -- or, as they're known in the Coeur d'Alene language....

Mark Stanger: "Skidwich."

Members of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe teach local children how to dig up roots during their recent Water Potato Day celebration.

The water potatoes are smaller than their landlocked cousins.

They look like the bulbs that start tulips or other flowers, but you have to dig in the mud along the shoreline to find them.

Stanger says the trick is spotting the plants and their unique arrow-shaped leaves while they're still alive in the summer.

Mark Stanger: "So we can see ahead of time where they're at and then we can come back later and we know that they're there."

In addition to learning about the water potato harvest, the children here are also  soaking up tribal history and language lessons.