For some, crabapples were human eyes in the Land of the Dead. The Gitga’at refer to the apple’s calyx as its t’i’ik or belly button.
Crabapple trees could also offer protection, with the Kwakwak’wakw telling a story about a group of people, escaping monsters, who threw a comb behind them that grew into a thicket of crabapple trees.
As food, tools, medicine and magic, the First Nations Peoples cherish the Pacific crabapple. Much can be learned from their respect for this small, tart apple and nature’s other bounties.