How did American Subarctic peoples preserve meat to make pemmican?

To create pemmican, American Subarctic peoples preserved meat through a specific process of drying and preparation.1

The process involved the following steps:

• Drying and Pounding: The meat—traditionally bison, though moose, caribou, or deer were also used—was dried and then pounded into a coarse powder.12
• Mixing: This powdered meat was mixed with an equal amount of melted fat.2
• Additions: Berries, such as saskatoon berries, cranberries, or other varieties like blueberries or chokeberries, were occasionally added to the mixture.12

The resulting product was a dense, high-protein, and high-energy food source. The term itself is derived from the Cree word pimikan, which translates to "manufactured grease". Once prepared, the mixture was often cooled and stored in hide bags for ease of transport and long-term preservation.2