The Story of the Bitterroot

Examining the ethnology, botany, history, and future of the bitterroot plant--found throughout the West, but particularly in Montana, where it is the state flower--Steve Slocomb's The Story of the Bitterroot informs viewers that the bitterroot's nutritive and stalwart qualities were prized by the Salish Native American tribe for years before the plant was found and described by Meriwether Lewis during his famous expedition in 1805. The Salish existed quite literally on roots and berries, and the bitterroot (named Lewisia rediviva by a 19th-century botanical scholar) continues to be an important part of their heritage, though tribal land for growing the plant has been shamefully diminished. Arranged in eight standalone segments and modeled on the Ken Burns-style of documentary filmmaking, this DVD--which admirably weaves together the multidisciplinary strands of the bitterroot's story--is a poignant tribute that is essential for libraries in Montana, and recommended for other libraries in the West, as well as those along the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail or featuring larger botany, American history, or Native American studies collections. Aud: H, C, P. (K. Glaser)