North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Diane Whitehead <voltaire@islandnet.com>]

The book Plants of Coastal British Columbia, including Washington, 
Oregon and Alaska, by Pojar and MacKinnon has a lot of ethnobotanical 
information.

This is what it says of Sambucus racemosa ssp pubens var. 
arborescens, which grows along the coast from Alaska to Oregon:

a highly important food for the peoples of the central and northern 
coast, though few people use them today.  They should always be 
cooked, as raw berries may cause nausea.  They were sometimes boiled 
to make a sauce or cooked with the stems intact.  The stems and seeds 
were discarded later. The berries make an excellent, tangy jelly, and 
some people make wine from them, but they should always be cooked for 
this purpose.  Caches of red elderberries have been found in 
archaeological sites dating back hundreds of years.  The stems, bark, 
leaves and roots, especially in fresh plants, are toxic due to the 
presence of cyanide-producing glycosides.

Diane Whitehead  Victoria, B.C. who likes Oregon grape for tangy 
jelly, and hasn't tried red elderberry.