Hawberries are berries known to grow on Manitoulin Island thanks to its distinctive alkaline soil. During the pioneer days, white settlers ate these berries during the winter as the only remaining food supply. People who saw these settlers collecting the berries started to call them "haweaters". People born on the island are now called "haweaters".
A hawberry is small and oblong, similar in size and shape to a small olive or grape. It is red in colour when ripe and grows on bushes. Varying from a shrub to a small tree, hawberries develop in groups of 2-3 along smaller branches. Berries delicate in taste and are pulpy with multiple seeds.
The hawberry is edible, but is commonly made into jellies, jams, and syrups rather than eaten whole. Some people say pick them when they are bright red in color, and others say to wait until they are black and are about to fall apart.