Pemmican is a concentrate mixture of fat and protein used as a nutritious emergency foodstuff. The word comes from the Cree word pimîhkân "pemmican", which itself is derived from the word pimî "fat, grease". It was invented by the native peoples of North America, and widely used during the fur trade and later by Arctic and Antarctic explorers such as Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen as a high-energy food. Pemmican was among the supplies taken by the disastrous Burke and Wills expedition across central Australia. The supply was spoilt and presumably not eaten, a factor leading to the occurrence of scurvy and death among expedition members. Properly packaged, it can be stored for long periods of time.