IROQUOIS USES OF MAIZE 



57 



tastes much better when eaten from one and those who have not 

 used them for some years express a longing to employ them again, 

 recalling with evident pleasure the days when they ate from an 

 " atcg'washa." l 



The favorite decorations for the tops of the handles were ducks, 

 pigeons and sleeping swans. The tails of the birds projecting back- 

 ward afforded a good hold for the hand and at the same time acted 

 as a hook that prevented the spoon from slipping into the bowl when 

 it was rested within it [see pi. 18]. 



The shape of the wooden spoon bowl is significant and seems to 

 suggest that it was copied from the form of a dam shell or from 

 a gourd spoon, these forms perhaps being the prototypes. Various 

 types of spoons are shown in figure n and plate 18. 



Husk salt bottle, Ojike'ta'hda'wa. While not employed directly 

 as a utensil for preparing corn foods, the husk saU bottle was used 

 as a receptacle for the seasoning sub- 

 stances used for giving an added flavor 

 to soups, bread etc. made from corn. 

 The bottle was made of corn husk in- 

 geniously woven. The stopper was a 

 section of a corncob. Corn husk bot- 

 tles sometimes were woven so tightly, it 

 is said that they would hold water. On 

 the other hand the bottles were valued 

 for their property of keeping the salt 

 dry, the outer husk absorbing and hold- 

 ing the moisture before it reached the 

 salt within [see fig. 12]. 



The Iroquois have used these salt 

 bottles within the last 10 years but only 

 a few are now to be found. 



The Iroquois say that they have not Fig. 12 Husk salt bottle, cut is 



i 11-1 i 1 i size of specimen. 



always used salt in the quantities which 



they now do and say that it has a debilitating effect upon them. 



Parched corn sieve, Yundeshoyondagwatha. This utensil was 

 first described by Morgan 2 who collected a single specimen for the 



1 Beverly in describing the eating customs of the Virginia Indians, says, 

 "The Spoons which they eat with do generally hold half a pint; and they 

 laugh at the English for using small ones, which they must be forced to 

 carry so often to their Mouths, and their Arms are in Danger of being 

 tir'd before their Belly." 



2 See Morgan. Fabrics of the Iroquois. State Cabinet of Nat. Hist. 

 Fifth An. Rep't 1852. p. 91. 



