GATHERING, PREPARATION, AND STORING OF FOODS - 51 



In this work the woman has naturally been the important factor. 

 They have been her explorations, her revolutionary discoveries, the 

 tests made by her teeth and stomach that have advanced the race in its 

 quest for subsistence. 



Among the Coahuillas, as among all Indians, the woman is the 

 getter of vegetable foods, the ethno-botanist of her community. 

 Now that the man's hunting has been interrupted forever by the set- 

 tlements of the whites and the disappearance of the game, the support 

 of the family falls principally on the woman. 



The problem of securing food for a tribe within the territory of 

 the Coahuillas at first sight seems an impossible one. It is the ugly 

 barrenness of the mountains and the arid sterility of the plains that 

 impresses one. It is probably true that an untutored white man lost 

 here would be likely to find hardly a single plant to yield him a mess 

 of palatable food. Beauty of flower and foliage and splendor of frui- 

 tion are alike sacrificed here to the necessities of the desert. There 

 are no luscious fruits with juicy pulps awaiting the thirsty traveler, but 

 at most only shriveled bags of rind filled with seeds, dangling from 

 a dry and ghostly stalk, or small, bitter plums that are nothing but 

 exaggerated pits, surrounded by a puckery skin. In all these moun- 

 tains there is not an edible root that a white man's efforts would be 

 likely to discover ; there are no palatable nuts, except the pinones, 

 high in the summits. The absence of food is, however, apparent 

 rather than real. The desert is a kindlier mother than would be 

 expected. Nature is less niggardly here than in some more verdant 

 countries. The flora of American deserts, as pointed out by others, 

 is really quite rich in species. Given the knowledge and patience of 

 the Indian woman, the problem is far simpler than would be supposed. 

 Probably the food supply of the Coahuillas contains a greater variety 

 and abundance than that of most Indian tribes. As we have seen, 

 their habitat occupies the dividing line between the desert and the 

 coast valleys. The mountain Coahuillas can turn westward and meet 

 the flora of the valleys reaching to the Pacific, or descend eastward 

 into the desert and bring back its nourishing and remarkable supplies 

 of food. 



35. We have already noticed the se-kwA-vel, or great packing 

 basket. Such a receptacle is the property of every Coahuilla woman. 

 For supporting this upon her back, she has the strong, beautiful carry- 

 ing net whose manufacture has been described. To protect her head 

 against the weight of her load, she presses down over her forehead a 



