FOOD PLANTS OF THE COAHUILLA INDIANS 65 



Mexico: "Pinolli la harnia de mayz y chia antes que la deslian." 1 

 A little sugar is usually mixed with it. In this shape it is a much 

 prized article of food with all who have become acquainted with 

 its nutritive and reviving qualities. Experienced prospectors and 

 desert travelers carry a little bag of it with them, and when the warm, 

 alkali water holes are reached, a few teaspoonfuls of the pinole in a 

 quart cupful of the water seems to neutralize somewhat its danger- 

 ous qualities and make a refreshing drink more nourishing than gruel. 



Pinole, by the Coahuillas, is sometimes baked into little cakes or bis- 

 cuits. Either way chia is used, it is very good ; has a pleasant, nutty 

 flavor, and is exceedingly wholesome. Moreover, it grows in consid- 

 erable quantity through the mountain ranges of the Coahuillas, and in 

 the early summer ollas stored with these seeds stand in every home, 

 and throughout the cooler hours of the day and evening there is ever 

 a woman grinding at her mill. 



Beside the salvia, several other plants yield seeds that attract the 

 Indian woman and keep her busy through the months of May and June 

 with her yi-kow-a-pish and chi-pat-mal. Some of these seeds are very 

 beautiful, and possess a real fascination for the eye and touch. The 

 seeds of the Lasthenia glabrata (Lindb.), called by the Coahuillas 

 dk-lo-kal, in mass resemble iron filings, being of a dark color and fine 

 elongated shape. They are prepared by being pounded up into a very 

 fine flour, which is eaten dry. 



But the most beautiful little seed of all is that of the small crucifer 

 called " pepper grass," Sisimbrium canescens, Coahuilla ds-il t a tiny 

 reddish brown seed, round, and flat in shape. It is ground up, cooked 

 in a large quantity of water, and eaten with a little salt. 



The Atriplexlentiformus, Watson, one of the "salty sages," is found 

 in the Coahuilla valley and on the slopes of the Sierras. Its seeds 

 somewhat resemble the chia. They are prepared for food by grinding 

 and cooking with salt and water. It is called kd-sil. 



The dry flats and valleys of the Coahuilla mountains are frequently 

 closely planted with wormwood, the Artemisia tridentata, Nutt. Its 

 feathery foliage whitens the landscape, and for long distances its 

 pungent odor dominates over every other fragrance. The seeds ripen 

 late in the fall, and are gathered by the Coahuillas and pounded up 

 for pinole. The plant and seed are named by the Coahuillas wik-wut. 



47. The flowers or buds, in the case of a number of plants, yield 

 desirable food. The mescal or agave has already been referred to for 



i Vocabulario en lengua Castilliana y Mexicana, quoted by BANCROFT, Vol. I, p. 374. note 90. 



