FREmE-MrulfF™^'''^'] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 89 



Motva is made on a rectanj^ular slab of fine-gTaflned stone, about 3 feet 

 square, laboriously hewn and polished, called Tnmoaku {mowa, bread; 

 IcK, stone), which rests on stones at the ends or at the four corners. 

 This slab stands under a wide open chimney in a special room, moioa- 

 ^?/'/5e(m6>?^«, bread; leu, stone, ''ibe, place); it is heated by a fire built 

 beneath it. A soft liquid dough or batter is prepared in a mixing bowl, 

 and when the stone has been thoroughl^'^ heated and wiped with a greasy 

 rag, a small quantity of the batter is spread over the surface by a 

 quick, sweeping motion of the hand, leaving a thin, even layer. In 

 a few seconds this ]a3^er of dough is so far cooked that it can be peeled 

 off entire by one of its corners; it is laid aside on a wicker work tray, 

 and a second layer is spread on the stone. While this is cooking, the 

 first sheet of mowa is laid over it again to benefit by the heat; then the 

 first and second sheets are removed, a third layer is spread, and the 

 second sheet is laid above the third for extra cooking; and so on. 

 When a bowlful of the batter has been used, there is a pause in the 

 work; the semitransparent sheets are folded in four, and sometimes 

 the four-fold sheets are rolled into cylinders. In either shape they 

 maj^ be eaten fresh or stored for future use; they keep good for a 

 fortnight or more. Stale 'mowa may be broken up fine and toasted, 

 dipped into cold water, or mixed with boiling water into a porridge. 



Mowa is generally made of "blue" corn-meal, with the addition of 

 ashes stirred into the dough, turning it to a rich greenish blue. The 

 ashes of ia'^js^y (Atriplex canescens), gathered for the purpose in 

 summer, are preferred; but late in the winter, if the stock of ia^^jaey is 

 exhausted, ashes of sheep's dung are used. " Blue" corn-meal with- 

 out ashes makes purple-gray moioa; white moiva is made of white 

 corn-meal; red and yellow moiea, used by certain l-achina, is made by 

 mixing vegetal dyes in the dough. ^ 



The ordinary mowa consists of fine meal with the addition of ashes 

 and a little salt; ^dss^Hm mowa ('a, unexplained; s^, bitter) is made 

 with the addition of a larger quantity of salt; ^Jcsem mowa ('«, 

 sweetness; hs^ij^ pour from the mouth) was formerly made of dough 

 sweetened by mixing with it chewed meal or stale mowa broken up 

 fine and chewed, but it is now sweetened with sugar. 



"'AtilVi ('rt, unexplained; tiliH^ dots or specks) are made by drop- 

 ping small quantities of batter at intervals on the hot stone, much as 

 white people make pancakes. 



M(manusege {mowa, bread; nusege may describe size or shape of the 

 cakes) consists of corn just beginning to ripen, ground on a single 

 metate in the field shelter. The dough is formed into flat oblong 

 cakes, about the size of the palm of the hand, which are rolled and 



•The Hopi prepare a red dye for kachinapifce from theseeds of Amaranthus paJmrri Watson, which 

 they cultivate in terrace gardens around the springs. They color pike also with the ashes of ParrytUa 

 filifolia, and of. Atriplex canescens. (Hough, Amer. Anthr., vol. x, no. 2, 1897, pp. 39, 40.) 



