262 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [buli,. 34 



The hiznaga cactus, known by the Pima as tsa-ult, also serves occa- 

 sionally as food. The top is removed and the inside pulp is sliced 

 and cooked, usually together with the pods of the mesquite beans; 

 the combination is said to be very agreeable to the taste. 



Still another variety of cactus fruit used is that of the Tm-na-mi, 

 one of the largest of the Opuntias. The rather small, yellowish, 

 somewhat acid fruit is collected by the Pima as well as by the Papago, 

 dried and stored for future use. In gathering it women employ two 

 pieces of saguaro ribs tied together like thongs ; they clean off a suit- 

 able space on the ground where, with the aid of branches from nearby 

 bushes, the fruit is rolled about the sand until all the spines are 

 removed. A hole is then dug in the ground, into which are put 

 stones; on these a fire is built, and when the hole is thoroughly 

 heated the ashes are removed, some of the hot stones being allowed 

 to remain. It is then lined with fresh cTiu-7icli-huri-eJc (Dondia suf- 

 frutescens), and the cactus fruit is put in and covered with the same 

 plant; on this are laid the remaining hot stones, and the whole cov- 

 ered with earth is left over night. The next day the fruit is taken 

 out and dried; it can then be kept indefinitely. Wlien it is to be 

 eaten it is boiled with oli'pon leaves, salted, and taken with pinole. 



The hd-na-mi is also cooked in pots and eaten with the addition of 

 a plant known as on-ka-wa-ne; in this case the juice is extracted and 

 not used. 



H6-wicli is the fruit of a yucca (probably Yucca schottii; Palmer 

 speaks of it as Y. baccata) growing in the mountainous parts of the 

 Papago country and used by both the Papago and the Pima as food. 

 The fruit is brought by the Papago and sold to the Pima in a dried 

 state. It looks somewhat like bananas halved and dried, and even in 

 the raw state is sweet and agreeable. It is ordinarily eaten cooked, 

 with the addition of white flour; but it is also eaten raw. 



Of berries the Pima relish those of the u-us dji-wulit-palit (Condalia 

 obovata), a bush growing along the lower Gila. These black berries 

 are eaten raw by the Pima, and also by the Maricopa, roasted, or 

 sirup is made from them. Wlien eaten raw the solid parts are thrown 

 away. The roasting is done in a frying pan and the berries are then 

 eaten without additions. To make sirup the women cook and strain 

 the berries, boiling the juice to the desired consistency. The sirup 

 is used on bread or otherwise, as in the case of saguaro sirup or honey. 



The Tcwa' -wuh-le (Lycium fremontii), a bush growing along the 

 Gila and on the low slopes of the neighboring hills, bears red berries 

 which the Pima gather and cook in pots, the mixture being eaten 

 either warm or cold, generally with the addition of sugar. 



Only one native bulb is used as food. It is the eix'-ko-we ("under- 

 ground-bulb: " Iloffmansegia stricta), a small bulb, nearly black on 

 the surface, which is dug out of the ground with considerable labor. 



