72 ETHNOBOTANY OF THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. an.n. 30 



The seeds are ground, mixed with corn meal, made into cakes or 

 balls, and steamed. This was a conunon dish among the poorer class 

 of the Zuni in 1879. 



Yucca baccata Torr. Datil. Liliace.e. Lily family. 

 Ho'Hapa, 'long leaf wide.' 



The fruit of this plant is regarded by the Zuni as a great luxun,-. 

 Before they obtamed wagons it was gathered and carried in blankets 

 on the backs, and later on the backs of burros. 



The fruit, wliich is called tsu'piyane (pi. tsu'piyawe, 'long oval'), 

 after being pared is eaten raw, and is also boiled. When the boiled 

 fruit becomes cold, the skin is loosened with a knife and pulled off. 

 The fruit is greatly relished when prepared in tliis way, but is still 

 more highly esteemed as a conserve, which is prepared in the follow- 

 ing manner: After being pared the fruit is heaped in large bowls; 

 this part of the work is done by the women of the household assisted 

 by their female friends. They labor industriously throughout the 

 day, and at mght the party is jomed by male friends and relations, 

 as many as possible sitting around the filled and empty receptacles, 

 wliile the others sit near by. The fruit is bitten off close to the core 

 containing the seeds, which is cast aside. Then, after being chewed, 

 the fruit is ejected from the mouth into a bowl by those immediately 

 around the receptacle, while the others discharge the fruit into their 

 hands, and, reaclimg over, place it in the vessel. The chewing con- 

 tinues imtil late in»the night, and when the work is finished a supper 

 is served by the hostess assisted by her women friends. The bowl 

 of chewed fruit, covered with a stone slab, is deposited on the roof 

 for the remainder of the night. In the morning it is emptied into 

 a large cooking vessel balanced OA'er hot embers in the fireplace: no 

 water is used, and the fruit is constantly stuTed with a slender rod. 

 When it is sufficiently cooked it is transferred to large bowls; on 

 becoming cold, the mass is made into thick pats about three inches 

 in diameter. These are placed on polished stone slabs and dried in 

 the sun on the roof. About three days are required for the drying 

 process. Those sleeping on the roof keep an eye on the pats, that 

 no harm may come to them. Wlien sufficiently dried several pats 

 at a time are taken into the hand and squeezed together; then the 

 mass is worked on polished stone slabs into rolls about 12 inches long 

 and 3i mches in diameter. The rolls, which are perfectly- smooth, 

 are deposited on polished boards or stone slabs and again carried to 

 the roof, where they remain five or ten days, or until perfectly fii-ni. 

 Many of these fruit rolls, covered with stone slabs, are ludden m the 

 walls of dwellmgs, wliile others are deposited in large pottery vases, 

 covered with stone slabs, and sealed. Wlien needed, usually a piece 

 the width of four fingers is cut crosswise from the roll, broken into 

 a bowl half filled with water, and then manipulated with the fingers 



