468 



FOOD 



[b. a. e. 



corn in the ear -which the Hurons are said 

 to have soaked in water until it became 

 putrid, when soup was made of it. 



Among the Pueblo Indians cooking is 

 carried to a remarkable degree of profi- 

 ciency, approaching in variety and meth- 

 ods the art among civilized peoples. _ Most 



STONE-BOILING — LIFTING THE HOT STONES INTO THE FOOD 

 basket; CALIFORNIA INDIANS. (hOLMEs) 



tribes knew how to prepare savory and 

 nourishing dishes, some of which have 

 been adopted by civilized peoples (see 

 Hommy, Maize, Samp, Succotash, etc. ) . 

 The methods of cooking among the meat- 

 eating tribes were, in order of importance. 



STONE-BOlLlNG — REMOVING THE STONES FROM THE BOILING 

 basket; CALIFORNIA INDIANS. (hOLMEs) 



broiling, roasting, and boiling, the last- 

 named process often being that known as 

 "stone boiling." The tribes whose diet 

 was approximately vegetarian practised 

 all the methods. 



The preparation of maize as food in- 

 volved almost numberless ])rocesses, vary- 

 ing with the tribes. In general, when 

 maize reached the edible stage the ears 

 were roasted in pit ovens, and after the 

 feasting the surplus of roasted ears was 

 dried for future use. The mature grain 

 was milled raw or parched, the meal en- 

 tering into various mushes, cakes, pones, 

 wafers, and otlier bread. The grain was 

 soaked in lye obtained from wood ashes to 

 remove the horny envelope and was then 

 boiled, forming hominy; this in turn was 

 often dried, parched and ground, re- 

 parched and reground, making a concen- 

 trated food of great nourishing power in 

 small bulk, which was consumed dry or 

 in water as gruel. Pinole, consisting of 



ground parched corn, forms the favorite 

 food of S. W. desert triljes. The fermenta- 

 tion of corn to make beer was not gener- 

 ally practised, and it is doubtful if the 

 process was known in America before 

 the discovery. A yeast formed by chew- 

 ing corn has long been known to the Zufii 

 and Hopi at least, and the former know 

 how to preserve it through the agency of 

 salt. (See Fermentation. ) 



The Iroquois and other eastern tribes 

 cooked maize with beans, meat, or vege- 

 tables. The Pueblos add wood-ash lye to 

 their "paper bread," and prepare their 

 bread and nmshes with meat, greens, or 

 oily seeds and nuts, l^esides using condi- 

 ments, especially chile. 



Vegetal food stuffs were preserved by 

 drying, and among the less sedentary 

 tribes were strung or tied in bundles for 

 facility of transportation or storage. The 

 preservation of maize, mesquite beans, 

 acorns, etc., gave rise to granaries and 

 other storage devices. Animal food, from 

 its perishable character, was often dried 

 or frozen, but at times was preserved by 

 smoking. Dried meat was sometimes pul- 

 verized and mixed with berries, grease, 

 etc., forming pemmican (q. v. ), valued for 

 use on journeys on account of its keeping 

 properties. Fruits were pulped and dried 

 for preservation. Nuts were often ground 

 before being stored, as were also maize, 

 grass seeds, and the legumes. Tubers 

 were frequently stored in the ground or 

 near the fireplace; the Virginian tribes 

 preserved tubers for winter use in this 

 way. {See Agriculture, Storage.) 



Infusions of leaves, roots, etc., of vari- 

 ous herbs were drunk by the Indians as 

 medicine (see Black drink), but no stim- 

 ulating lieverage of the character of tea or 

 coffee has been observed. Drinks made 

 from fruit, as cider from manzanita ber- 

 ries, used by the tribes of California, and 

 a beverage made from cactus fruit l)y the 

 Pima and neighboring tribes of Arizona, 

 are the fermented beverages best known. 



In addition to the reports of the Bureau 

 of American Ethnology, consult Barber, 

 Moqui Food Preparation, Am. Nat., xii, 

 456, 1878; Barrows, Ethnobotany of Coa- 

 huilla Inds., 1900; Carr, Food of Certain 

 American Indians and their Method of 

 Preparing It, Proc. Am. Antiq. Soc, x, 

 155-190, 1895; Cabeza de Vaca, Narr., 

 Smith trans., 1871; Coville, Wokas, A 

 Primitive Food of the Klamath Inds., 

 1902; Gushing, Zuni Breadstuffs, The 

 Millstone, ix and x, Indianapolis, 1884- 

 85; Dixon in Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 

 XVII, pt. 3, 1905; Fewkesin Am. Anthrop., 

 IX, 1896; Goddard in Univ. Cal. Publ., 

 Am. Archeeol. andEthnoL, i, 1903; Holm, 

 Descr. New Sweden, 1834; Hough (1) in 

 Am. Anthrop., x, 1897, (2) ibid., xi, 

 1898; Jenkins, The Moki Bread, Pop. Sci. 



