118 THE WINNEBAGO TKIBE [bth. ann. 37 



In addition to the vegetable foods above referred to, the following 

 may be mentioned: Tcera'pEra, a plant growing in the water, the root 

 of which was eaten boiled with meat; wokniylcEra and TiuHyTc hoi'dja, 

 awl plant and peavine, respectively, of which only the roots were 

 eaten; and finally the dora, wild potato, a favorite dish. The skin 

 was peeled off; then the potato was dried in the sun and afterw'ards 

 boiled. Xa^pa']>:', chokecherries, were eaten raw. P'arjTcxl' and 

 ma'^hi'ntc, a lowland weed, and the milkweed, respectively, were also 

 utilized. Of the former, the boiled root was eaten; of the latter, 

 the boiled head. Small quantities of food which required gi-indmg 

 were put into a squirrel hide from which the hairs had been re- 

 moved, and were pounded ^\^th a stone. A mill consisting of a 

 dug-out trunk with handles attached was also used. 



Preservation of food. — ^In former times meat was hung on long 

 racks for preservation. Corn was cached {ivoxe'). Dried berries 

 were kept in bags woven from vegetable fibers. These bags were 

 always covered with designs, mostly of geometric patterns, although 

 realistic designs, as elk, deer, thunderbirds, and water spirits, all 

 unquestionably property marks, were frequently used. There were 

 two types of bags, that closely woven (^^'a") (pis. 32-36), just men- 

 tioned, and matting bags with fairly large openings in the meshwork 

 (pi. 37). Food stored away at home was generally placed in a part 

 of the lodge reserved for the purpose. 



A Winnebago menu. — To give an idea of the favorite dishes of the 

 Winnebago, the names of several mentioned in one of the myths are 

 here appended: Small dried corn boiled with bear's ribs; jerked meat 

 ■with bear's fat; deer's fat; deer's gi-ease frozen in a hole in the 

 groiuid ; dried corn boiled with fruit ; deer-lom soup. 



Cooking and eating utensils (pi. 38). — -With regard to the kind 

 of cooking and eating utensils used in the old days there exists 

 even among the Indians themselves considerable difl'erence of 

 opinion. According to some, their ancestors never used wooden 

 utensils, mills, spoons, and plates, but utilized shells of various 

 kimis or other natural objects suitable to their needs. Others 

 state, on the contrary, that, in early times, in addition to such 

 natural objects, wooden vessels of many kinds were fashioned from 

 maple knots. These are said to have been burned out, a very 

 tedious process, or even to have been cut out with adzes. It is 

 quite impossible to decide this question now. Wooden imple- 

 ments and utensils in great variety are, of course, found among the 

 Winnebago at the present time, but these are supposed by many to 

 have been introduced by the neighboring Algonquian tribes and by 

 early French traders. The main contention of the present-day 

 Winnebago is, however, that their ancestors could never have made 

 this woodenware without the aid of European implements, burning 

 out being a tedious and unsatisfactory method. 



