NOMADS OF THE LONG BOW HOLMBERG 



35 



pieces with a bamboo knife. Armored animals 

 like the armadillo and tortoise are usually thrown 

 in the fire and left there to roast in their shells. 

 Fish are never gutted before they are cooked, nor 

 are the scales removed. 



The division of labor as regards cooking varies 

 a great deal, depending upon the circumstances 

 under which the food is being prepared. Every- 

 one knows how to cook, even young children. 



Cooking is an art learned very early in life. 

 When traveling with his mother and father, a 

 child is often given a cob of corn to roast, some 

 motacu fruits to roast, or a morsel of viscera to 

 cook for himself. In fact, whenever animals are 

 being cut up, there are always young children 

 (as often boys as girls) around, waiting for some 

 tidbit, which they then take to a fire and roast for 

 themselves. Such morsels they share with no one 

 else. 



While in camp, when the group is fairly settled, 

 most of the cooking is done by the women. This 

 is especially true if the preparation of the meal 

 involves the grinding of maize or other vegetable 

 products that are sometimes mixed with the meat 

 and cooked in a pot. On the march, however, 

 when pots have been temporarily stored and when 

 most of the food is roasted, the men take as 

 active part in cooking as the women. In fact, 

 the roasting of meat often falls entirely to the 

 men, especially since they may be off on the 

 hunt several days without the women and thus 

 be forced to barbecue the game before returning 

 to camp. 



No condiments of any kind are used in cooking. 

 Even salt (no deposits of this product are found in 

 the area) is unknown to the Siriono living under 

 aboriginal conditions. Evidently the foods they 

 eat contain enough salt to produce the hydro- 

 chloric acid necessary for digestion. 



I introduced salt to some Indians for the first 

 time, and they expressed a distaste for eating it. 

 By using small quantities in cooking, however, 

 they soon developed a craving for it. In some 

 instances this craving (once the Indians have 

 become accustomed to using salt) has become so 

 great as to become an important factor in estab- 

 lishing and maintaining friendly relations with 

 the whites. The late Frederick Park Richards, 

 an American cattle rancher living near El Carmen, 



who was one of the first white men to establish 

 permanent relations with the Siriono in the Rio 

 Blanco area, told me that when he first came to 

 the region in 1912 he was able to maintain peaceful 

 relations with the Indians for years before they 

 permanently settled down with him on his farms 

 in 1925 by conditioning them to eating salt. 

 I myself, however, have traveled with primitive 

 groups when all of us went without salt for as 

 long as 43 days without suffering any apparent 

 ill effects from such a diet. 



Actually, little emphasis is placed on the prepara- 

 tion of food. Depending upon the time, place, 

 type, and quantity of game, it may be roasted or 

 baked in the ashes of the fire, broiled on a spit or 

 babrecot, or boiled or steamed in a clay pot. 

 Some vegetable foods, such as maize, are prepared 

 by grinding before they are cooked, and, of course, 

 many nuts and fruits are eaten raw. 



The following is a list of foods and the ways they 

 are prepared. 



Foods: 



Meats Never eaten raw; always broiled, 



roasted, or boiled; sometimes 

 boiled with maize, manioc, or 

 eamotes. 



Fish Never eaten raw; almost always 



roasted on babrecot with scales 

 and guts; sometimes boiled. 



Maize Never eaten raw; roasted in husk 



when young and tender; roasted 

 on cob when mature and hard; 

 sometimes ground up and boiled 

 with meat or made into corn- 

 meal cakes. 



Manioc Never eaten raw; peeled and boiled, 



sometimes with meat; roasted in 

 peel in hot ashes. 



Camotes Never eaten raw; boiled in peels, 



sometimes with meat; usually 

 roasted with peels in hot ashes. 



Papaya Always eaten raw. 



Palm cabbage Eaten raw but frequently boiled 



with meat. 



Motacu fruit Never eaten raw; always roasted. 



Nuts Always eaten raw. 



Coquino fruit Do. 



Chonta fruit Always boiled. 



Aguai fruit Always roasted. 



Rfndo6ra fruit Do. 



Gargat6a fruit Do. 



Paeay fruit Always eaten raw. 



Cacao fruit Do . 



Ndia fruit Do. 



