57 
no less than 30,000 Indians, chiefly of the Winnebago and 
Ojibway tribes, still use wild rice. 
n northwestern United States there grows a large yellow water 
lily (Nymphaea polysepala), somewhat similar in appearance to 
the yellow water lily common in the region about New York 
City. The pods produced by the plant are somewhat larger than 
a hen’s egg and contain numerous seeds that are well flavored 
and nutritious. On the Klamath Indian Reservation in Oregon, 
there are 10,000 acres of this lily, known to the Indians as 
“Wokas,” in one marsh. During the months of July and 
August the Indians are busy gathering the pods from which the 
seeds are extracted and stored for use during the year. Enor- 
us quantities of seeds are collected which provide the principal 
ie food of the Klamath Indians. The seeds are com- 
monly roasted in open baskets over ot when they swell and 
crack open somewhat like pop corn. When thus roasted they 
may be eaten dry or ground into a meal, from which porridge or 
bread is made. 
The American lotus is a plant of eastern United States belong- 
ing to the same family as the wokas. This plant produces nut- 
like fruits set in the swollen receptacle. The nuts are about three 
quarters of an inch in length, look like acorns and are rich in 
nutritious food substances. These nuts were gathered, stored, 
d in various ways. ot only seeds, but the large fleshy 
eae of various water lilies were important sources of food. 
Various nut-bearing trees such as the hickory nut, walnut and 
pecan furnished nuts which were gathered in season and stored 
for use when needed. The Indians had groves of pecans, 
walnuts and hickory trees of which they took considerable care 
ous species of oak bear acorns that are highly nutritious 
and which formed the bulk of the food of various Indian tribes. 
This was especially true of various tribes in California. The 
acorns were gathered when ripe, as much as 500-1,000 lbs. by a 
family, and carefully stored. The kernels were ground into a 
fine meal. Some species produce acorns which contain consider- 
able amounts of tannin together with bitter substances that are 
injurious to the health. The Indians developed rather ingenious 
