IROQUOIS USES OF MAIZE 



51 



Metallic meal sifters, now sometimes used, are regarded as inferior 

 for sifting the Indian prepared meal because they give a metallic 



Fig. 8 Meal sifter. Specimen is 1 2 inches in diameter and 4 inches deep. 

 The mesh is x\ inch. 



taste to the food. It is said that the basket sieve makes lighter 

 flour. 



Ash sifter, Oga'yeoHo'.^ The ash sifter was a small basket 

 about 6 inches square at the top, 5 inches square or less at the bot- 

 tom and about 3 inches deep. It was woven like the hominy sifter, 

 the sieve bottom having somewhat smaller openings. 



Ash sifters are rare in collections illustrating the series of baskets 

 used in the preparation of corn for food. One in the State Museum 

 is very old and was collected by Morgan at Tonawanda in 185 1. 



Bark bread bowl, Gusnc'^gaon'wa'.- This dish is made from 

 bark peeled in the spring or the early summer time, bent into the re- 

 quired shape and bound around the edges with a hoop of ash sewed 

 on with a cord of inner elm or basswood bark. The usual dimen- 



1 Yo°ga°rawakto' is the Mohawk form. 

 * Ga"sna'gahon'wa' in Mohawk. 



