68 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



eaten on the cob or scraped off and eaten in dishes. Sometimes tl 

 kernels were cut from the cob and boiled as a soup. 



The Seneca name "means delicious corn food, from o'nius't 

 corn, and oga"'o", delicious food. 



Fried green corn, Gagofi's'a ge'Ma. This dish was prepared t 

 scraping the green corn, in the milk, from the cob, mashing it i 

 a mortar and either patting it into cakes or tossing it in a basket 

 make a loose light mass. The corn was then ready for frying. Tl 

 older Indians say that the frying could be done in a clay kettle ar 

 that corn so prepared was especially good if cooked in bear oil.^ 



Succotash, Ogon'sa' ganon'da.^ Iroquois succotash was pr( 

 pared much as is the modern form made by white people. Tl 

 green corn cut or scraped from the cob was thrown in a pot c 

 beans which had nearly been cooked and the mass cooked togeth( 

 until both ingredients were done. A sufficient quantity of salt an 

 grease or .oil was added for seasoning and flavor. The favori 

 corn for this dish was Tuscarora or sweet corn. 



Baked cob-corn in the husk, Wades'konduk o'nis'ta. This Wc 

 a popular way of preparing green corn on the cob. The ashe 

 from the camp or hearth fire were brushed aside and a row of ur 

 husked ears laid in the hot stones or ground. These were the 

 covered with cold ashes. Embers were now heaped over and a he 

 fire built and continued until the corn beneath was thought suff 

 ciently baked. Corn baked in this manner has a fine flavor an 

 never becomes scorched. 



Baked scraped corn, Ogo"'sa' ohon'sta'.^ The green corn 

 scraped from the cob with a deer's jaw or knife, pounded in 

 mortar or mashed in a wooden bowl with a stone, patted into cake; 

 sprinkled with dry meai and baked in small dishes. For baking i 

 the ashes the cakes are wrapped in husk and covered with ashe 

 Embers are heaped over and a brisk fire built, this being kept goin 

 until the cakes were considered baked. 



Carver, the British traveler, in writing of his experiences amon 

 the aboriginal Americans, says of this dish ". . . better flavore 

 bread I never ate in this country." In describing the preparatio 



1 Carr, quoting Carver's Travels (London 1778), notes, "We . . . coo 

 our vegetables by themselves though formerly this was not the case fc 

 according to an old writer (Carver), when m?.de with bear oil 'the f? 

 moistens the pulse and renders it beyond comparison dehcious.' " 



2 Onon'darha is the Mohawk name for succotash. 



3 O'gaserho'da is the Mohawk name. 



