IROQUOIS USES OF MAIZE 69 



of these cakes he said that they were ", . . made without the 

 addition of any liquid hy the milk that flows from them; and when 

 it is effected they parcel it out into cakes and enclosing them with 

 leaves place them in the hot embers where they soon bake." 



Cracked undried corn, Odjis'tanonda. The ripened but not 

 dry corn was shelled from the cob and smashed kernel by kernel 

 on a flat stone, a mul'ler being used as a crusher. The crushed corn 

 was mixed with new harvested beans and boiled for nearly three 

 hours. Salt was used as a seasoning and deer or bear meat mixed 

 with the mass if desired {see fig. 5). 



Boiled corn bread, Gagai'te"ta'i'a''kwa'.^ For bread, purple, 

 ■calico and the two hominy corns were used. After the corn was 

 shelled it was boiled for from 15 to- 30 minutes in a weak lye made 

 of hard wood ashes and water. The lye solution in order to be of 

 the proper consistency must be strong enough to bite the tongue 

 when tasted. When the hulls and outer skins had been loosened, 

 looking white and swelled, the corn was put in a hulling basket, 

 taken to a brook or large tub, where it was thoroughly rinsed to 

 free the kernels of any trace of lye and to wash off the loosened 

 hulls and skins. The corn was then drained, thrown in a mortar 

 and pulverized with a pestle. The granules were sifted through 

 the meal sieve to make the meal fine and light. After this process 

 the meal was mixed with boiling water and quickly molded into a 

 flattened cake about 8 inches in diameter and 3, inches thick. The 

 cake was then plunged into boiHng water and cooked for nearly an 

 hour. The object of mixing the meal with boiling water was to 

 coagulate the starch and make the meal stick together. After the 

 meal is mixed with the hot water and molded, the hands are 

 plunged in cold water and rubbed over the loaf to give it a smooth 

 glossy surface. When the loaf floats it is considered properly 

 cooked. Sometimes the molded loaf is baked instead of boiled, 

 specially for journeys. The loaf is buried in hot ashes and a roar- 

 ing fire built over it until it is baked thoroughly. When it is to be 

 eaten the ashes are washed off and slices cut from the loaf. The 

 baked loaf if not wet will not become moldy like boiled bread and 

 this is the approved form for hunting and war parties. 



1 Gano°'stoharhe ganada'rho^ in Mohawk. 



