Southwest sD/useum Leaflets 13 



wherever there were sugar maples, there the Indians made 

 maple sugar. 



In getting maple sap in the early spring and in making it 

 into sugar, the Indians devised the methods that are con- 

 tinued today, though when they boiled the sap they did it in 

 pottery kettles and even in wooden troughs and containers 

 made of bark into which they put hot stones. It is the 

 Indian we can thank for that delicious product, genuine 

 maple syrup. 



This product was of great importance to the Indians in 

 getting a satisfactory diet; and so far as diet is concerned it 

 is probable that 500 years ago the American Indians had the 

 best balanced diet in the world. 



Chicle — From humble beginnings, the chewing-gum in- 

 dustry has become big business, built on chicle (chee'-klay) . 

 This principal ingredient of "gum" is from a tree, also named 

 chicle, that yields one of the finest white resins in the world. 

 This is in Middle America, where, during the rainy season, the 

 Indians extract the resin by a process similar to that for ob- 

 taining rubber. The Indian name in the Nahuatl language 

 is chictli. 



Incidentally, the wood of the tree is of remarkable value. 

 The Maya carved logs of it into beams for their vast temples, 

 where it has withstood the ravages of time for a thousand 

 years. 



Vanilla — No wonder vanilla has a delightful flavor. It 

 is from an orchid, a fragrant climbing variety native to 

 tropical America, but now cultivated extensively in Java, 

 Tahiti, Mauritius, and other islands of the tropics. The word 

 vanilla is from Spanish vainilla, referring to the long slender 

 pod {vaina) containing the seeds. 



The Indians originated the technique of obtaining vanilla 

 extract by picking the pods before they were ripe, drying 

 them, and then removing the crystals from outside the pods. 



Tonka Beans — Bathing was a feature of Roman civil- 

 ization; but with the arrival of the Dark Ages the bathtub 

 practically disappeared from Europe for more than a thou- 

 sand years. Even as late as the time of Columbus the use of 

 soap was very limited, but perfumes were exceedingly popular. 

 Consequently, when Europeans learned that the Indians of 

 Guiana had discovered the exquisite fragrance of the tonka 

 beans, — the fragrance of "new-mown hay", — they took the 



