\I \ rERIAL CI l-l i RE 77 



cooked roots in this way, but in common with the 

 typical tribes used the same method for meat. Thus we 

 see that neither pottery nor metal vessels are essential 

 to good cooking. 



Buffalo horn spoons were used by all and whenever 

 available ladles and dishes were fashioned from moun- 

 tain sheep horn. Those of buffalo horn were used in 

 eating; those of mountain sheep horn usually for 

 dipping, skimming and other culinary processes. In 

 making these spoons, the horn was generally scorched 

 over a fire until some of the gluey matter tried out, and 

 then trimmed to the desired shape with a knife. Next 

 it was boiled in water until soft, when the bowl was 

 shaped over a water-worn stone of suitable size and the 

 handle bent into the proper shape. The sizes and forms 

 of such spoons varied a great deal, but no important 

 tribal differences have been observed. In traveling, 

 spoons, as well as bowls, were usually carried in bags 

 of buffalo skin. Among the Village tribes, wooden 

 spoons were common, similar to those from Woodland 

 collections. Bowls were fashioned from wood but were 

 rare among the southern and western tribes. Knots of 

 birch and other hard wood found occasionally along 

 rivers were usually used for bowls. These were worked 

 into shape by burning, scraping down with bits of stone, 

 and finally polishing. They were used in eating, each 

 person usually owning one which he carried with him 

 when invited to a feast. Occasionally, bowls were 

 made of mountain sheep horn; but such were the excep- 

 tion, rather than the rule. The finest bowls seem to 



