MoDKKN IMKHLOS. 83 



The llopi have iiuiiiy peach oreliards but fruit was 

 not eultivated when the Spanish first became ac- 

 quainted with the Southwest. They did make use of 

 ])inon nuts which are frequently mentioned. That 

 they used cherries, wild plums, the fruit of the yucca, 

 and the pods and beans of the mesquite, is also probable 

 although Castaiieda says that pine nuts were the only 

 fruits used b}' them. 



Preparation of Food. The method of grinding corn 

 has changed but little since it w^as first described by 

 Castaiieda. 



"They keep the separate houses where they prepare the food for 

 eating and where they grind the meal, very clean. This is a separate 

 room or closet, where they have a trough with three stones fixed in stiff 

 clay. Three women go in here, each one having a stone, with which 

 one of them breaks the corn, the next grinds it, and the third grinds it 

 again. They take off their shoes, do up their hair, shake their clothes, 

 and cover their heads before they enter the door. A man sits at the 

 door playing on a fife while they grind, moving the stones to the music 

 and singing together. They grind a large quantity at one time, because 

 they make all their bread of meal soaked in warm water, like wafers." 

 (Winship, 522.) 



The meal boxes are often in one corner of the living 

 rooms of the modern pueblos and the women still sing 

 at their work but without the accompanying flute. 

 Before grinding, the corn is often parched or roasted. 



The wafers mentioned probably refer to piki, the 

 paper-thin bread made of corn meal of various colors 

 and rolled into bunches which keep indefinitely. This 

 bread is cooked on thin slabs of stone or more recently 

 on pieces of sheet iron. Tortillas, having the shape 

 and thickness of pancakes, are also popular. The 



