318 



USES OF PLANTS BY THE CHIPPEWA INDIANS [eth. ann. 44 



'the powdered flowers and a tiny bit of red pepper. The water was 

 then removed from the stove and the mixture allowed to steep a 

 short time. 



Seasonings 



KoelUa virginiana (L. ) MacM. Mountain mint. 



The flowers and buds were used to season either meat or broth. 

 Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. Bearberry. 



The red berries of this plant were cooked with meat as a seasoning for the 

 broth. The leaves were smoked (see p. 337). 

 Asa rum canadense L. Wild ginger. 



The root of this plant was regarded as an " appetizer," being put in any 

 food as it was being cooked. It was also used for indigestion (see p. 342). 



The silk of corn (called "corn hair ") was dried before the fire and 

 put in broth to season it. The corn silk was said to thicken the broth 

 slightly as well as to impart a pleasing flavor. 



Pumpkin blossoms were dried and used to thicken broth. 



A Canadian Chippewa said that in old times his people had no 

 salt and that more maple sugar was used as seasoning than the quan- 

 tity of salt now used by white people. In the early days the Minne- 

 sota Chippewa had no salt and some of the older Indians have not 

 yet acquired a taste for it. In a treat}' known as the " Salt Treaty," 3 

 concluded at Leech Lake, August 21, 1847, with the Pillager Band 

 of Chippewa, there was a stipulation that the Indians should receive 

 5 barrels of salt annually for five years. 



A sirup was sometimes made from the sap of the woodbine and 

 wild rice was boiled in it to give an agreeable flavor. 



Cereals 



Zizonia palustris L. Indian rice. 



Wild rice was the principal cereal food of the Chippewa, being 

 cooked alone and also with meat or game. The manner of procuring 

 it and the first processes of its preparation have already been de- 

 scribed. The following are among the ways in which rice was cooked : 



(a) Boiled in water and eaten w 7 ith or without maple sugar. 



(b) Boiled with meat. 



(e) Grease was put in a kettle and the rice parched in the grease, 

 after which it was seasoned with, maple sugar. Dried blueberries 

 were often combined with this, and the rice and berries stored for 

 use on journeys. 



(d) Rice (not parched) was stored with dried blueberries during 

 the winter and the two were cooked together in the spring. 



3 A compilation of all the treaties between the United States and the Indian tribes, now 

 in force as laws. Washington, 1873, p. 212. 



