THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



131 



Photograph by H. W. Henshaw, from C. Hart Merriam 



DICE NO INDIAN WOMAN POUNDING ACORNS AT SANTA ISABEL, 

 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 



The picture shows plainly the ring of partly ground acorns which always rises about the 

 rims of these mortar holes in the solid rock. It shows also the method of holding the heavy 

 stone pestle, and some of the acorn baskets. 



black as jet, and while still fresh has the 

 consistency of rather soft cheese. In the 

 course of a few days it becomes hard. 

 . . . It is remarkable for being sweet, 

 for the original meal, and even the soup, 

 are rather insipid. The sweet taste is 

 very evident, and is due in great measure 

 to the prolonged and gentle cooking, 

 which, favored by the moisture of the 

 dough, gradually converts some constit- 

 uent of the meal into sugar." 



Chesnut adds that the clay really 

 serves a useful purpose, converting any 

 tannin still remaining in the dough into 

 an insoluble form, thus removing the in- 

 digestible element. He states further 

 that bread made in the same way, but 

 without the clay, is likewise sweet, differ- 

 ing only in color, the color varying from 

 light tan to dark reddish brown. 



The quantity of acorn meal cooked and 

 eaten by Indians is almost beyond belief. 



At a ceremony for the dead, held near 

 Bald Rock, Tuolumne County, Califor- 

 nia, in early October, 1907, the prepara- 

 tion of the acorn food for the mourners 

 and guests was begun several days in 

 advance. Two cooking places and five 

 leaches, each about 4 feet in diameter, 

 were in active operation for several days. 



On the opening day I counted at the 

 cooking places about 50 huge baskets, 

 each holding from one to two bushels, 

 full of freshly cooked acorn mush (nup'- 

 pah). The mush is so heavy that the 

 services of two strong women were re- 

 quired to lift each basket and place it in 

 the large conical burden basket on the 

 back of a third woman, who slowly car- 

 ried it to the roundhouse where the cere- 

 mony was held. 



In addition to the mush, there were at 

 least 50 turtle-shaped loaves of acorn 

 bread (oo-lay), made by dipping out the 



