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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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

 INDIAN WOMAN POUNDING ACORNS AT AGUA CALlENTA, IN WARNER VALLEY, 



SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 



Note the elevated rim of partly ground acorn meats surrounding the mortar hole 



hot mush in a special basket and plung- 

 ing it (turning it out of the basket) into 

 a cold, running stream. 



The action of the cold water, curiously 

 enough, causes the loaves to contract and 

 harden They are then placed on rocks 

 to drain, and in the course of a few days 

 become dry and hard and may be carried 

 for weeks, until consumed. 



The total quantity of acorn mush and 

 bread made for this ceremony must have 

 exceeded a ton in weight. 



In some parts of California the In- 

 dians husk the acorns as soon as ripe, 

 without waiting for them to dry. The 

 shells, being at that time somewhat flex- 

 ible, cannot be easily cracked with the 

 cracking stone, but are torn open with the 

 teeth. 



INDIANS ESTABLISH ACORN CAMPS IN 

 AUTUMN 



A very intelligent full-blood woman 

 named Che-na-wah Weitch-ah-wah, be- 



longing to the Po-lik-lah or lower Kla- 

 math tribe, writes that in her country 

 when the acorns ripen, in late October 

 and in November, the families establish 

 acorn camps in favorite localities, gather- 

 ing and bringing in the nuts in the large 

 burden baskets. In the evening, when 

 the evening meal is finished, all the fam- 

 ily — men, women, and children — engage 

 in removing the hulls with their teeth, 

 an occupation at which they are very ex- 

 pert. The hulled green acorns are put 

 into large, flattish circular receptacles of 

 basket work, which are placed on top of 

 a high frame over the fire in the house, 

 so that the heat in rising dries them. 



All acorns are not equally desirable 

 from the food standpoint. Of the edible 

 qualities of the numerous eastern species 

 I have no personal knowledge, though it 

 is well known that acorns of several spe- 

 cies were eaten by various eastern tribes 

 from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. 



It is known that the Algonkin tribes 



