English: Title: Bulletin

Identifier: bulletin3011907smit Year: 1901 (1900s) Authors: Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology Subjects: Ethnology Publisher: Washington : G. P. O. Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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Text Appearing Before Image: STONE-BOILING—LIFTING THE HOT STONES INTO THE FOOD basket; CALIFORNIA INDIANS. (hOLMEs) tribes knew how to prepare savory and nourishing dishes, some of which have been adopted by civilized peoples (see Hommy, Maize, Samp, Succotash, etc.). The methods of cooking among the meat- eating tribes were, in order of importance.

Text Appearing After Image: STONE-BOlLlNG—REMOVING THE STONES FROM THE BOILING basket; CALIFORNIA INDIANS. (hOLMEs) broiling, roasting, and boiling, the last- named process often being that known as "stone boiling." The tribes whose diet was approximately vegetarian practised all the methods. The preparation of maize as food in- volved almost numberless ])rocesses, vary- ing with the tribes. In general, when maize reached the edible stage the ears were roasted in pit ovens, and after the feasting the surplus of roasted ears was dried for future use. The mature grain was milled raw or parched, the meal en- tering into various mushes, cakes, pones, wafers, and otlier bread. The grain was soaked in lye obtained from wood ashes to remove the horny envelope and was then boiled, forming hominy; this in turn was often dried, parched and ground, re- parched and reground, making a concen- trated food of great nourishing power in small bulk, which was consumed dry or in water as gruel. Pinole, consisting of ground parched corn, forms the favorite food of S. W. desert triljes. The fermenta- tion of corn to make beer was not gener- ally practised, and it is doubtful if the process was known in America before the discovery. A yeast formed by chew- ing corn has long been known to the Zufii and Hopi at least, and the former know how to preserve it through the agency of salt. (See Fermentation.) The Iroquois and other eastern tribes cooked maize with beans, meat, or vege- tables. The Pueblos add wood-ash lye to their "paper bread," and prepare their bread and nmshes with meat, greens, or oily seeds and nuts, l^esides using condi- ments, especially chile. Vegetal food stuffs were preserved by drying, and among the less sedentary tribes were strung or tied in bundles for facility of transportation or storage. The preservation of maize, mesquite beans, acorns, etc., gave rise to granaries and other storage devices. Animal food, from its perishable character, was often dried or frozen, but at times was preserved by smoking. Dried meat was sometimes pul- verized and mixed with berries, grease, etc., formingpemmican (q. v.), valued for use on journeys on account of its keeping properties. Fruits were pulped and dried for preservation. Nuts were often ground before being stored, as were also maize, grass seeds, and the legumes. Tubers were frequently stored in the ground or near the fireplace; the Virginian tribes preserved tubers for winter use in this way. {See Agriculture, Storage.) Infusions of leaves, roots, etc., of vari- ous herbs were drunk by the Indians as medicine (see Black drink), but no stim- ulating lieverage of the character of tea or coffee has been observed. Drinks made from fruit, as cider from manzanita ber- ries, used by the tribes of California, and a beverage made from cactus fruit l)y the Pima and neighboring tribes of Arizona, are the fermented beverages best known. In addition to the reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology, consult Barber, Moqui Food Preparation, Am. Nat., xii, 456,1878; Barrows, Ethnobotany of Coa- huilla Inds., 1900; Carr, Food of Certain American Indians and their Method of Preparing It, Proc. Am. Antiq. Soc, x, 155-190, 1895; Cabeza de Vaca, Narr., Smith trans., 1871; Coville, Wokas, A Primitive Food of the Klamath Inds., 1902; Gushing, Zuni Breadstuffs, The Millstone, ix and x, Indianapolis, 1884- 85; Dixon in Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., XVII, pt. 3,1905; Fewkesin Am. Anthrop., IX, 1896; Goddard in Univ. Cal. Publ., Am. Archeeol. andEthnoL, i, 1903; Holm, Descr. New Sweden, 1834; Hough (1) in Am. Anthrop., x, 1897, (2) ibid., xi, 1898; Jenkins, The Moki Bread, Pop. Sci.

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