# The Pima Indians/Technology/The Food Supply

The Food Supply - Domestication of Animals - Agriculture - Trade - Artifacts Preparation of Food · Plants Used for Food · Medicinal Plants · Animals Used for Food
TECHNOLOGY
The Food Supply
The Pimas subsist upon a mixed diet in which vegetable food predominates. In the past it would seem probable that the proportion of meat was greater than at present, though they have long been tillers of the soil. Certain articles of their diet appear to be markedly flesh producing, and this tendency is at least not diminished by the habits of life resulting from the semitropical climate of the Gila valley. They are noticeably heavier than individuals belonging to the tribes on the Colorado plateau to the north and northeast, and many old persona exhibit a degree of obesity that is in striking contrast with the "tall and sinewy" Indian conventionalized in popular thought. (Fig. 2.)
​About every fifth year in primitive times the Gila river failed in midwinter, the flow diminishing day by day until at length the last drop of water that could not gain shelter beneath the sands was licked up by the ever-thirsty sun. The fish gathered in the few pools that were maintained by the underflow, the ducks and other water birds took flight, but the deer and antelope could the more readily be stalked because of their resorting to known watering places. Without water in the river and canals there could be no crops, and necessity drove the people to seek far afield for the native plants that in some degree produce fruits or seeds even in dry seasons. The fruit of the saguaro and the seed or bean of the mesquite were the most abundant and accessible resources. When even these failed the Pimas were driven to make long journeys into the Apache country—​and whenever they got a mile from their own villages they were in the land of the Apache—in search of animal food, roots, berries, and especially the edible agaves.
At other times the very abundance of water proved disastrous; floods destroyed the canals and swept away the crops. As early as 1697 Padre Kino reported that owing to the fields having been overflowed the Pimas could offer him no pinole, but gave mesquite meal instead. The resort to uncultivated products such as their Papago ​cousins to the southward wholly subsisted upon did not prevent the Pimas from attaining proficiency in agriculture, as will be seen later, and it must many times have preserved them from total extinction. With what success they sought for edible plants may be judged from the subjoined list, which is believed to be fairly complete. It contains 22 plants of which the stems, leaves, or flowers were eaten, 4 that furnished roots or bulbs, 24 with seeds or nuts, and 15 that supplied fruits or berries. And this in a region that appears to the casual visitor to be a desert: with but a few thorny shrubs and but one tree that he would deem worthy of the name.
PREPARATION OF FOOD
Very few articles of Pima diet are eaten raw, and many of them are of such a nature as to necessitate thorough cooking; thus the agave and the fruit of some of the cacti are baked for many hours. It may be well, therefore, to describe the methods, so far as they could be ascertained, of preparing the various plants for use. The art of cooking is not well developed among these people; no such elaborate preparations as Mr Cushing found at Zuñi tempt the Pima palate.
In the olden time maize was ground upon the flat metates and formed into loaves, which must have been "sad" indeed, to judge from their modern counterparts. With the advent of the whites came the introduction of a new and quickly accepted cereal, wheat; and the bread made from it also, without leavening agent, is heavy and indigestible. One loaf was obtained (pl. VI, a), said to be a comparatively small one, that weighed 14 pounds and yet was only 3 inches thick and 20 inches in diameter. No knowledge of the pueblo wafer breads exists among the Pimas, who confine their treatment of mesquite, corn, wheat, and other flour to baking as tortillas or as loaves in the ashes, frying in suet, or boiling, either in water to form a gruel or mush, or with other foods in the shape of dumplings.
A large part of the cereal food of the Pimas is parched before it is ground.
​Meat is roasted on the coals, a favorite method of cooking dried meat or that of small rodents, or it is boiled until well done. In the latter method, according to one informant, it is put on the fire in cold water. The broth is then thrown away lest it cause consumption. A coarse-grained flour is sometimes boiled with the meat to make what a Canadian voyageur would term rubabu.
Occasionally a housewife will be met with among the Pimas who is scrupulously neat and clean in cooking and in the care of the home. Most of the women, however, carry traces of dried dough on their fingers from week's end to week's end, and the cooking vessels know no cleansing except the scraping that seeks the last particle of food that may cling to them, the rasping tongue of the starving dog, or the hasty slopping of a little cold water into them just before using again. The evil effects of slovenliness are reduced, however, by the peculiar conditions, such as the dry air, which saps the moisture from all organic matter, even in the shade; the outdoor cooking place exposed to a sun that withers all germs; and the habit of eating all the food prepared for each meal, which includes the rule of etiquette prescribing that one must eat all that is set before him.
The kitchen is an arrow-bush inclosure, about 4 or 5 meters in diameter (pl. VI, b), containing its set of half a dozen pottery vessels. In the center are the three stones on which the cooking pot rests. Such an inclosure is quite common at the present day, though many have adoped the oval fireplaces of adobe (pl. VI, c), some obtain iron kettle stands from the agency blacksmith, and a few (chiefly those who live in adobe houses) are using modern stoves.
PLANTS USED FOR FOOD
Âʼnûk iʼavak, Atriplex bracteosa var.; A. coronata Wats.; A. elegans Dietrich. These saltbushes, with a few others as yet unidentified, are sometimes boiled with other food because of their salty flavor. They are cooked in pits with the fruit of the cactus, Opuntia arborescens, the method of roasting them being described below. The young shoots of some of them are crisp and tender. Commonly known as "sagebrush," these saltbushes are among the most abundant plants in that region. There are both herbaccous and woody species, the former being eaten by stock and the latter being useful for fuel.
​Aot, Agave americana Linn. (possibly a few related species also). Mescal was gathered in times of famine, and it would have been much more extensively used had it not been for the danger from "the enemy," the Apaches, that attended even the shortest journey away from the villages. The plant has ever been a favorite, not only among the Pimas but also with the Papagos, the Apaches, and a score of other tribes. The first day's work after reaching the hills where this plant grows was to seek suitable wood and make digging sticks. Then the men gathered the mescal heads by prying them out with the sticks, and trimmed off the leaves with a knife, leaving one or two, so that the heads might be tied in pairs and slung on a rope for carrying. Thin-leaved specimens were rejected, inasmuch as they not only contain little nourishment, but blister the mouth when eaten. While the men were bringing in the mescal, the women gathered wood for fuel. Pits were dug, and after the fire built in them had died down small stones were placed on the coals. The mescal was then placed on the stones and the whole covered with earth. When it had roasted for twenty-four hours, a small opening was made in the pit and its contents examined; if the cooking was not yet complete, the opening was closed and the pit left undisturbed twelve hours longer. If the roasting was not done when the pit was first opened, it was believed that the incontinence of some members of the party was the cause. The heads of the fruit were opened by removing the envelope on one side; the center was cut out and dried in the sun, when it was ready for use or for storing away.
Mescal is now obtained from the Papagos. It is eaten by chewing until the juice is extracted and rejecting the fiber. It is used alone or together with pinole. Sirup is extracted from the prepared mescal by boiling until the juice is removed, which is then thickened by prolonged boiling until it becomes a black sirup, somewhat similar to sorghum. It is inferior to saguaro sirup.
Âʼpăn, Monolepis chenopoides. The roots are washed, boiled in an olla, and cooled in a basket. The water is squeezed out, and they are again put into the olla with a little fat or lard and salt. After cooking for a few moments they are ready to serve with tortillas. This plant is also used in a similar manner by the Mexicans, who are supposed to have learned its value from the natives. The seeds are boiled, partially dried, parched, ground on the metate, and eaten as pinole.
Aʼtaftak, Cucurbita fœtidissima H.B.K. The seeds of this wild gourd are roasted and eaten.
Eʼikâfĭ. The root of this small plant is gathered, boiled, and eaten without peeling.
Haitʼʽkam, Olneya tesota. The nuts of the ironwood tree (pl. VII, a) are parched in an olla, or, what is more usual, the broken half of one, ​and eaten without further preparation. The tree grows on the mesas on all sides of the villages, where it is very conspicuous for a few days in May, when it is covered with a mass of purple flowers.
Hâʼkowat, Phoradendron californicum. The berries of the mistletoe that grows on the mesquite are gathered and boiled without stripping from the stem. They are taken in the fingers, and the berries stripped off into the mouth as eaten. Various species of mistletoe are very abundant on the trees along the Gila, but this one only is eaten.
Halt, Cucurbita pepo Linn. The common species of pumpkin grown by the Pimas, as well as by the whites and Mexicans, is cut in strips and dried, when it is known by a number of different names, according to the manner of cutting and the particular variety. This species includes the pumpkins proper, the bush scallop squashes, the summer crook-necks, and the white or yellow warty squashes. The club-shaped, pear-shaped, or long-cylindrical smooth squash is Cucurbita moschata Duchesne. It is extensively grown by the Pimas. The seeds of the pumpkin ere parched and eaten. When the dried pumpkin is used, it is softened in water and boiled.
Haʼnûm, Opuntia arborescens. The fruit of this cactus (pl. VIII, a) is gathered with an instrument that resembles an enlarged wooden clothespin. It is collected in large quantities and carried home in the kiâhâ, or carrying basket. A pit is dug and a fire built in it, on which stones are heated. As the fire dies down the stones are removed and a layer of the saltbush, Suæda arborescens, is placed over the coals; above this is placed a layer of cactus fruit, then hot stones, and so alternately to the top, over which a thick layer of saltbush is laid with earth outside. The pit is left undisturbed over one night, then its contents are spread out, dried, and the fruit stirred with a stick until the thorns are rubbed off, whereupon it is ready to store away for future use. In its final preparation it must be boiled. It is then salted and eaten with pinole, The acid flavor is usually relieved by the addition of various plants cooked as greens.
​The fruit is eaten without preparation when it ripens. It is of a crimson color and contains many black seeds about the size of those of the fig, which fruit it resembles in taste. By a process of boiling and fermentation an intoxicating liquor is obtained from the fresh fruit which has been more highly esteemed than the nutritious food and has rendered this new-year a season of debauchery.
The fruit is dried and preserved in balls 15 or more centimeters in diameter (fig. 3). From either the fresh or dried fruit sirup is extracted by boiling it "all day." The residue is ground on the metate into an oily paste which is eaten without further preparation. The seeds may be separated from the pulp at the time of drying the fruit and may be eaten raw or ground on the the metate and treated as any meal—put into water to form a pinole or combined with other meal to bake into bread.
* ↑ Manuscript, Hemenway Collection, X, p. 6, copy by Bandelier from Doc. His. Mex.
* ↑ Made by grinding parched corm into meal and mixing it with water to form a thin gruel; wheat is now similarly treated. Pfefferkorn gives the following appreciative description of pinole in his Beschreibung der Landschaft Sonora, the second volume of which was published in 1795: "Auch auf dem Felde, und auf der Reise, wo keine Bequemlichkeit zum Kochen ist, haben die Sonorer ihre Nahrung von dem Mais. Sie nehmen den nöthigen Vorrath mit: dieser bestehet in dem Pinole, den ihnen die Weiber auf folgende Art bereiten. Nachdem der Mais im Wasser etwas geweicht, und hernach getrocknet ist; rösten sie denselben in einer irdenen Schüssel, und rühren ihn beständig herum, damit er nicht anbrenne. Währendem Rösten, springen die Körner auf; und das Mark bricht, gleich einer schneeweissen Blume, hervor. Dieses wird Esquita genant und ist nicht unangenehm zu essen. Der auf diese Art geröstete Mais wird auf dem Metate gemahlen; und bekömmt alsdann den Namen Pinole. Diese Feld und Reisekost führt der Sonorer in dem Balge von einer wilden Katze, oder einem andern Thiere, mit sich. Sogar die Soldaten, und andere Spanier, haben auf der Reise keine andere Nahrung. Wenn sie essen wollen; so werfen sie zwei oder drei handvoll Pinole in eine Corita, welche ihnen zu dem Ende allezait zur Seite hängt; schütten Waseer dazu, rühren heides durcheinander; und nehmen also aus einem Geschiere, zur selbigen Zeit, Speise und Trank. So sehr der Pinole von den Amerikanern geschätzet wird; so wenigen Beifall findet sein Geschmack bei dem Europäer; nur Zimmet, und Zucker, können ihm denselben angenehm machen." (Vol. II, p. 132.)
* ↑ Cf. W J McGee in Seventeenth Annual Report of Bureau of American Ethnology, 212.
* ↑ "I arrived at the Pimas Gileños, accompanied by the governor of the Coco-Maricopas. There was great rejoicement, for there had spread thus far the report that they (the Moquis) had me killed. The governor of the Pimas told me that all the relatives were well content, and wishing to make a feast, all the pueblos together. I agreed to this, but on condition that it should be apart from me, foreseeing in this what would come to pass. In a little while I heard that they were singing 'a heap' (de monion); this was stopped presently, but was followed by a great uproar of discordant voices, and shouting, in which they said, 'We are good! We are happy! We know God! We are the fellows to fight the Apaches! We are glad the old man (as they call me) has come, and not been killed!' Thia extravagant shouting (exorbitante griteria), a thing foreign to the seriousness of the Pimas, I knew came from drinking, which produced various effects. Some came and took me by the hand, saluting me. One said, 'I am padre de Pedro.' Another said to me, 'Thou hast to baptize a child.' Another, 'This is thy home—betake not thyself to see the king, nor to Tucson.' Others made the sign of the cross, partly in Spanish, so that though I felt very angry at such general drunkenneas, there did not fail me some gusto to hear the good expressions into which they burst, even when deprived of reason. The next day I complained of these excesses to the governor, who told me that it only happened a few times and in the season of saguaro, and adding that it made his people vomit yellow and kept them in good health. What most pleased me was to see that no woman got drunk; instead of which saw many of them leading by the bridle the horse upon which her husband was mounted, gathering up at the same time the clothes and beads that the men scattered about, in order that none should be lost." (Garcés's Diary, 438.) "The three pitahaya months," says Father Salva-Tierra [describing the saguaro harvest in California], "resemble the carnival in some parts of Europe, when the men are in great measure stupified or mad. The natives here also throw aside what reason they have, giving themselves up to feastings, dancings, entertainments of the neighboring rancherias, buffooneries, and comedies, such as they are; and in these, whole nights are spent to the high diversion of the audience. The actors are selected for their talent of imitation; and they execute their parts admirably well." (Venegas, History of California, I, 82.) "The gathering of this fruit may be considered as the harvest of the native inhabitants. They can eat es much of it as they please, and with some this food agrees so well that they become corpulent during that period, and for this reason I was sometimes unable to recognize at first sight individuals otherwise perfectly familiar to me, who visited me after having fed three or four weeks on these pitahayas." (Jacob Baegert, The Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Californian Peninsula, in Smithsonian Report, 1863, 363.)
​Haʼvalt, Yucca bacatta. The fruit is boiled, dried, ground on the mealing-stone, and boiled with flour. It is also eaten raw as a cathartic. The stems are reduced to pulp and used as soap. Y. elata is also used as soap.
Hoʽny, Zea Mays. Corn, the most important crop of the Pueblo tribes, has, in recent years at least, been of less value to the Pimas than wheat. The numerous varieties are all prepared in about the same manner. As the husked corn is brought in by the women, it is piled on a thin layer of brush and roasted by burning the latter, after which it is cut from the cob, dried, and stored away for future use. ​The shelled corn is ground on the metate and baked in large cakes in the ashes. Corn is also boiled with ashes, dried, and the hulls washed off, then thoroughly dried and parched with coals or over the fire. It is then made into a gruel, but is not so highly regarded as the wheat pinole.
Iʼsavĭk. The thorns of this cactus are removed as soon as gathered, and it is eaten without further preparation.
Iʼtany, Atriplex sp. The heads of this saltbush are pounded up in the mortar and screened to separate the hulls. The seeds are washed, spread to dry, parched in a piece of olla, and ground on the metate. They are then ready to be eaten as pinole, or dry, in the latter case a pinch of the meal being taken alternately with a sip of water.
Kaʼĭfsa, Cicer arietinum Linn. The chick-pea is raised in small quantities and is also purchased from the traders. This is the garabanzo of Mexico. The name chicos is sometimes applied to this pea as it is to anything small, especially to small or, rather, sweet corn that is just old enough for roasting.
Kâf, Chenopodium murale. The seed is gathered early in the summer and prepared by parching and grinding, after which it may be eaten as pinole or combined with other meal.
​Kanʼyo, Sorghum vulgare Pers. Sorghum is cultivated when the water supply permits. It has been obtained recently from the whites, who raise it extensively in the Southwest.
Kiʼak. The heads of this annual are gathered and the seeds beaten out with the kiâhâ stick used as a flail. The seeds are moistened, parched, which makes it resemble pop corn, ground on the metate, and eaten by taking alternately pinches of meal and sips of water.
* ↑ Analysis of mesquite beans, including the pod: Per cent. Per cent. Moisture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.96 Dry matter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94.04 Crude ash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.20 Crude fat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.12 Crude cellulose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.53 Albuminoids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.03 Nitrogen-free extract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.13 Nutritive ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:5.8 "The amount of cellulose, or woody fiber, is very much larger in the bean, and the amount of nitrogen-free extract considerably smaller; but the albuminoids and fats compare very well indeed. The bean pod is 4 to 8 inches in length, and grows in bunches from six to eight pods to the bunch." Third Annual Report, 1868, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Reference kindly supplied by Mr Ewell, Bureau of Chemistry, Department of Agriculture.
* ↑ There are two species of Bruchus which are especially common in mesquite seeds in Arizona—both the common mesquite and the screw bean, namely, Bruchus prosopis Lec. and Bruchus desertorum Lec. Occasionally other species breed in the seeds." Dr L.O. Howard, Department of Agriculture, letter.
​The beans are prepared for use by being pounded up in a mortar with a stone pestle, or, if a large quantity is required, with a large wooden one. The pods may be ground with the beans, Another method of preparation is to separate the beans from the pods, parch them by tossing them up in a pan of live coals, and reduce them to meal by grinding, whereupon they may be eaten as pinole. This has a sweetish taste and is reputed to be very nourishing.
The catkins of the mesquite are eaten without preparation by stripping from the stem between the teeth.
The white gum which exudes from the mesquite limbs is used in making candy.
The inner bark is employed as a substitute for rennet.
Koʼkitc uhûtaki, Parkinsonia microphylla (in the foothills); P. torreyana (on the mesas) (pl. X, b). The paloverde bean was formerly eaten either as gathered or after being pounded in the mortar. It was not eaten as pinole, but was sometimes mixed with mesquite meal.
Koʼmûlt. The heads are gathered and washed, sometimes twice, then boiled in an olla with a little water. Wheat flour and a seasoning of salt are added and the whole is stirred until the heads fall to pieces.
Koʼ-okupaltûk. According to tradition the seeds were eaten in primitive times, but no one now knows how they were prepared. The plant is now boiled with meat as greens.
Koʼûtcĭlt, Prosopis pubescens. Screw beans are abundant along the banks of the Gila. They are cooked in pits which are lined with arrow bushes set on end. The beans are placed in layers alternating with cocklebur leaves, the whole covered with earth and left to stand three or four days, after which they are taken out and spread to dry. They are then ready to use or store away in the arrow-bush basket bins on the house tops. They are further prepared for food by pounding up in a mortar, the fine flour then being ready to be eaten as pinole. The coarser portion is taken up in the hands with water, the juice sucked through the fingers, and the remainder rejected.
Kwaʼʌolt, Licium fremontii var. The red berry is boiled and eaten.
Mâ-âtatûk. This is described as resembling asparagus. The stems may be eaten raw or boiled or roasted in the ashes.
Meʼla, Citrullus vulgaris Shrad. Watermelons are among the most important crops of the Pimas and are eaten during at least six months of the year.
Nafʼ, Opuntia engelmanni. The thorns are brushed off the fruit of the prickly pear before it is gathered. It is then peeled and eaten, the seeds being thrown away. The Papagos make a sirup from the fruit (which is said to cause fever in those not accustomed to its use) ​and dry the fruit as they do that of the saguaro, but the Pimas make no further use of it than to eat it raw.
Nyiʼâtam, Malva sp. This plant is boiled and the liquid used in making pinole in times of famine.
O’-opat, Acacia greggii. The beans of the cat's-claw (pl. VII, b) were eaten in primitive times, but no one of the present generation knows how they were prepared.
Ositcuʼwutpat, Zizyphus lycioides. The black berry of this thorny bush is gathered in the basket bowls after it has been beaten down with sticks. It is eaten raw and the seeds are thrown away.
Papʼkam. The heads are tied in bunches and dried in the sun. They are then shelled, screened, the seeds parched, ground on the metate, and eaten as pinole. They are "not sweet."
Pavf(ĭ), Phaseolus vulgaris Linn. At least one variety of the common kidney bean, pole bean, bunch bean, etc., was known to the natives before the advent of the Spaniards. Venegas states that "red frixoles, or kidney beans" [Phaseolus sp.], were cultivated by the natives of lower California, and this may have been the variety known in Pimería.
Pelʼtûkany, Triticum sativum Lam. Wheat is the principal crop of the Pimas, and four varieties are known to them. It is ground on the metate to make the flour used in cooking the great loaves that weigh from 10 to 20 pounds. Tortillas resembling those of the Mexicans are now more commonly used than the heavy loaves of former days. A light and toothsome doughnut is fried in bubbling hot suet (pl. VI, a). One of the commonest methods of preparing wheat is to parch it, grind it on the metate, and eat it as a sort of thin gruel called hak(ĭ) tcoĭ; or the wheat may be boiled before parching, in which case the product is known as pârsâȷ tcoĭ. Both are known to the whites by the Mexican term "pinole."
Rsat. The bulb of the wild onion is eaten. It is common on the slopes at the foot of the Estrellas.
Rsoʼ-owût. The fine reddish seed is boiled with flour as a mush.
​Sâiʼtûkam iavik. The leaf of this thorny plant is eaten raw or boiled.
Si’etcu, Cucumis melo Linn. The muskmelon is extensively raised by the Pimas.
Siʼvitcĭlt, Rumex hymenosepalus. The canaigre is cultivated by the whites in the Gila valley for tannin, yet it is eaten by the Pimas. The stem is roasted in the ashes or, recently, stewed with sugar. We have seen the children greedily devouring the raw roots in March. Doctor Palmer states that the roots are used to tan deerskin and also as soap.
So’-oʌot, Sophia pinnata (Walt) Britton. The seeds are parched, ground, and mixed with water to form pinole. The Mexicans of Arizona use the leaves of this plant in preparing a drink. An infusion made from the leaves is also employed as a remedy for sores.
Tâki, Gosypium sp. The cotton plant is no longer raised, but from pre-Spanish days down to the last quarter of a century it was cultivated both for the fiber and the seeds. The latter were pounded up with mesquite beans in the mortar or they were sometimes parched and eaten without grinding.
Tapkʽ. These seeds resemble those of flax in appearance. They are eaten either raw or boiled and are yet extensively used.
Tapkalt. This is one of the varieties of squash that is cultivated by the Pimas at the present time.
Tâʼta âʼnûk, Atriplex nuttallii. The stems of this saltbush are boiled with wheat. They are cut in short lengths and used sometimes as a stuffing for roast rabbit.
Tcia, Salvia columbaria Benth. The seeds when infused in water form a pleasant mucilaginous beverage, very popular with the Pimas.
Tciʼâldi. The fruit of this cactus is brought by the Papagos and traded to the Pimas. It is cooked in the same manner as Opuntia arborescens.
Tciaʌolt, Echinocactus wislizeni. The pulp of the visnaga is considered valuable in lieu of water to those suffering from thirst. It is also eaten after being cut in strips and boiled all day. It is sometimes boiled with mesquite beans, a layer each in the cocking olla. It is occasionally boiled with sugar. It is quite a popular confection among the whites, who, in some places, obtain the raw material from the Papagos.
Tciʼ-itkwatak, Lithospermum sp. The leaves are eaten without preparation. ​Tcil’tipĭn. (Sp.). This pepper is raised by the Papagos and brought to the Pimas.
Tcoʼhokia. The leaves are gathered in spring and sometimes baked in tortillas. In summer the seeds are gathered, ground on the metate, mixed with meal or squash, or they may be parched and ground to be eaten dry.
Tcoʼtcĭk â’nûk, Suæda arborescens; S. suffrutescens. These are added to greens or cactus fruit to give flavor.
To’a, Quercus oblongifolia. The acorns of this oak are traded from the Papagos. After the hulls have been removed they are parched and ground into meal.
Ոrtam, Atriplex lentiformis. The seed of this saltbush is cooked in pits which are lined with Suæda arborescens and the papery inner bark of the cottonwood moistened and mixed together. The roasting requires but one night, then the seeds are taken out, dried, parched, and laid away for future use. When eaten, it is placed in a cup and water added until a thick gruel is produced.
Vakwai’hai-ĭndûm, Solanum elæagnifolium. The berries are put in the milk from which cheese is made to serve as a substitute for rennet.
Vakʼwandam, Rumex berlandieri. This plant is used with the cactus fruit, Opuntia arborescens, in the same manner as the saltbush, Suæda arborescens.
Viʼpĭnoĭ, Opuntia versicolor. The fruit is sometimes eaten raw, but it is usually prepared in the same manner as Opuntia arborescens.
Dr Edward Palmer, who collected among the Pimas in 1885, obtained some nuts of the "quinine plant," Simmondsia californica Nutt., which he says are eaten either raw or parched. Professor Thornber states that the Mexicans use the oil as a hair tonic. He also describes an "Indian potato," Hoffmanseggia falcaria Cav., which, when roasted, tastes like the cultivated Irish potato. However, this is a member of the pea family and not a potato. A true Solanum is found native to Arizona, but we have not learned that the Pimas know of it.
MEDICINAL PLANTS
Aʼtaftak. The root of the wild gourd is pounded up in mortars, boiled, and the extracted juice put into the ear to cure earache. It is poured into a hollow tooth to stop aching. "It kills maggots in open sores."
Ha’tam, Sphæralcea angustifolia. The leaves are boiled and used as a remedy for diarrhea. Another informant states that the root is boiled and the liquid extracted is used as a remedy for biliousness.
Kaʼkaitco u-us, "quail plant," Heliotropium curassavicum. The upper part of the light yellowish root is dried and ground in mortars, dried again, and ground very fine upon the metate, when it is ready to be applied to sores or wounds after they have been washed.
Kâkpitäm. The leaves of this bush are boiled and the extract used as an emetic.
Kŏĭ, Prosopis velutina. The black gum of the mesquite is boiled and the dilute liquid used as a wash for sore eyes and open wounds. The inner bark of the mesquite is boiled and the liquid used as an emetic and cathartic.
Kŏĭtcĭlt, Prosopis pubescens. The bark of the root of the screw bean is pounded up in mortars, dried, and again ground into a fine powder on the metate; or it may be boiled without pounding or grinding and the liquid used as a dressing for wounds. After a few days, as the wound heals, the dry powder is substituted.
Osikâkamûk, Pluchea borealis. The bark of the arrow-bush root is separated by pounding between stones and then placed in water for a few hours to extract a liquid for washing the face and for sore eyes.
Oʼsitc uwûtpat, Zizyphus lycioides. The root of this bush is pounded up in mortars and boiled, the liquid extracted being used as a remedy for sore eves.
Pihoȷ. An evil spirit that lives in the east is called Pihoȷ. He causes certain diseases, which have their appropriate songs. One informant declared that a tree that grows near the Maricopa village on the Gila was also called pihoȷ, and from it a medicine stick is made that will cure diseases of the throat. The writer was unable either to verify or to disprove this statement.
Rsios. Two unidentified species of Bigelovia are used as a dressing for scarified wounds. The bruised leaves are applied to bleeding surfaces that have been cut with broken glass.
​Sivitcĭlt, Rumex hymenosepalus. The root of the canaigre is dried, ground and the powder applied to sores.
Soʼam hi’âseikkam, "yellow flower." An infusion made from the flowers of this plant is used as a remedy for sore eyes.
Ոrtam, Atriplex lentiformis. The root is powdered and applied to sores.
Ոrto, Krameria parvifolia. Used in the same manner as the preceding.
Vaiʼewa, Xanthium canadense. Cocklebur pulp is combined with soot as a remedy for sore eyes.
Va’vaĭsh, Houttuynia californica, called "yerba mansa" by the Mexicans. The roots are crushed and boiled. The extract is used as a tea for consumptives, according to one informant, and as an emetic according to another.
Vipûkam, Alba marginata. The root is chewed as an emetic.
Teamsters' Tea, Ephedra antisyphilitica Berland, is a native of Arizona, and is used by the Pimas in making a beverage. It is also used by both the Pimas and Mexicans as a remedy for syphilis.
A composite, Perezia wrightii, is used as a styptic.
Thamnosma montanum is said to be used as a decoction for the cure of gonorrhea by the Pimas and Apaches. (Dr Edward Palmer, manuscript.)
ANIMALS USED FOR FOOD
Kâ-âtci, or tâsi’-ikâlt, Tayassu angulatum sonoriense. The peccary is yet found in the larger mountain chains that were formerly reached by the hunters of Pimería, though the Gila river is about the northern limit of the range of this animal in the West. It could never have been an important article of diet, and is practically unknown to the younger generation.
Kaf, Taxidea taxus (subspecies?). The badger is occasionally seen along the Gila, but is not abundant and is no longer eaten. It is one of the animals that cause disease among men, and a badger tail is an essential part of the medicine-man's equipment.
Kaʼkatco, Lophortyx gambeli. The handsome topknot quail is the most abundant of the feathered inhabitants of the Gila thickets. It is tabued to the women, though no explanation for this could be discovered.
​Kâʼvi, Castor canadensis frondator. The beaver was common along the Gila, and was esteemed highly for food.
Kaʼviyo, Equus caballus. The horse is seldom eaten by the Pimas. In times of famine, however, horses are sometimes used, although the more than half-starved condition of the animals suggests anything but nourishing viands.
Ko’-ovĭk, Antilocapra americana mexicana. The antelope is now unknown in Pimería, but the hunters of former centuries suceessfully stalked these animals upon the mesas, particularly upon the higher grassy plains to the eastward.
Maʼkûm. These unidentified worms (?) are plentiful when a rainy season insures a heavy crop of desert plants. They are gathered in large quantities, their heads pulled off, and intestines removed. The women declare that their hands swell and become sore if they come in contact with the skin of the worms. The worms are then put into cooking pets lined with branches of saltbush and boiled. The skins are braided together while yet soft and dried a day or two in the sun. The dry and brittle sticks are eaten at any time without further preparation.
Maʼvĭt, Felis hippotestes aztecus. The puma is yet abundant in the mountain ranges of Arizona, and in former times one was occasionally secured by the Pimas when in quest of other game.
Rsuʼlĭk. There are at least six species of ground squirrels in this region, but in the absence of specimens the writer could not learn if the Pimas distinguished among them. When water was obtainable it was poured into the burrows of these squirrels until they were driven out, whereupon they were killed with clubs or shot with arrows. They were tabued to the women under penalty of nosebleed or deficiency in flow of milk for their babies.
Si’-ĭk, Odocoileus couesi. White-tail deer are yet fairly common in the mountains and two deerskins were seen among the Pimas during the period of six months spent with them. Perhaps one in two or three years would be an excessive estimate of the number killed by the men of the Gila River reservation. The deer figures largely in their traditions and religion.
​Tâpi, Lepus arizonas. The small cottontail is fairly common in river bottoms and on the mesa throughout the Pima country. It is shot with arrows made with a straight point without stone or metal head. It is included in the list of victims that result from rabbit drives in which the hares, Lepus texianus and L. alleni, are the principal desiderata.
Tcirsâny, Ovis nelsoni. The mountain sheep has served as food when obtainable, though it has been many years since they have been abundant.
Tcok tcof, Lepus texianus. There are two species of large hares along the Gila, where they are termed "jack rabbits" by the whites, very few of whom distinguish them apart. The Pimas, however, recognize the difference and call this species the dark or gray, and the other the white, tcof.
Tcuʼtcult, Gallus domesticus. During the late Spanish and the Mexican régime a small breed of fowl was introduced, probably by the Papagos, which in turn gave way to the large varieties brought by the Americans in the last half century. Hens' eggs are eaten either fried or boiled. One of the interpreters confided to Mrs Russell that she economized time and labor by boiling the eggs in the coffee.
Toʼa tcof, Lepus alleni. These are common and utilized for food to a considerable extent. There seems to be no preference for one species of hare over the others, but "none are so good as beef." The stomachs of this hare and of Lepus texianus are used in making cheese.
Vaʼowŏk, Procyon lotor. The raccoon is said to be used for food, though the writer did not see any of the animals or any of their skins during a stay of a year and a half in Arizona.
​Vatop. There are occasional references to fish in the traditions of the Pimas and the notes of Spanish and American travelers sometimes mention them. It is certain that at times they caught large numbers of fish, but in seasons of drought the river, then as now, becoming wholly dry near the villages, could not be relied upon to furnish such a convenient supply of food. Either the long series of dry years and the absence of fish have caused the people to forget former classifications or else they never distinguished one species from another, for they now have but one name for all fresh fish. However, there were several species in the Gila and adjoining streams that were large enough for food.
Whʼaĭ, Odocoileus hemionus (subspecies?). Information concerning this species was very vague and unreliable, though it seems certain that the black-tail deer was sometimes killed by the Pimas, at least before the growing power of the Apaches prevented the former from roaming through the mountains that border Pimería on the north and east.
Woʼpoldo, Equus asinus. The burro (donkey) is not in high repute among the Pimas, where the distances to the white settlements and between villages necessitate a more speedy animal for draft or riding purposes. Few in number, they could not be very important as an article of diet. They have been eaten in the past, but are rarely so used at present.
* ↑ History of California, 45.
* ↑ The entire region occupied by tribes of the Piman stock, extending over the larger part of Sonora as far northward as the Rio Gila, was known to the Spanish as Pimería. That portion between the Yaquis and the Gila was called Pimería Alta. The Papagos occupy nearly all this territory, and of late it is commonly called Papagueria. For an undetermined number of centuries the Pimas proper have occupied the middle Gila district. Their habitat differs, therefore, from that of the other tribes of the stock, and for convenience their territory will be here designated by the term Pimería. Buschmann states in Die Pima-Sprache that "Duflot de Mofras (exploration du territoire de l'Orégon, des Californies et de la mer vermeille T.I., Par. 1844, p. 208) setzt die Pimeria alta von den Flüssen Colorado und Gila an bis zur Stadt Hermosillo und zum rio de los Ures; die Pimeria baxa von da an bis zum rio del Fuerte, welcher die Gränze von Sonora und Cinaloa bildet. Er setzt beide, zu grosse Pimerias gleich Ober- und Nieder-Sonora: 'La Sonore se divise en haute et basse, et prend aussi, à cause des Indiens Pimas, le nom de Pimería alta y baja.' Arricivita (p. 396) bestimmt die Pimeria alta so: 'Die ganze Pimeria alta dehnt sich aus vom Presidio de Ternate bis zu den playas de Caborca, über 100 leguas; und von der Mission S. Ignacio von S nach N bis zum Gila-Flusse, wieder 100 leguas; ihr grösster Theil liegt unter dem 30ten Breitengrade. Toda la Pimeria (397) está habitada de Indios.'" P. 321, 322.
* ↑ C.D. Poston stated in 1864 that he had recently furnished the Pimas with 500 pounds of cottan seed, though he did not give any reason for doing so. It is fair to presume that the Pimas had sufficient seed from the plant that they had raised from time immemorial.
* ↑ In pioneer days the whites used the roots of two species of wild gourds, Cucurbita palmata and C. digitata, as a cathartic, Doctor Palmer stating that they were "very much beliked by the soldiers."
* ↑ This is similar to, but not identical with, the "cordoncillo" of the Arizona Mexicans, from which an infusion is made that is used as a tonic and blood purifier. (Thornber.)
* ↑ Mr Fisher, of the Biological Survey, lists the following species of mice and rats for Pimería: Mus alexandrinus, introduced; Mus musculus, introduced; Mus norvegicus, introduced; Orychomys torridus; Peromyscus, 2–3 species; Sigmodon hispidus arizonæ; Reithrodontomys (sp.?); Neotoma (sp.?); Fiber zibethicus pallidus.
* ↑ The earliest American invaders of Pimería were beaver trappers who descended the Gila early in the last century. One of the first Americans that the oldest living Pimas remember was Kâ’vi Vâʼnamam, "Beaver Hat," who told the Pimas that the buildings now in ruins along the Gila and Salt rivers were destroyed by waterspouts. He lived several years among the Pimas, and was finally killed near Prescott by Apaches.
* ↑ Eutamias dorsalis (?), Spermophilus canescens, S. grammurus, S. harrisi, S. spilosoma macrospilotus (Oracle), S. tereticaudus (Fort Yuma).
* ↑ "Having traversed 4 leagues, we arrived at a town, Tusonimon, which is so named from a great heap of horns, from the wild or sylvan sheep, which appears like a hill, and from the numbers that there are of the animals, they make the common subsistence of the inhabitants." (Juan Matio Mange: Diary extract translated for Schoolcraft, III, 303.) This visit of Mange to the Pima towns was in November, 1697. The discovery of this statement by Mange and also a letter of inquiry from Mr Hodge directed the writer's attention to the significance attaching to the horns of the mountain sheep after he had returned from his sojourn among the Pimas. Inquiry was then made of a number of Pima correspondents and of Mr C.H. Cook, at Sacaton. The latter ascertained from Antonio Azul, the head chief, that the horns of the mountain sheep were never brought home by hunters, which does not agree with Mange's statement. Each man had a place set apart where he deposited them in order that they might exert no evil influence upon the winds or rains. At times the Papagos held rain ceremonies, during which the medicine-men deposited the tails of mountain sheep together with eagle feathers at springs. The same tribe at one time sacrificed some children in their efforts to increase the supply of water, but "Instead of bringing them water this dried up all the springs." A few mountaln sheep remain in the Superstition mountains and in the other high ranges near and on the reservation. When climbing the Sierra Estrella, in March, 1902, the writer saw a flock of five which did not manifest any such fear at the sight of man as do the mountain sheep of British Columbia and the more northern Rockies. Indeed, the Pima chief at the foot of the mountains explained the reason for their indifference very adequately when he declared the sheep were game fit only for the Papagos, who had no fields to look after.
* ↑ Garcés, who traversed the Pima country in 1775, wrote: "There is found in this river no other fish than that which they call matalo’te, which is so very savory to the taste, but is troublesome on account of the many bones that it has." On the Trail of a Spanish Pioneer, II, 142.) Jordan says: "Garcés's remarks settle the matalo’te. There are no large fish in the Gila except the two large, bony chubs called, by Baird and Girard, Gila robusta and Gila elegans. In the very mouth of the river there is also a big, rawboned sucker of the same build, called Xyrauchen cypho, the Razor-back or Hump-back Sucker. The Gila is a hump-back chub, about a foot and a half long, with a low, large mouth and a long, broad tail. It is popularly known as Bony-tail, Gila Trout, and Round-tail, and is about as poor eating as a fish can be." The Land of Sunshine, XIII, 436. In The Fishes of the Colorado Basin, Evermann and Rutter enumerate several species that must have been accessible to the Pimas. Their names and the localities where they were collected are as follows: Pantosteus arizonæ Gilbert. Salt river, Tempe. Pantosteus clarkii (Baird and Girard). Gila river, Fort Thomas. Catostomus latipinnis (Baird and Girard). Rio San Pedro and Fort Thomas. Catostomus gila Kirsch. Fort Thomas. Catostomus insignis Baird and Girard. Rio San Pedro and Fort Thomas. Xyrauchen cypho (Lockington). Mouth of Gila and Fort Thomas. Ptychocheilus lucius Girard. Various stations on the Gila. Called Gila trout by Emory in 1848. Gila elegans Baird and Girard. Taken from several places along the Gila by collectors. Gila robusta Baird and Girard. Also described from several Gila stations under various names. Cyprinodon macularius Baird and Girard. "Rio Gila." In addition to these may be included the species collected in the San Pedro and Santa Cruz rivers, which are both tributaries of the Gila above Pimería and within reach of Pima hunting parties: Leuciscus niger (Cope), Tiaroga cobitis Girard, Agosia oscula (Girard), Agosia chrysogaster Girard, and Meda fulgida Girard.
* ↑ It is uncertain whether the burro of the Southwest is a descendant of the Asiatic species of wild asses, Equus hernionus, E. heniihippus, and E. onager, or of the African, E. africanus and E. somaticus.