The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1889-08-29
nIGOERINDIAN FARE.
Butter Made from Bugs, Gnats
and Grasshoppers.

Yosemite Correspondence Los An
geles Times: mo acorns, no Indians!''
sententiously said Chief Bonnell, the
captain" of the remnant of the Yosem-
ite tribe to Times correspondent. In
his rude and imperfect form of speech
the chief without a following substan-
TALLY said: THE acorn crop of this
valley has been failure for the past
five years. Whenever the crop is a
failure in this valley the crop is boun-
tiful on the coast range, and when it is
large there it is sparse here"
No explanation can be given of this
seeming peculiarity, only that it just
happens so." The Mono and other In.
dians that frequented this valley to
gather the acorn crop come no more,
and have abandoned this lovely vale to
bowling tourists and professional
sight-seers. Through the kindness of
the chief l was shown through his
small camp of a few huts and perhaps
twenty-five or thirty followers of a
tribe that a few years ago numbered
more than 1000. Though the acorns
have disappeared, the caches or
store baskets remain. These baskets
are queerly, if not wonderfully made,
being 123x3 feet, and placed on plat
form 4 feet from the ground. The
sides are formed of bushes interlaced
with pine boughs inverted, the needles
of which prevent squirrels from climb
ing up, and also conduct the rain
downward on the outside. The top is
rooted with pine bark and made water
tight. The acorns are stored here
and preserved during winter for future
use, just as the woodpecker drives the
acorn in the holes he drills in the pine
trees. 1t is both interesting and
amusing to see the squaws
prepare the frugal meal of acorn
bread. The women and children gath
| er the acorns in small baskets the
more worms in the acorn the better
they are relished. Each acorn is
placed on its particular eud and hit on
the dead with pebble, which opens it,
separating the bark from the kernel;
then the acorn is spreId on a rock to
dry, after which the women grind the
acorns into meal by means of mortar
and pestle, something like druggists
mix compounds for the disorganization
of the stomach of the paleface. In the
| -, .
surrounded by rocks, which are made
''white heat" The meal is poured
into water-tight basket, and the white
heated rocks are dropped in. The
water is not permitted to boil, but is
hot enough to cook the meal. The stuff
is stirred like Cruel until it assumes a
thickness like paste. A hole is scooped
in the bed of a stream, the water is
permitted to run over it. This removes
the tannin, or bitter taste, and although
a little sand adheres to the cake it
does not seem to make much difference.
| The butter used for this bread is al
so very primitive, and is, perhaps, the
origin Of the manufacture of our oleo-
margarine. When foam forms on the
margin of Mirror lake it is covered with
flies and other insects which make it
thick with larve and pupa. The wo-
men and children-always the women
and children-skim off this scum of liv-
ing and dead insects, wash away the
foam in fresh water, and thus they have
good, fresh butter. Butter is also made
of gnats and grasshoppers. The grass
hoppers are caught, threaded on strings
and filed away for future use until they
become little mellow, as in a green
state they are considered too rich for
the red mans blood. The grasshoppers
are caught by form ing line of women
and children and driving them into a
ditch dug by the women and children.
Sometimes, when an impromptu meal
is wanted, the grass is set on fire, and
the jumping grasshopper is not only
caught, but is cooked at the same time.