The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1890-01-24
DIGGER INDIAN FARE.
Chiefs Account OF Butter Made from
Gnats and Grasshoppers.

A Chiefs Account of Butter Made from
Gnats and Grasshoppers.
mo acorns, no Indians, sententiously
said Chief Bouneu, the captain Of the
remnants Of the Yosemite tribe In his
rude and imperfect form Of speech the
chief without a following substantially
sad:
The acorn crop OF this valley has
been a failure for the past five years.
Whenever The crop is @ failure I'm this
valley the crop is bountiful on the coast
range, and when it is large there IL is
sparse here" No explanation can be
given Of this seeming popularity only
that lit just happened sO.' The Mono
and other Indians that frcqueutel this
valley 10 gather the acorn crop came no
more, and have abandoned this lovely
vale TO bowling tourists and professional
si-ht-secrs. Through the kindness of
the chief / was shown through his
small camp of a few huts and perhaps
twenty-five or thirty followers of
tribe that "a few years ago numbered
more than one thousand. Though the
acOrns have disappeared the caches" or
store baskets remain. These baskets
are qUccrly III not wonderfully made,
being l2- x3 feet, and placed on a plat
sides are formed Of bushes iutorlaccd with
pine boughs inverted, the needles
Of which prevent squirrels from
climbing 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 WOOdpcckcr drives the acorn
in the holes he drills in the pine treos.
IL is both interesting and amusing to see
the squaws prepare the frugal meal of
acorn bread The women and children
gather the aCOrns in small baskets-the
more worms in the aeorns the better
they are relished. Each acorn is placed
on its particular end and nit on the head
with pebble, which opens 70. separating
the bark from the kernel; then il is
spread on a rock to dry, after which the
women grind the acorns into meal by
means OF mortar and pcstlc, something
like druggists mix compounds for the
disorTauizarion of the stomach of the
palcface. In the meantime the bucks
have built fire surrounded by rocks,
which are made a white heat Tho
meal is poured into a warar-tirhU basket.
and the white-heated rocks are dropped
IN. The water is not permitted 10 boil,
DLlt Is NOT enough 70 COOK inc meal. i ne
stuff IS stirred like Cruel unit. it assumes
a thickness like paste. hole is
''scOCrcd" into the bed Of a stream, and
water permitted TO run over il. This re-
moves the Januin, or bitter taste, and
although a little sand adLeres to the
cake, il does not seem 10 make much
difference.
The butter used for this bread is also
very primitive, and is, = maps, the
origin Of the manufacture rf our 0lro-
margarine. When foam forms on the
margin Of Mirror lake IL Is covered wish
flies and other insects, which make it
thick with Larvae and puuie. The women
and childrcu-aiwavs Fhc women and
children-slim of this scum of living
and dead insects wash away the foam
IN fresh water and thus tnav have good
fresh butter. Butter I- also made or
rnats and grasshoppcrs. The Era shop
pers are caught, threaded on strings and
fled away for future use until they be-
come a Ellle mellow. as in green
state they are considered too rich for the
red mans blood The grassh shoppers arc.
caught by forming line Of women and
children and driving them into "a ditch
dug by the women and children. Some
times, when an impEouptu meal is want
ed. the grass is set on fire and the Jump
ing rrasshopper is not only caught, but
is cooked at the same time.-COr. Los
Angeles Cali Times.