The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1906-11-08
INDIAN CEREAL FOODS
FADED RY EFFETE
CIVILIZATION
ARE SUSTAINING DIETS
Kept Warriors in Fine Fet.
tie for Gore and ScalpS

Muskogee. I. T.. Now o-rhe sofisey
bowl and the ahpuskey lag are rapidly
disappearing from the FIVE civilized t-ibes
and the national food OF TIE household
and the warrior ON the trail s. dlsap-
pearing as the customs OF the white man
ANA his more varied food upercede the
old Indian customs and habits Of life.
From the time chat the Indians Of the
five teihes were forced from their East
ern homes 20 their present territory and
up to one decade ago. no Indian family
was without It's sof6ey pots and 10 In
dan tray led on q long journey Without
his skin bag filled with ahpuskey sorSeJ
Il che Creek Indian food IN tho Chero-
kee nation It Is known as connahaaa in
the Choctaw and ChiclSlsaw nations Il IS
called tomfulla, and IN the Seminole ma
ton the same as the Creek. II diffe IS
slightly In the making Ia the different
nations,as any food would differ II made
by chefs in different hotels The Creek
recipe is considered the standard
sofkey IS made Of cora Of a special |
brand, a little lye a spripking Of clean
wood ashes and a good deal OF waite
The corn resembles popcon in tnat the
ears are long and slender and The grains /
small and ninty though IT IS made Of |
common maize when the bettcr grade OF /
corn is not available. The corn IS taken |
when il is ba-ely ripe enough to be |
shcled and aft27 Smelling the grains are /
soaked in water Tor two hours. Just long |
enough TO cause the outer skin 20 sep /
arate f'om the kernels. The con Is then /
put into g mortar and pounded Until It /
is the consistence Of coarse erits. It IS I
no sn put into sitter made OF cane ana /
the husl5s and chan separated on tie /
same order that wheat ls separated from |
chdn In o threshing machine only the /
Indians have but the crude sifte- and i
fan to do the work with An Indian |
woman IS most q xtrous with one of
these sifters With a 1ecuia moton she /
keeps the sitter moving "a such q waJ /
that the chan gathers at one side and |
the cracked grains falls through tine sift-
q, On the other and az intervals she |
throws the chan out Of the slfte- and |
onto the ground with q quick movement |
that does not stop the siftlrg process.
The s9fsey grits are then pat into a
sofSey pot q large oarthen pot with an
open mouth, and boiled from -four to six
hou-s a little lye is adiod TO prevent
fermentation ana to give an acid flavor. !
Wod ashes are also sprinJed into the
mixture Several gallons ore made at
one time. depending ON the size OF the
family After the soraey cooked il is
banked ia th@ ashes OF the fireplace TO
keep Il warm IL is as good cold as hot,
however and these are always two sof-
key pots one is kept FUN OF cold sof-
keL and the other contains the warm.
Water Is addel as Il is needed, and this
water drawn on the grits makes soup
that Is very nou-ishing
The soflSey pot is always open to the
visitor on, the traveller who appears at an
Indian home. and ne is always invited 70
eat This Is a custom that grew out OF
the theory that whenever an Indian ap-
peared who had been travelling he would
be hungry. and he usually was All In
dians like sofiSey, but It Is an acquired
taste If the white man Ike IT, White
people who have lived long among the
Indians. however, soon learn TO like sof-
Sey. and Il becomes an lmp-t part Of
their daily food. 1t Is eaten from large
wooden bowls and with wooden spoons.
The sofley pots ana the bowls and spoons
are now becming rare The at OF pot
tory making Is lost to the indians. Few
now make the bowls and spoons. The
siftcys made OF cane are disappearing.
They -eTemble Indian baskets and are
sometimes made Of dogwoOi when cane
is not available. S,fnetimes nuts are
added instead Of lye when the sofkey Is
20 be eaten Immediately. This makes il
very -ich food.
Ahauskey Is made very similar TO
sofkey Il crresponds 10 the condensed
milk OF today Corn Is taken when It
Is not quite hard and y shered flOm the
cob and placed in "A pot whore II Is
baked. until Il Is b,0wl. Then q Is
placed into "A mortar ana bounded until
/ il Is about ike coarse meal, To this a
little SUGAR Is added. the Indians used
maple sugar for this. Ashes were also
used The nutritious qualities OF this
| food are remarkable When an Indian
was travelling he carried a small bag OF
this with him lways lie could live on
IL for days at a time and keep in the
best q condition White pioneers learned
It's us2 early ana valued t highly, TWO
or three suoonfus Of this grits In cup
of water nude SOUP that was sustain
ing aud eNh nrating a peculiar feature
about 1t Is rat stagnant wate- taken
from a pon on the praiies and other
wise unit 4 use can he poured ON the
grits and us with lmpunity the grits
apparently killing AN impurities. Water
that am lndi would not q Ink was used
in this nau with NO results This
was known nong the Indians as the
"travel food White trsppers and tmv-
clerl bear imony aa its wrth.
Ready for ian appearance it closely
lredmlaes 10 Grapbu's of tkiay.
Those who D used it state that Il far
excels any breakfast food that has ever
sbeen made g.. a. IOONFN
prooresa In China