NUTS AND BERRIES.
Pine nuts were another important article of food, and were much prized by the Indians. They are very palatable and nutritious, and are also greatly relished by white people whenever they can be obtained. The seeds of the Digger or nut pine (Pinus Sabiniana) were the ones most used on the western side of the Sierras, although the seeds of the sugar pine (P. Lambertiana) were also sometimes eaten. On account of their soft shell, nuts from the pinon pine (P. monophylla), which grows principally on the eastern side of the mountains, were considered superior to either of the other kinds, and were an important article of barter with the tribes of that region. All of these trees are very prolific, and their crop of nuts in fruitful years has been estimated to be even greater than the enormous wheat crop of California, although of course but a very small portion of it is ever gathered. Many other kinds of nuts and seeds were also eaten.
The principal berries used by the Indians of Yosemite and tribes lower down in the foothills were those of the manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca). They are about the size of huckleberries, of a light brown color, and when ripe have the flavor of dried apples. They are used for eating, and also to make a kind of cider for drinking, and for mixing with some food preparations. Manzanita is the Spanish for "little apple," and this shrub, with its rich red bark and pale green foliage, is perhaps the most beautiful and most widely distributed in California. Strawberries, black raspberries, elderberries, wild cherries and the fruit of the Sierra plum (Prunus subcordata) are also used by the Indians, but wild edible berries are not as plentiful in California as they are in the Atlantic States.
GRASSHOPPERS AND WORMS.
In addition to the staple articles of food already mentioned, many other things were eaten when they could be obtained. These included grasshoppers, certain kinds of large tree worms, the white fungi which grows upon the oak, mushrooms, and the larvae and pupae of ants and other insects. The pupae of a certain kind of fly which breeds extensively on the shores of Mono Lake, about forty miles from Yosemite, was an important article of commerce across the mountains, and was made into a kind of paste called ka-cha´-vee, which is still much relished by the Indians, and is a prominent dish at their feasts.
The manner of catching grasshoppers was to dig a large hole, somewhat in the shape of a fly trap, with the bottom larger than the opening at the top, so that the insects could not readily get out of it. This hole was dug in the center of a meadow, which was then surrounded by Indians armed with small boughs, who beat the grasshoppers towards a common center and drove them into the trap. A fire was then kindled on top of them, and after they had been well roasted they were gathered up and stored for future use.
Photograph by Fiske.
A WOOD GATHERER.
As in all Indian tribes, the women do most of the work.
Other articles of food were various kinds of roots, grasses and herbage, some of which were cooked, while others were eaten in their natural condition. The lupine (Lupinus bicolor and other species), whose brilliant flowers are such a beautiful feature of all the mountain meadows in the spring and summer, was a favorite plant for making what white people would call "greens," and when eaten was frequently moistened with some of the manzanita cider already referred to. Among the roots used for food were those of the wild caraway (Carum), wild hyacinth (Brodioea), sorrel (Oxalis), and camass (Camassia esculenta).