Chapter 2. Insect Foods of North American Indigenous Populations ...

Chapter 245 of 68 9/20/2012 1:34 PMthe caterpilalrs to drop.Fires were made and earth and peagges mixed with the coals in a mound. When the mass cooledoff, the caterpillars were sifted out and stored in cool places for later use. When not eaten in thisbaked condition, they were mixed in stews and eaten with pinenuts and sunflower seeds.. . . It is said that one of the wars between Indians east of the Sierras and those on the westernslope arose from an expedition made by Piutes to secure breeding stock from worm orchardsacross the summit. This credits them with a foresight unusual in their affairs.Some of the inland lakes, notably Mono and formerly Owens, contain countless millions of thepupa of a fly, Ephydra hians. The small shells cling to rocks under water until they loosen andare driven ashore in great windrows, where the women gathered them. They were dried in thesun and the shells rubbed off, leaving a small yellowish kernal of worm, which was used as food.This is termed "cozaby" by Indians with whom the author has talked. . . .Chalfant also notes that, "Occasional invasions of the seventeen-year locust were not unwelcomed, forplenty of quick-lunch material was thus made available."Chamberlin, R.V. 1911. The ethno-botany of the Gosiute Indians. Memoirs Am. Anthropol. Assoc. Vol. 2, Part5 (1964): 331-405.Writing of the Gosiute Indians of Utah, Chamberlin states (pp. 336-337):An abundance of food was furnished at times by the black cricket (Anabrus simplex), severalspecies of locusts, and the cicada. The crickets often occurred in vast swarms, or 'armies.' Theywere not only eaten in season, but were dried and preserved for winter use in baskets or otherreceptacles covered in pits. A favorite method of cooking fresh crickets was to place them in pitslined with hot stones in which they were covered and left until thoroughly roasted. This dish isreally very palatable and is compared by the Indians to the shrimp, which they accordingly termthe 'fish cricket.' Locusts were similarly prepared and preserved for winter use. The cicada waseaten not only after cooking, but also fresh. Indian children may still often be seen catching theseinsects, deftly removing head and appendages, and eating them at once with evident relish.Chamberlin, R.V. 1950. Life Sciences at the University of Utah. Background and History. Salt Lake City:Univ. Utah, pp. 8-9. (Tettigoniidae)Childs, T. 1953. Sketch of the "Sand Indians." The Kiva 19(2-4): 27-39. (Miscellaneous Lepidoptera)Chittenden, H.M.; Richardson, A.D. 1905. Life, Letters and Travels of Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, S.J.,1801-1873. New York: Harper, pp. 1032-1033. (Acrididae)Clayton, W. 1921. [1973 reprint]. William Clayton's Journal. A Daily Record of the Journey of the OriginalCompany of "Mormon" Pioneers from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. New York: ArnoPress, p. 335. (Tettigoniidae)Collinson, P. 1764. Some observations on the cicada of North America. Philosoph. Trans. 54: 65-68.(Cicadidae)Conway, J.R. 1977. Analysis of clear and dark amber repletes of the honey ant, Myrmecocystus mexicanushortideorum. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 70: 367-369. (Formicidae)Coon, C.S. 1948. A Reader in General Anthropology. New York: Henry Holt and Co., pp. 46-49, 58-59, 267.Contains reprints in part of Dixon (1905), Egan (1917) and Steward (1938).Coville, F.V. 1892. The Panamint Indians of California. Am. Anthropologist 5 (o.s.): 351-361 (New York:Kraus Reprint Corp., 1964 reprint). (Aphididae)