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

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Chapter 256 of 68 9/20/2012 1:34 PMKelly, I.T. 1938. Northern Paiute tales. J. Am. Folk-lore 51: 364-468.The tale about "Coyote and Bear" begins as follows (p. 420):"Coyote was living with his wife and son. Coyote went rabbit hunting. His wife and little boy were hunting ants.They found an ant nest, and Coyote's wife was gathering those ants. She sent her little boy to hunt more nests.Bear was in an ants' [sic] nest. He was cleaning it. When the ants got on his paw, he licked them off. The littleboy came to the spot where Bear was standing, and that Bear killed the little boy." The story continues.Kelly, I. 1964. Southern Paiute ethnography. Univ. Utah Anthropol. Papers No. 69, Glen Canyon Ser. No. 21,pp. 37, 54, 158, 182,Using informants, Kelly studied the Southern Paiute, who live in southern Utah and adjacent Arizona andsouthern Nevada. Among the Kaibob, one of the included groups, locusts and "green caterpillars" were,according to Kelly, "welcome, but certainly not basic in the diet": "In spring ate locusts (?) (kivi) and 'greencaterpillars' (probably what is known locally as tomato worm). Formerly gathered in baskets by both sexes;picked from Chrysothamnus nauseosus. Dry rabbit-brush stacked; locusts poured on top; pile fired, stirred;locusts eaten when blaze died down (Sapir: locusts parched in tray). 'Caterpillars' found in desert and alonghills. Gathered in basket; head twisted off; body squeezed between fingers to clean. Twisted into sort of braid,bodies crossing one another, with new caterpillar inserted each time. Roasted between 2 flat stones that were'red hot.'" The Kaiparowits used yellow caterpillars (piiagi) that were found "everywhere." They were pulled,head down, between thumb and first finger to clean, then "braided" into "rope" two to three feet long and roastedbetween two heated stone slabs. Grasshoppers, ants and ant larvae were among the game not eaten by theKaiparowits. Kelly doesn't mention any insects eaten by the Panguitch, but states that ant larvae were not eaten.Kern, E.M. 1876 [1983 reprint]. Journal of Mr. Edward M. Kern of an exploration of the Mary's or HumboldtRiver, Carson Lake, and Owens River and Lake, in 1845. In Report of Explorations Across the Great Basin ofthe Territory of Utah...in 1859, by Capt. J.H. Simpson, pp. 477-486. Washington: Govt. Print. Off. [reprintReno: Univ. Nevada Press]. (Acrididae and Tettigoniidae)Kingsolver, J.M.; Johnson, C.D.; Swier, S.R.; Teran, A. 1977. Prosopis fruits as a resource for invertebrates.In: Simpson, B.B. (ed.), Mesquite. Its Biology in Two Desert Scrub Ecosystems. Stroudsburg, Pa.: Dowden,Hutchinson & Ross, Inc. pp. 108-122. (Bruchidae)Kroeber, A.L. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. Bur. Am. Ethnol. Bull. 78, 995 pp.Kroeber writes regarding the Koso or Panamint (p. 592), “On the shores of Owens Lake countless grubsof a fly [Hydropyrus] were scooped out of the shallow water and dried for food.”Landberg, L.C.W. 1965. The Chumash Indians of southern California. Southwest Mus. No. 19: 11-157.According to Landberg (p. 81), insects were probably used mainly as condiments by the Chumash. Theywere probably collected by the women when they were out collecting plants. Grasshoppers, yellowjacket larvae,"caterpillar chrysalids," and honeydew were used alone as condiments or as ingredients in pinole.Lando, R.; Modesto, R.E. 1977. Temal Wakhish: a desert Cahuilla village. J. Calif. Anthropol. 4(1): 95-112.The authors corroborate (p. 110) the earlier report by Bean of use by the Cahuilla of a worm calledpiyatem (Ruby E. Modesto was the granddaughter of an earlier Desert Cahuilla informant):She remembered that her grandmother went out in the spring towards the hills, and they wouldgather these worms [white-lined sphinx moth, Hyles lineata], killing them by pinching off theheads. The worms were roasted on a comal "griddle" and either immediately eaten or stored.Sometimes they were parched over hot coals, which dried them out and allowed them to be storedlonger without turning rancid. Grasshoppers, locusts, and cicadas were also roasted and eaten.They were also stored for future use like prepared meat in small net bags. Another type of wormor caterpillar called ewinchem was taken in November or December. It was found among theroots of the saltbush, (Atriplex lentiformis?) and was a pinkish insect larva approximately two tothree inches long. This larva was prepared like army worms and also parched or sun dried for
Chapter 257 of 68 9/20/2012 1:34 PMstorage.Lanner, Harriette. 1981. Pine-nut cookery. In The Pinyon Pine: A Natural and Cultural History, by R.M.Lanner, pp. 148-167. Reno: Univ. Nevada Press. (Tettigoniidae)Lapena, F.R. 1978. Wintu. In: W.C. Sturtevant (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 8, California(R.F. Heizer, Vol. Ed.), 1978, pp. 324-340.Lapena (p. 337) cites Du Bois (1935: 14-15) for the following relative to the Wintu in northern California:Grasshoppers were obtained by encircling grassy area. The people sang and danced as they drovethe grasshoppers into the center area. The grass in the center was then set afire with wormwoodtorches. After the blaze had subsided, the now wingless insects were gathered by both men andwomen. The grasshoppers were boiled in baskets, put on basket trays to dry, and then eithereaten at once or mashed in a hopper and stored. Salmon flies [Plecoptera], which swarmed on theriver edge for a few days in April, were gathered early in the morning before their wings werestrong enough to permit flight. They were boiled, or, if great in number, dried and saved forwinter use.Lawton, H.W.; Wilke, P.J.; DeDecker, M.; Mason, W.M. 1976 (?). Agriculture among the Paiute of OwensValley. J. Calif. Anthropol. [Vol.?]: 13-49. (Ephydridae)Leechman, D. 1944. Further light on "wooden tubes" from Oregon. Am. Antiquity 9(4): 451. (Tettigoniidae)Leonard, Z. 1904. Adventures of Zenas Leonard, Fur Trader and Trapper, 1831-1836. W.F. Wagner (ed.).Cleveland: Burrows Bros. Co., p. 166.* [see under Wagner]Levy, R. 1978a. Eastern Miwok. In: W.C. Sturtevant 1978, pp. 398-413.Most prominent among the insects eaten by the Eastern Miwok in California were grasshoppers andyellow jacket larvae (p. 403).Levy, R. 1978b. Costanoan. In: W.C. Sturtevant 1978, pp. 485-495.Levy cites Harrington (1921) in saying (p. 492) that insects eaten by these California Indians includedyellow jacket larvae, grasshoppers and caterpillars. Honey and wasp larvae were collected by blowing smoke(using a fan of hawk feathers) into the nests to kill the bees or wasps.Lewis, A.B. 1905-1907? Tribes of the Columbia Valley and the coast of Washington and Oregon. Memoirs Am.Anthropol. Assoc. 1 (part 2): 149-209. (Acrididae)Loew, O. 1876. Report on the alkaline lakes, thermal springs, mineral springs, and brackish waters of southernCalifornia and adjacent country. Ann. Rpt. Upon the Geograph. Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, AppendixH3, pp. 188-199. (Ephydridae)Lowie, R.H. 1909a. The northern Shoshone. Anthropol. Papers Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Vol. II, Part II, p. 188.Lowie mentions grasshoppers, crickets, and ants among the small animal foods of the tribe, some portionsof which were known as "Diggers," because they depended primarily on vegetable food. The insects wereprepared by throwing them into a large tray with burning cinders and tossing them to and fro until roasted.Roasted ants were stored in bags for future use.Lowie, R.H. 1909b. The Assiniboine. Anthropol. Papers Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Vol. IV, Part I, p. 12.The porcupine was an important food item in the forest, and “in case of necessity, pulverized insects driedin the sun, roots, seeds, and the inner bark of the cypress served to eke out their fare.”Lowie, R.H. 1924. Notes on Shoshonean ethnography. Anthropol. Papers Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 20(3): 185-324.
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