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

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Chapter 260 of 68 9/20/2012 1:34 PMDigging for roots, bulbs, and tubers exposed angleworms that were collected and added to thesoup pot. The underground nests of the yellowjacket wasp were sought and exposed so that thelarvae could be procured for eating. The larvae of ants, bees, and hornets were also eaten.Crickets, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and salmonflies were also used as food. The periodic plaguesof Mormon crickets were remembered as times of plenty, for the crickets were roasted andformed into cakes for storage. Fields might be encircled with fire to drive grasshoppers togetherand be roasted in the process of capture. They were then ready for winter when placed in sacksof vegetable fiber.The authors note, citing others (p. 225), that: "The Indians burned fields and forests to drive game, stimulategrowth of seed and berry plants, collect insects, and, at times, as an aid in warfare."Orcutt, C.R. 1887. A lemonade and sugar tree. West Am. Scientist, 3: 45-47. (Aphididae)Orr, P.C. 1952. Preliminary excavation of Pershing County Caves. Bull. 1, Nevada St. Mus., Carson City.*(Acrididae)Osborne, P.J. 1973. Insects in archaeological deposits. Sci. and Archaeol. 10: 4-6.In archaeological deposits, assessment of the use of insects as human food apparently depends on thefinding of coprolites containing their remains. In humid climates, faecal masses do not preserve well, but Osbornecites Callen (1963) regarding coprolites from Peru and Mexico found to contain insects and other invertebrates.Palmer, E. 1871. Food products of the North American Indians. In Rpt. Commissioner Agric. for 1870,Washington, D.C.: Govt. Print. Off., pp. 404-428. (Ephydridae, Aphididae, Apidae, Formicidae, Sphingidae,Acrididae and Tettigoniidae)Parkman, F. 1873. The Oregon Trail. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., pp. 208-209. (Tettigoniidae)Pattie, J.O. 1831. The Personal Narrative of James O. Pattie, of Kentucky. Cincinnati: John H. Wood, p. 100.(Acrididae)Peigler, R.S. 1994. Non-sericultural uses of moth cocoons in diverse cultures. Proc. Denver Mus. Nat. Hist. Ser.3, No. 5: 1-20. (Saturniidae)Powell, J.W. 1875 [1957 reprint]. Exploration of the Colorado River of the West. Washington: Smithson.Inst., p. 133. [The reprint deletes some parts of the original.] (Acrididae and Tettigoniidae)Powell, J.W. 1881. Sketch of the mythology of the North American Indians. Smithson. Inst., Bur. Ethnol. FirstAnn. Rpt., pp. 19-56. (Aphididae)Powers, S. 1877a. Tribes of California. Contributions to North American Ethnology, Vol. III. U.S. Geograph.& Geol. Surv. of Rocky Mtn. Region, Dept. Interior, pp. 379, 430-431.Powers (p. 379) says of the Yokuts of California:In the mountains they used to fire the forests, and thereby catch great quantities of grasshoppersand caterpillars already roasted, which they devoured with relish, and this practice kept theunderbrush burned out, and the woods much more open and park-like than at present. This wasthe case all along the Sierra. But since about 1862, for some reason or other, the yield ofgrasshoppers has been limited. They are fond of a huge succulent worm, resembling thetobacco-worm, which is roasted; also the larvae of yellow-jackets, which they pick out and eatraw.Powers lists (pp. 430-431) a number of insects among the animal foods of the Nishinam of Pacer County,California: Shek (Saturnia caeanothi [Hyalophora euryalis =]), caterpillar; Shek (two species of Arctia),caterpillar; Hol'-lih, crickets, roasted (formerly they were often roasted in large numbers by firing the woods);Pan'-nak, grubs found in decayed oak trees; Kut (Sphinx ludoviciana), a horned black worm (the Indian namedenotes "a buck," so-called because of the horn). En'neh, or grasshoppers, are eaten by the Konkau. They catch
Chapter 261 of 68 9/20/2012 1:34 PMthem with nets, or by driving them into pits, then roast them and reduce them to powder for preservation.Powers, S. 1877b [1975]. Centennial Mission to the Indians of Western Nevada and California. Smithson. Inst.Ann. Rpt. 1876, pp. 449-460. Washington: Govt. Print. Off. (R.F. Heizer, The Friends of the Bancroft Library,Berkeley: Univ. Calif., 1975.)Powers (pp. 24) reported that the Northern Paiute at Pyramid Lake ate grasshoppers, crickets and otherspecies of insects. He also mentioned (p. 29) Ephydra larvae, saying "Some are eaten raw, and are of a rank andoleaginous taste; others are made into soup."Ray, V.F. 1933. The Sanpoil and Nespelem: Salishan peoples of northeastern Washington. Univ. Wash. Publ.Anthropol. 5: 1-237.According to Ray (p. 90), the Southeast Salish looked with repugnance on eating insects: "Certainanimals were never used as food. Among these were the snake, gopher, mouse, wood rat, all frogs, and the dog.Grasshoppers, crickets, ants and ant pupae were not eaten, though all were abundant. In fact, all insects werelooked upon as unfit for food."Reagan, A.B. 1934a. The Gosiute (Goshute), or Shoshoni-Goship Indians of the Deep Creek Region, in westernUtah. Proc. Utah Acad. Sci., Arts, Lett. XI: 43-54. (Ephydridae, Formicidae, Acrididae)Reagan, A.B. 1934b. Some notes on the history of the Uintah Basin, in northeastern Utah, to 1850. Proc. UtahAcad. Sci., Arts Lett. XI: 55-64. (Formicidae, Tettigoniidae)Rich, E.E.; Johnson, A.M. 1950. Peter Skene Ogden's Snake Country Journals, 1824-25 and 1825-26.London: The Hudson's Bay Record Society, pp. 133, 139.* (Formicidae, Acrididae)Riddell, F.A. 1978a. Honey Lake Paiute ethnography. Occas. Papers, Nev. St. Mus. 3(1): 51-52. (Orthoptera:Acrididae and Tettigoniidae)Riddell, F.A. 1978b. Maidu and Konkow. In: W.C. Sturtevant 1978, pp. 370-386.Riddell (p. 374) cites Dixon (1905) in saying that yellowjacket larvae, angleworms, locusts, grasshoppers,and crickets were caught and eaten.Ross, A. 1956. The Fur Hunters of the Far West. Edited by K.A. Spaulding. Norman: Univ. Oklahoma Press,pp. 179-180. [Sutton 1988 notes that this edition is of Ross' original manuscript, unlike the 1855 edition,published in London and which was heavily edited.]Ross reported, regarding the Snake Indians (probably Northern Paiute or Bannock, according to Sutton1988) in the early 1800s, that despite a profusion of salmon, buffalo and vegetables, they often resorted to "themost nauseous and disgusting articles of food.":Beneath the shade of the bushes is found an enormous kind of cricket. Skipping in the sun is agood-sized grasshopper, and gigantic mounds of pismires [ants] of enormous growth are likewisevery frequent: all these insects are made subservient to the palate of the Snake Indian. Thesedelicacies are easily collected in quantity and when brought to the camp, they are thrown into aspacious dish along with a heap of burning cinders, then tossed to and fro for some time, untilthey are roasted to death. Under this operation they make a crackling noise like grains of gunpowder dropped into a hot frying pan. They are then either eaten dry or kept for future use, ascircumstances may require. In the latter case, a few handfuls of them are frequently thrown intoa boiling kettle to thicken the soup.Ross continues: "One of our men had the curiosity to taste this mixture and said that he found it most delicious!Every reptile or insect that the country produces is after the same manner turned economically to account to suitthe palate of the Snake Indian...."Roust, N.L. 1967. Preliminary examination of prehistoric human coprolites from four western Nevada Caves.Rpts. Univ. Calif. Archaeol. Surv. No. 70: 49-88. (Cerambycidae and Dytiscidae)
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Chapter 2. Insect Foods of North American Indigenous Populations ...

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