Zuni Breadstuff

by Frank Hamilton Cushing

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920 edition. Excerpt: ...stones were composed of a massive, very light-gray sandstone. Such as had been fully worked were four inches thick and nearly as many feet long, by two and a half in breadth. The surfaces designed to be lowermost were very roughly leveled by a pecking process, while the upper faces were beautifully finished. They were not only as even as though planed, but ground to the last degree of smoothness (short of polish) by means of various flat, rudely rounded blocks of sandstone. Even the chipped, less uniform edges partook to some extent of this attritional finish. Thus far manipulated, the stones were left, the old woman told me, an indefinite length of time to cure; and on occasions like that which (happily for me) I had intruded upon, they were carried, with great labor, to the neighborhood of the fires, there to be thoroughly dried and warmed before being brought into actual contact with the flames and embers. The usual number of old women making up a party of "stone finishers" is four or eight, rarely more. Four days previously to the tempering of the stones they retire to an estufa kiva or lone room, there to fast and engage in certain ceremonials, in which crooning traditional chants and repeating rituals play an important part. During these four days they never come forth unless at rare intervals and for a very short time (and then under the protecting influence of warning head-plumes), that they may not be touched by the uninitiated. Yet, during the intermissions of their religious observances, they prepare great cakes of pinon gum, carefully wrapping them in strips of cedar-bark, and in other ways make ready for the work at hand. On the morning of the day succeeding the last night of their vigil, they repair in single file, headed by...

98 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_H...

Reviews

[Greg]

I had a lot of fun with this book. It's part of my "people and grains" reading series, in which I'm trying to investigate the idea that grains have been a primary food for so-called "hunter-gatherers," and that meat played a relatively small part.

This book does have many passages that bear on that question, in particular legends about the forebears of the Zuni who were believed to have migrated and fed primarily on wild seeds until they were given the "seed of seeds," maize, and shown how to cultivate it.

Zunis prized hunters and ate meat, but Cushing goes out of his way to point out what a small portion of their meals it made up and how gauche it was to overindulge in it. A Zuni stew might be flavored with a small amount of shredded meat, or a single stick of jerky would be made to last a whole meal as a kind of lollipop/serving utensil.

One surprise from this book came from the personalities of the Zuni. They sound like they were a hilarious bunch and loved to give their white brother from "Wassintona" a hard time. The passage about Cushing's introduction to "rat-brine" near the end cracked me up, wherein his adopted elder brother implores their traveling companions to raid a wood rat's nest to brew up some of this brine. Cushing's disgusted face, as his elder brother imagines it, displays an irrepressible excitement and hunger for rat-brine.

Definitely a fun read, and gave me so many ideas for what to do with cornmeal!

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent choice for those people interested in Native American cultures and creation myths. Truly a classic.