Page 36 - Fall2012

The grasshoppers mixed with grain or acorns were rivers, lakes and the ocean including salmon,
Kumeyaay of a particular favorite. The late Pauline Conner, catfish, suckers, trout, sturgeon, bass, minnows,
smelt or surf-fish, pike, rock cod and bullhead.
North Fork Mono/Chukchansi, described har-
the San Diego vesting, preparing and eating the pupa of the Small fish, such as surf-fish and sardines, were
region cut off California tortoiseshell butterfly: "I remember eaten whole without removing the intestines. The
the fins, tails gathering huuya΄. We got them by the bucketfuls. Kumeyaay of the San Diego region cut off the
They're upside down on a string hanging on a fins, tails and heads of certain fish and used them
and heads of twig of chaparral. Grandma Lily would whistle to make a nourishing soup. Lobsters, scallops,

certain fish and the huuya΄ would shake and then you'd grab shrimp, octopus and crabs were eaten too. Mus-
and used them. They pop in your mouth when you bite sels, clams and crayfish were harvested by diving
them—kind of crunchy. They kind of tasted like to the bottom of rivers; abalone and chitons were
them to make peanuts. They're delicious—I love them. They gathered off rocks along the seashore.
a nourishing let them dry. They rinse them to get the dust off. The Pomo developed an ingenious way of

soup. They put them in a pot with water just to cover harvesting and preparing barnacles for eating:
them and let them boil. If you can stick a fork build a fire over a barnacle bed at low tide, tend
through their bodies, they're done. If I could just the fire, thereby cooking the shellfish, until the
have a pot of them to cook up. They came every rising tide quenches the fire and cools the meal.
4
year." The California Indians collected seaweed
In those days, there were vastly more but- in season to dry for later use. The Pomo saying,
terflies about than today; Pauline Conner remem- “When the grass is growing, the seaweed is
bered that when she was a little girl, butterflies growing. When the grass is gone, the seaweed
were so numerous that many would land on her is gone,” expressed this rhythm. Coastal tribes
as she played. traded dried seaweeds with interior tribes.
Salt was also valued in trade, constituting
FISH, SHELLFISH AND SEAWEED the most popular trade item in native California
Many kinds of fish were caught in creeks, in former days. Salt was collected for trade from

Figures 5 and 6. In the gathering process, it was customary to break off the smaller offsets (cormlets
and bulblets) of the Indian potatoes and replant them to ensure re-establishment at the site.
36 Wise Traditions FALL 2012 FALL 2012 Wise Traditions

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