Page:The Pima Indians.pdf/81

76 and dry the fruit as they do that of the saguaro, but the Pimas make no further use of it than to eat it raw.

Nyiʼâtam, Malva sp. This plant is boiled and the liquid used in making pinole in times of famine.

O’-opat, Acacia greggii. The beans of the cat's-claw (pl., b) were eaten in primitive times, but no one of the present generation knows how they were prepared.

Ositcʼwtpat, Zizyphus lycioides. The black berry of this thorny bush is gathered in the basket bowls after it has been beaten down with sticks. It is eaten raw and the seeds are thrown away.

Papʼkam. The heads are tied in bunches and dried in the sun. They are then shelled, screened, the seeds parched, ground on the metate, and eaten as pinole. They are "not sweet."

Pavf(ĭ), Phaseolus vulgaris Linn. At least one variety of the common kidney bean, pole bean, bunch bean, etc., was known to the natives before the advent of the Spaniards. Venegas states that "red frixoles, or kidney beans" [Phaseolus sp.], were cultivated by the natives of lower California, and this may have been the variety known in Pimería.

Pelʼtûkany, Triticum sativum Lam. Wheat is the principal crop of the Pimas, and four varieties are known to them. It is ground on the metate to make the flour used in cooking the great loaves that weigh from 10 to 20 pounds. Tortillas resembling those of the Mexicans are now more commonly used than the heavy loaves of former days. A light and toothsome doughnut is fried in bubbling hot suet (pl., a). One of the commonest methods of preparing wheat is to parch it, grind it on the metate, and eat it as a sort of thin gruel called hak(ĭ) tcoĭ; or the wheat may be boiled before parching, in which case the product is known as pârsâȷ tcoĭ. Both are known to the whites by the Mexican term "pinole."

Rsat. The bulb of the wild onion is eaten. It is common on the slopes at the foot of the Estrellas.

Rsoʼ-owût. The fine reddish seed is boiled with flour as a mush.

Rsrʼs-lĭk. This is used as greens with similar plants.