ZUÑI BREADSTUFF

VIII

This is as difficult as Zuñi milling; but I will try to grind it into English.

“Meal, soft corn-flour, and good water, I mix equally; then, while stirring, I put in red pepper, salt, and suet. I roll this into husks, place them all into an oven, and shut the hole; when time has passed, I take them out. Now then, they are ready for eating!”

Do not imagine the old woman knew no other way of making corn food. The ancient Zuñis are just as resourceful with their corn as the Chinese are with their rice.

Indeed, corn is so important to the Zuñi that it plays an essential part not only in his daily life but also in his industrial, religious, and mythological life, and even in the tales with which he amuses children by the fireside in winter.

So that this may be better understood by those governed by a culture totally different from that of the Zuñis; and so that the many observances, ceremonies, and formulas connected with corn—its growth, treatment, and preparation for food, to be described hereafter—may not seem insignificant—