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Show i9oo] INDIAN LIFE 225 Indians from one side of the continent to the other. The harpoons and spears in use by the Eskimo and tribes of the northwest coast for hunting whales and the other large sea mammals were particularly ingenious in the devices of detachable points and floats, which afforded safety to the hunters without diminishing the efficiency of the weapons. In preparing the foods thus obtained, Nrcasting and boiling were the common methods of cooking. Boiling was ordinarily done by dropping heated stones into vessels filled with water, the receptacles^ being of wood, basketry, or pottery, occasionally of stone>- Smoking and drying as methods of preserving meat were practised widely. The best-known process of drying was the so- called " jerking," which consisted of cutting the flesh into long, thin strips, which were then thoroughly dried in the sun. Meat thus prepared would keep indefinitely, and was cooked as needed. The jerked meat was sometimes pounded up and mixed with fat, the result being known as " pemmican," and was much used in the north. In the northwest, among the salmon-fishing tribes, the fish are split and thoroughly dried and smoked, after which they are stored for later use. Salt was obtained from natural deposits or from springs, and was generally known in the west and as far east as the Ohio Valley. Domesticated animals can be disregarded as a source of food supply in early days, since it is probable that\ he dog was the only animal which VOL. II.- IS |
