OCR Text |
Show 224 BASIS OF AMERICAN HISTORY [ 1500 of the west numerous species such as the grasshopper and various larvae are dried, pounded into a meal, and mixed with vegetable products. Snakes and reptiles of all kinds are also eaten, unless religious considerations compel abstinence, as happens in a number of groups. The larger mammals were very naturally the chief contributors to the animal supply in areas where they existed. The seal, walrus, and polar- bear, the various members of the deer family, bears, mountain- sheep, mountain- goat, antelope, and, above all, the bison, have been the mainstay of the tribes living in the same habitats as those animals. Small mammals of every sort are eaten everywhere, and the importance of fish in such regions as the north Pacific coast cannot be over- estimated. The Indian methods of hunting were in general crude, except that much ingenuity was shown in devising traps for small mammals and for fish. With the bow and arrow and various spears and clubs as the chief weapons, success depended upon close range, and as a consequence stalking and driving were the ordinary means of approach to the larger land animals. Clever disguises of animal heads and skins were quite generally adopted to deceive the quarry in stalking. The advent of the horse gave a new method of hunting the buffalo, which was quickly seized upon by the tribes of the plains; and the introduction of fire- arms has of course revolutionized the hunting customs of the |