VIM. PIMAN INDIANS OF THE SONORAN DESERT
515
Antelope and deer were tracked for many kilometers, and when an animal lay down, the tracker, too, would drop from view to the ground. This
was kept up until the hunter was able to walk up on the lying prey and
shoot it. In a similar way, Papagos stalked rabbits in the sand until the
latter became exhausted. Pack rats and other rodents were caught by burning them out of their nests where they were hidden in rock crevices surrounded by spines of cholla cactus.
The list of plant foods gathered by these western nomads is long, but
chief among them were the beans of ironwood, mesquite, palo verde, and
acacias; buds of certain chollas; the fruit of saguaro, organ pipe, desertthorn (Lycium spp.), and prickly pears; the caudex and stem of the desert
agave; the stem of the sand root (Ammobroma sonorae) and the stalks
and seeds of careless weed {Amaranthus palmed) ; and various parts of
other plants, including the blue bell {Brodiaea capitata), lambsquarter
{Chenopodium murale), patata {Monolepsis nuttalia), sundrop {Oenothera
trichocalyx), barrel cactus, sage {Salvia columbariae), and desert lavender
{Hyptis emoryi).
These foods were prepared in various ways: roasting, drying, boiling,
powdering, and mixing in water. Some were eaten raw. Wine was made
from fermented saguaro fruit syrup; fruits of organ pipe were converted
to jam.
Lacking the technology and kinds of tools which would enable them
to drill deep wells or to convert salt water to potable water, western
Papagos had to develop an intensive knowledge of the kinds and locations
of natural surface water sources in this exceptionally arid land. That they
succeeded is attested to in the many kilometers of desert footpaths which
link the springs and rock tanks together and which can be seen even today.
It is near these water sources, moreover, that the material evidence of
Piman wanderers remains: bits of broken pottery, worked stone, and
ground seashells.
2. Clothing, Tools, and Shelter
Although the Sand Papagos may have appeared "naked" to an overdressed Spaniard in the late 17th century, these Indians did, in fact, wear
clothes. The men wore breech cloth, sandals, and very often a shirt. The
women wore hide skirts which reached to their knees in addition to sandals. They were otherwise bare from the waist up.
Sandals were made from hide, at times from the hides of sea lions killed
where they rested on shoreline rocks along the Gulf of California. Women's
skirts, and probably men's breech cloths, were tanned hides, of rabbit, antelope, deer, or mountain sheep. Hair was scraped from the hide either
with bone from the animal's foreleg or with whale rib found lying on the
515
Antelope and deer were tracked for many kilometers, and when an animal lay down, the tracker, too, would drop from view to the ground. This
was kept up until the hunter was able to walk up on the lying prey and
shoot it. In a similar way, Papagos stalked rabbits in the sand until the
latter became exhausted. Pack rats and other rodents were caught by burning them out of their nests where they were hidden in rock crevices surrounded by spines of cholla cactus.
The list of plant foods gathered by these western nomads is long, but
chief among them were the beans of ironwood, mesquite, palo verde, and
acacias; buds of certain chollas; the fruit of saguaro, organ pipe, desertthorn (Lycium spp.), and prickly pears; the caudex and stem of the desert
agave; the stem of the sand root (Ammobroma sonorae) and the stalks
and seeds of careless weed {Amaranthus palmed) ; and various parts of
other plants, including the blue bell {Brodiaea capitata), lambsquarter
{Chenopodium murale), patata {Monolepsis nuttalia), sundrop {Oenothera
trichocalyx), barrel cactus, sage {Salvia columbariae), and desert lavender
{Hyptis emoryi).
These foods were prepared in various ways: roasting, drying, boiling,
powdering, and mixing in water. Some were eaten raw. Wine was made
from fermented saguaro fruit syrup; fruits of organ pipe were converted
to jam.
Lacking the technology and kinds of tools which would enable them
to drill deep wells or to convert salt water to potable water, western
Papagos had to develop an intensive knowledge of the kinds and locations
of natural surface water sources in this exceptionally arid land. That they
succeeded is attested to in the many kilometers of desert footpaths which
link the springs and rock tanks together and which can be seen even today.
It is near these water sources, moreover, that the material evidence of
Piman wanderers remains: bits of broken pottery, worked stone, and
ground seashells.
2. Clothing, Tools, and Shelter
Although the Sand Papagos may have appeared "naked" to an overdressed Spaniard in the late 17th century, these Indians did, in fact, wear
clothes. The men wore breech cloth, sandals, and very often a shirt. The
women wore hide skirts which reached to their knees in addition to sandals. They were otherwise bare from the waist up.
Sandals were made from hide, at times from the hides of sea lions killed
where they rested on shoreline rocks along the Gulf of California. Women's
skirts, and probably men's breech cloths, were tanned hides, of rabbit, antelope, deer, or mountain sheep. Hair was scraped from the hide either
with bone from the animal's foreleg or with whale rib found lying on the