Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki Indians / by Huron H. Smith.

260

BULLETIN, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE.

[Vol. 4

River around Tama. The root-stocks of the ground nut are moniliform, resembling a chain of beads, running in all directions from 15
to 25 feet. The beads are the potatoes, and vary from the size of a
marble to three inches in diameter. The substance is quite white and
elastic, and cuts more like a turnip than a potato. It is sweet, starchy
and quite palatable when eaten raw. These potatoes are peeled, parboiled, sliced and dried for winter use. They are cooked with meat
in the winter time.
Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioica (L.) Koch), "tcikanimitca'kwo" [seed tree] (M). Keosatok said that the round seeds of the
ripened pods were roasted and eaten as a nut by his people a long time
ago, and that sometimes the seeds were "cooked too done," and then
ground up and boiled to make coffee.
Lima Bean (Phiaseolus lunatus), "kapetcia" (M). This is one of
their beans that resembles very much the bean known to commerce as
"Jackson Wonder" introduced under that name in 1891 by M. W.
Johnson Seed Co. Dr. Jones' specimen 5047.
Common Bean (Phascolus vulgaris). The Meskwaki had a host
of beans under many names descriptive of the varieties which we will
compare to known commercial varieties. All of these were collected
by Dr. Jones and the numbers refer to his field numbers. The general
Meskwaki name for all beans is "maskutcisa" [bean].
"asaigwiiha tcitapiha manicenova kicigita." This is a yellow-eyed
yellow-eyed sitter twice grown
bunch bean, which they grow twice in a year, and is very close to the
"Southern Prolific" variety, popular fifty years ago. 3681.
"tcitapiha piwaha." This is a bunch bean called "piwaha," and is
sitter?
of the Navy Pea bean type, closely resembling the variety known as
"White Mexican." 3682.
"ma'kadiwatoha tcitapiha." This is called a black-mouthed bunch
black-mouthed sitters
bean, and is of the Navy Pea bean type. 3683.
"tcitapiha wiwi'kwitciiha." Although this is a bunch bean, the
sitter wrinkled-body
beans themselves very closely resemble the Red Cranberry pole bean.
3684.
"iigosiha pigeciwitiha." This is a pole bean and their name for it
climber smoky-rear