Title: Parched Corn Travelling Food ... Uninhq'' Da`
Categories: Amerind Canadian
Yield: 1 Servings

No Ingredients Found

There was apparently no more popular travelling or hunting food than this preparation in olden times. It was light, nourishing, and could be eaten either cooked or raw. It is rarely used at present, except on certain ceremonial occasions, such as False-Face Society functions.

In making it, the white Tuscarora and other kinds of bread corn are employed. The ripe corn is shelled, parched slightly in the embers, as for popping, thrown into the mortar, some maple sugar added, and the whole pounded and sifted together to a rather fine meal. When intended for pudding or soups, rather than for eating raw, the maple sugar may be left out. Dried fruit, such as cherries, is said to have been pulverized with it at times. Sugar is not used when the food is intended for hunters or for athletes, as it would make them dizzy (the sugar being derived from the maple, the branches of which sway about in the wind). The uninhq''da' is also at times mixed up with chopped meat. It was prepared for use in several ways. It might be eaten raw in small quantities, though more than a small handful was considered dangerous without cooking, on account of its tendency to swell. On hunting expeditions or in time of war a small wooden cup or bowl was carried along. A little water was taken in this and a small amount of the meal added. When game was found or when the enemy was vanquished, it was added to the venison or other provisions secured. John Bartram, in "Observations Made by John Bartram in His Journey From Pennsylvania to Onondaga, Oswego and the Lake Ontario in Canada" (London, 1751), at p. 71 notes of this food that "... about one-quarter of a pound, diluted in a pint of water, is a hearty travelling dinner." Historical references to the food are numerous, showing conclusively its common use throughout the Iroquois and Algonkin region as reported by Robert Beverly in "The History and Present State of Virginia" (London, 1705) at p. 155. At pp. 162-164 in Samuel de Champlain's "Voyages of Samuel de Champlain" (Prince Society ed., Boston, 1878-1882) he states that very dry Indian corn was used in its manufacture. It was roasted in ashes, brayed to a meal and, in preparing it for food, they cooked a large quantity of fish and meat, cut it into pieces, skimmed off the fat, and added the meal of roasted corn, cooking the whole to a thick soup. This was among the Huron and eastern Algonkins. At p. 155 of the above-referenced "The History and Present State of Virginia," Robert Beverly also furnishes some information: The Indians of Virginia frequently took with them on their journeys "a Pint or Quart of Rockahomonie, that is, the finest Indian corn, parched and beaten to a powder. When they find their stomachs empty (and cannot stay the tedious Cookery of other things) they put about a spoonful of this into their Mouths, and drink a Draught of Water upon it, which stays in their stomachs." A Tonawanda informant described its use by Seneca athletes in running. A decoction should also be prepared of the toad rush, Juncus bufonius, the fact of its growing beside the runner's pathway being considered significant. A handful of the plant is steeped in nearly a pailful of water. The idea is to provoke vomiting. The person using it must drink about two quarts the first time, vomit, drink the same quantity, and vomit again. The face and body are also washed with the liquid. This is done about three times during the week before the race. Only sweet milk and Indian corn bread, agwe''aw'`a''gwa' (Seneca), are to be eaten. A quantity of the scorched cornmeal is carried along to eat while running, a little being taken now and again. The Seneca name for the meal is "wade''sondak one'q," or "burnt corn." Mrs. John Williams of Caughnawaga gave "wanaha'sa o'nasde'" as a Mohawk equivalent. Source: "Iroquois Foods and Food Preparations, Memoir 86, No. 12, Anthropological Series" by F. W. Waugh, (Ottawa Government Printing Bureau, 1916), pp. 88-90 Shared by: Norman R. Brown 2/93

Submitted By BILL CHRISTMAS

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